Passengers of the London Underground are being warned to make sure they have enough power in their iPhones and Apple Watches to complete the journey when using
Apple Pay. Transport for London (TfL) has issued a
notice advising users of potential pitfalls when using Apple Pay on the UK capital's transit system, including the possibility of double charging, penalty fares, and being unable to pass through gates.
Users of the Underground have to tap not only at the start of their journey, but also at the end,
reports The Guardian. Passengers failing to do so, be it through forgetting or running out of power, risk being charged the maximum fare for travel for the day. If an inspector asks to check the status of a passenger's ticket, and the passenger cannot turn on their iPhone or Apple Watch, they could end up being hit by an on-the-spot penalty fare.
TfL warns of the possibility of double charging, in the event of users keeping their Oyster card or another contactless payment card in their phone case when trying to use Apple Pay. It also advises users to keep using the same device for travel purposes, to avoid changing payments to different cards saved to an account, minimizing incomplete journeys, and to benefit from daily and weekly capping of transit charges.