Starting This Week, You Can Tap Onto BART With a Credit Card — Here’s How

Updated 3 p.m. Wednesday

This week, BART is finally catching up to its public transit counterparts in New York and London.

Now, instead of just using the Bay’s designated Clipper card to pay for a ride, riders can simply tap their credit card or debit card on the turnstile to pay for their fare — as well as Apple Pay and Google Pay on mobile.

BART officials have been referring to this method as “contactless payment,” “open payment” or “Tap and Ride” (not to be confused with their existing “Tap and Go” program for parking payments at BART stations).

The open payment update is part of a much longer effort to upgrade the Clipper card system, which has been under development for a decade and has attracted some harsh criticism from transit executives. New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Transport for London have offered this type of open payment for their cities’ riders for several years.

Keep reading for what to know about BART’s Tap and Ride, who should keep using their Clipper card even after Wednesday, and the “card clash” problem that might jam you up at the BART turnstile.

• Jump straight to: The problem you could encounter using a bank card for BART

When is contactless payment at BART rolling out?

You’ll be able to use Tap and Ride starting Wednesday, Aug. 20. There is no registration process to set up Tap and Ride.

What cards can I use to Tap and Ride on BART?

Starting Wednesday morning, you can use:

• A credit card
• A debit card
• Apple Pay on mobile
• Google Pay on mobile.

Cards accepted include Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover Network.

Just tap your card (or your phone) to the reader, exactly like you would tap your Clipper card. And like Clipper, you’ll tap onto your ride and tap off too.

Unfortunately, riders with HealthEquity debit cards will have trouble using this new feature. BART officials said they are working with HealthEquity to address the issue, but there’s a chance these riders may need to ask HealthEquity for a replacement card.

How much will I pay each time I tap on BART with a bank card?

According to a BART spokesperson, people who use Tap and Ride on BART will be charged the full adult fare for their journey.

You can find out how much your fare is by using BART’s online calculator.

Can I tap onto BART with one bank card and off BART with another payment method?

No. Whichever payment method you used to tap in is the one you have to use when tapping out.

What if I share a credit card with family members?

According to BART’s website, “each rider must pay with their own card or mobile device.”

“If family members have the same credit card number but they are on different cards and devices, they will be able to use it.”

Can I use Tap and Ride on other public transit, like SF Muni or AC Transit?

For now, this is only a BART deal — which means you can’t, for example, tap onto a Muni Metro train from BART within the station.

However, a spokesperson for BART told KQED by email that it will “eventually” be offered by other Bay Area transit agencies — there just isn’t a timeline for this expansion yet.

In a sense, BART is serving as the contactless payment’s guinea pig. According to a June 28 agenda item on the Clipper Executive Board’s meeting discussing the change, “it was decided that BART would be the most impactful operator for the initial customer rollout of Open Payments” after “a review of potential candidates.”

I use discounted BART fares. Can I still get them through Tap and Ride?

Bay Area public transit has several plans for riders, including discounts for seniors, students, low-income residents, and people who are transferring from one mode of public transit to another.

But you won’t be able to see or use these discounts if you use your payment card to tap on and off. So, according to the BART spokesperson’s email, riders who are “those who are currently eligible for discounts or plan to transfer to another system should continue using their Clipper cards.”

However, BART officials say that in the future, discounted riders should hopefully be able to use Tap and Ride.

Can I use my employer’s commuter benefits program with Tap and Ride?

If you use an employee benefit like Commuter Check to load pre-tax funds onto your Clipper card, you won’t be able to use that on Tap and Ride — at least not yet.

So, who will Tap and Ride work best for?

For one thing, tourists to the Bay Area — who now won’t have to spend $3 to purchase a plastic Clipper card to load and use.

People who don’t ride BART or Bay Area public transit that often, whose Clipper card is gathering dust somewhere in their home, will probably also appreciate the convenience of tapping a payment card.

What if I change my mind after I tap into the station and don’t want to use BART after all?

According to BART’s website, Tap and Ride users will have a 30-minute grace period to avoid the $7.10 excursion fare if they enter a station and then change their mind about taking the BART somewhere.

(Clipper users still have to see an agent before exiting or contact customer services to avoid the fare. BART plans for Clipper card users to also get a grace period in the future, according to officials.)

How can I avoid “card clash” when using Tap and Ride?

There is a chance that BART’s system will be confused when the Clipper reader detects more than one type of payment method, said Jason Weinstein, Clipper program director for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, during a June 28 meeting.

This so-called “card clash” can apply to both Clipper cards and contactless bank cards — including any cards you’ve got saved in digital wallets like Apple Pay or Google Pay.

So how can you stop a potential card clash? Weinstein advised:

• If you’re using a plastic credit or debit, physically take it out from your wallet, or bag or phone case before tapping.
• If you’re using Apple Pay, try setting up Express Mode in your Apple Wallet for your preferred card to avoid charging the wrong one.
• If you’re using Google Pay and don’t want to unlock your phone each time you pay, go to the Security tab in your Wallet app and turn off Verification.
• If you’re using an Android device, Weinstein said these phones tend to automatically charge the Clipper card first — so you’ll need to be more deliberate about choosing your stored credit or debit card.

Weinstein said during the meeting that BART will add signage in its stations to warn people of this problem, as well as the solutions for people running into card clashes. Station agents can help you if you are not able to resolve your problem.

You can get more updates and details by checking out BART’s Contactless Payment page.

This story contains reporting from KQED’s Dan Brekke and Carly Severn.