What you need to know
- A report says Apple may have reached an agreement with Île-de-France-Mobilités to bring Apple Pay to the Paris Metro.
A new report says that Apple and Île-de-France-Mobilités are in talks to bring Apple Pay to the Paris Metro and Navigo as early as next month.
According to a report from Le Parisien seen by 01net, customers will be able to use their iPhones on the Paris Metro to buy tickets from next month. O1 net reports:
According to information from Le Parisien , Apple and Île-de-France-Mobilités have reached an agreement for the iPhone to serve as a transport ticket from February 2021. For the moment, neither of the two players has confirmed the veracity of this information, or how it works. In its article on the novelties planned for 2021 for the RER, subways and buses in the Paris region, the newspaper Le Parisien drops a small bomb. According to him, from February, it will be possible to buy metro tickets, a weekly subscription or a monthly subscription to the Navigo pass directly from your iPhone. In view of the description, it seems that Apple and Île-de-France-Mobilités have finally reached an agreement. (Translated)
Smart Navigo, the region's digital mobile transit card currently only works on Samsung Galaxy devices or Android phones with an Orange SIM card. From Ata Distance:
Although France was an early innovator of NFC on mobile phones, it did not lead to early mobile transit adoption: Smart Navigo launched in September 2019. Apple Pay Navigo would be the first native transit card (closed loop) for Apple Pay in Europe, it would also be the first smart wearable for Navigo users thanks to Apple Watch. The Calypso based Navigo transit card launched in 2001 and had a large upgrade in 2019 to add more transit services and mobile.
If the report is correct, Apple Pay support for Smart Navigo and the Paris Metro might not be far away, with a rumored launch just a few weeks away.
