As of May 2022, Express Mode can be used with 10 transit networks: Japan (Suica, PASMO and compatible transit nationwide), China (Beijing, Shanghai and China T-Union), Hong Kong (Octopus), United Kingdom (Open Loop only Transport for London and some bus lines), New York City (MTA OMNY), LA (TAP) Portland (HOP), Chicago (Ventra) San Fransisco (Clipper), Washington DC (SmarTrip). Here are some Express Mode card tips and other observations for Apple Pay Wallet users that I have learned from years of daily Express Transit Mode Suica use.
1) Face ID Express Transit use with face masks and tight pants
The most important thing to remember is that Express Mode only works while Face ID/Touch ID is ‘On’, when Face ID/Touch ID is disabled Express Mode is ‘off’.
Express Mode doesn’t care if you are wearing a face mask. However it is easy to disable Face ID iPhone without realizing it, resulting in a rude passcode request at the transit gate. Face ID face mask users need to be extra careful as five misreads disable Face ID and Express Mode. The passcode is required to re-enable Express Transit.
Users can mitigate some of this by turning off Raise to Wake in option in Settings > Display & Brightness. If you still have problems the last resort is turning off Face ID for unlocking iPhone, be sure leave it on for Apple Pay.
All iPhone users, both Face ID and Touch ID, need to be aware when putting iPhone in tight pants pocket: pressure on the side buttons initiates shutdown/SOS mode which disables Face/Touch ID and Express Transit. This is worse with a case because iPhone in a case is thicker and tighter in pant pockets, with more pressure on the side buttons.
2) Apple Watch Express Transit works for 10 minutes off the wrist
Suica and Octopus on Apple Watch are the ‘killer’ watch app that quickly becomes second nature. Its nice in colder months because Apple Watch works at the gate under layers of clothes, it beats digging iPhone out of a pocket. The biggest complaint I hear is from left wrist Apple Watch users. Most transit gate readers are on the right side so the user has to reach over to the reader. This will be a bigger pain with new JR East transit gates that place a slated reader on the right side. Some commuters migrate Apple Watch to the right wrist to deal with it.
One interesting aspect of Apple Watch Express Mode is that it works for 10 minutes off the wrist. This is by design in case the transit card needs servicing by a station attendant. After 10 minutes, Express Mode turns off and requires the passcode to work again.
3) Multiple Express Mode Cards
The addition of EMV Express Mode in iOS 12.3 introduced the concept of having multiple Express Mode cards, one payment credit/debit card for transit use and one native transit card for each transit network (Suica, Octopus, Beijing, Shanghai, HOP, etc). The fine print tells a different story: if you have a China mainland transit card set for Express Mode, all other NFC-A protocol cards (EMV, MIFARE) are turned off.
There’s more to the story not covered in the Apple support doc: China T-Union Express Mode cards are incompatible with all other Express Mode cards. A set of reader images shows the issue. Turning on Express Mode for China T-Union turns off all other cards, both native and EMV payment cards. China T-Union cards are a bit messy in that older card formats like Beijing City Union are migrating to the new spec that does not support plastic card loading for mobile. Shanghai remains with the old spec with plastic card transfer for now but will also likely migrate in the future.
Shenzhen cards are also migrating from the legacy FeliCa (blue and orange) cards to the new China T-Union (red and green) cards. This is probably one immediate reason behind the ‘one at a time’ Express Card issue that Apple will hopefully fix it in a future iOS version. It’s not a problem as most users only use one Express Transit card at a time and can turn them on and off as needed. It’s interesting to developers because it reveals some current architectural limits of iOS 13 Apple Pay.
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