Contactless payment on public transport: Travelers sometimes charged on multiple cards

The contactless payment option for public transport OVpay, launched in February, is experiencing some hiccups. Multiple travelers reported public transport fares going off their bank accounts, even if they had contactless payments turned off, or fares going off multiple cards, NU.nl reports.

Things could go wrong if people hold several cards at the card reader simultaneously, Gerbrant Corbee of Translink, the company behind the OV chip card, said to the newspaper. The card reader will scan the card with the strongest signal. “As a result, it can happen that people check in with the OV chip card and accidentally check out with a bank card.” If that happens, the boarding fee will be deducted from both cards.

According to Berend Jan Begel of the Dutch Payments Association, this could happen even if people have contactless payments turned off on their bank cards. “Bank cards with an NFC chip can always be used to pay at a parking meter, toll gate, or check-in column,” he said to the newspaper. Banks have agreed on an international exception for this to ensure a smooth flow of traffic or travelers and because you can’t always enter a pin code on such devices.

Double payments also happen when the OV chip card is too near the traveler’s phone. “If people pay with the public transport chip card while it is in their phone case, it may happen that the phone is scanned instead of the OV chip card. This is because the NFC chip in the device is turned on,” Beugel said.

When NS launched OVpay, it warned travelers to hold only one card to the card reader to prevent this problem. The Dutch rail company notices that things still sometimes go wrong. “Travellers have to get used to it,” a spokesperson said to NU.nl. If things do go wrong, travelers can check out via the OVpay site or app. They can also request that charges be reversed.

According to NU.nl, the Dutch banks have received hardly any complaints or problem reports since the introduction of OVpay. "What our colleagues at customer service mainly receive are positive reactions from customers," an ING spokesperson told the newspaper. "They are satisfied with traveling with the debit card and the convenience it brings."