Please 'tap your card, not your wallet,' says TransLink (VIDEO)

TransLink's 'tap your card, not your wallet' campaign. (Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive)

Ahead of this spring’s launch of credit card and mobile wallet payment options, TransLink is urging riders to only tap their card, not their entire wallet or smartphone case, in a new education campaign for how to properly interact with the Compass fare system.

“These new payment methods are exciting and interesting, but it’s also something our CEO, Kevin Desmond, has been talking about for awhile,” TransLink spokesperson Aliysa Mohamed told Daily Hive.

“In preparation for that, we’re here to really roll out a hard hitting campaign which is ‘tap your card, not your wallet.'”

TransLink’s ‘tap your card, not your wallet’ campaign. (Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive)

Mohamed said passengers will never encounter the scenario of being charged multiple cards at any given tap, but they could be charged with a different card than intended if they tap a whole wallet or smartphone case that holds multiple credit cards.

She also said the new tap-and-go credit card system is highly secure, as it is the same as tapping a credit card at a fast food restaurant or grocery store.

The new payment options will provide tourists and other infrequent transit users with the ability to immediately board the transit system without having to use a fare machine to purchase a Compass Card or Compass ticket.

“The reason we’re rolling this out is essentially because of all the tourists we have coming into the system and the infrequent users from events, like those who are at Stadium-Chinatown Station after an event at BC Place or Rogers Arena,” she said. “There are long lines for people who are coming from or to events and are waiting at ticket machines.”

“In the scenario of travellers at Vancouver International Airport with people landing and grabbing their suitcases, they are in a rush into the city and now they’ll be able to tap their credit cards and head into downtown right away.”

Tapping a Compass Card onto a Compass fare gate at SkyTrain. (Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive)

Such expanded payment options that do not require the use of a ticket machine could also lower costs for TransLink. It could potentially reduce the need for more ticket machines at high-traffic stations, which requires a large dedicated footprint of the station concourse area.

But the immediate impact for passengers will likely be quicker access through credit cards and shorter lines overall at both the ticket machines and buses for those who decide to use cash payment.

Currently, there are 1.26 million Compass Cards being actively used on the system.

For more information on TransLink’s new credit card and mobile wallet payment options, read our original story.

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