Transport for NSW has today opened registrations for a trial of a the Opal digital card, which will allow you to tap on and tap off public transport using the digital wallet on your smart phone or watch.
Users of Opal Cards mainly in the Sydney Metro, Blue Mountains, Newcastle and Hunter and Illawarra and Southern Highland regions, will be able to register their interest in partaking in the trial, which looks set to begin within the ‘coming months’ or at least early next year.
The digital Opal card will have the same fare and travel benefits of an Adult Opal card (the Black coloured card) and can be used on all public transport within the Opal network which you can check here in case you’re not sure if you fall within the network before registering for the trial.
The Opal digital card is currently available on Apple and Samsung devices, with Transport for NSW stating that Google pay/wallets will be ‘added shortly.’
Interestingly though, Google’s WearOS smartwatches are excluded from the trial — this could be again because Google Pay is not yet active for it but we will see if this will change once Google Pay has been added to the trial or eventual rollout.
Though there is a catch to partaking in the trial. Opal users wanting to partake in the trial will need to pass the three following eligibility requirements that include:
- Own a valid Apple iPhone 6S or newer with iOS 13.0 or newer, Apple Watch, or Samsung smartphone with NFC and Android 8.0 or newer (Android wearables are not supported)
- Currently travel on public transport
- Pay Adult Opal fare
Also during the trial, successful registered users will be:
- given a new Opal digital card, which is a separate product from your existing Opal card
- able to report any issues and provide feedback via your Opal digital card trial app
- contacted by Transport for NSW for you to complete surveys or participate in phone interviews, helping Transport for NSW to create the best experience for the final product
- able to request help via your Opal digital card trial app
You can watch a video about the Opal Digital Card trial here also:
If you fit the eligibility criteria and own either an iPhone 6s or newer or have an Samsung Galaxy Smartphone with NFC that runs Android 8.0 or newer and wish to partake in the trial, then you can sign up via the Transport NSW website today.
Very annoying that you have to have a Samsung phone. That rules me out.
Seems strange that they would start a roll out with Samsung Pay when it only covers a sub section of Android devices vs Google Pay which covers all of them.
Stopped using Opal once they took credit cards so I already pay with Google Pay. No benefit to a separate Opal.