Petition asks TransLink to add Compass Card to mobile wallets | Daily Hive

Mitch Hutchinson/Shutterstock | Tada Images/Shutterstock

A new online petition calls on TransLink to let users add their Compass Card to their Apple or Google mobile wallet.

The move would allow users to deduct from their compass balance, or use their monthly pass, without bringing the extra card with them — they’d just need their mobile phone.

“I’m a big advocate of all things digital for their convenience and practicality. I think this is one great example of one less plastic card to carry in exchange for a device that is already always with me,” Rom Saplaco, the organizer of the change.org petition, told Daily Hive.

In addition, he said a mobile wallet could be a great backup if someone loses or misplaces their physical card.

You might also like:

Users can already tap on TransLink with a credit card stored in their mobile wallet, but it charges users more than if they’d used a Compass Card.

Apple Wallet already had a built-in feature that allows users to add transit cards, but only select transit systems around the world have this feature enabled. In North America, only users who live in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, San Francisco, or Washington DC, can add their transit card.

Vancouver is the only city in Canada that accepts credit card payments from the Apple Wallet.

North American cities with transit systems that accept payment from the Apple Wallet. (Apple)

Google also says users can add digital copies of transit passes for “participating public transport systems.”

Add TransLink Compass Card (Transit) to Apple and Google Wallet (change.org)

Saplaco included a photo of transit card options available in the US and China and edited the image to show where a Compass Card could appear — if TransLink and developers make it possible.

“I find it so cool to see that a functionality as simple as this to us users and very complex to providers helps make life really much better for everyone at the end of the day,” Saplaco said. “I’ve been hoping for this feature for a long time now (years) and I do hope something great does come out of this campaign.”

TransLink spokesperson Dan Mountain told Daily Hive that it’s working to introduce cirtual Compass Cards to mobile wallets as part of its Customer Experience Action Plan. But a challenge is that TransLink would need to upgrade its systems to be compatible with virtual cards.

“We are still working out the details, but we hope to upgrade our system and introduce virtual Compass Cards to Apple Wallets and Google Pay in the coming years,” Mountain said.