Update to below post: They’ve done it! I can now use my VISA card, and even my Apple Watch or iPhone to pay for trips on the buses and MRT!
The only thing pending that isn’t (officially) supported yet is using my Apple Watch as a Starbucks card…
Since my iPhone reacts when brought near to the NFC (near-field communication) terminal on the bus and brings up the “Pay with Touch ID” screen, I was wondering if you could use your iPhone instead of an EZ-Link or NETS Flashpay card to pay for a bus or train trip.
SMRT and SBS Transit support the EZ-Link and NETS Flashpay contactless cards for payment on buses and trains here in Singapore.
Since a few years ago both Android and iPhone handsets have started to include an NFC chip. I believe that there are android apps that let you use your android phone as an EZ-Link / NETS Flashpay card.
As far as the iPhone is concerned, Apple added some NFC support in iOS11 – it should now be possible to use an iPhone to *read* an NFC card. As far as using an iPhone with an NFC terminal however, they restrict that functionality to only support Apple Pay – that’s why you can’t currently use your iPhone to pay for a trip on the bus or train.
update – I heard that Apple do support the Suica transit card in Japan.
Let’s hope they start extending the support of transit cards to other countries – including Singapore…
-Stuart.