Beijing subway "mobile phone swiping" first day experience: mobile phones can be used even without network

On August 14, inside Beijing West Railway Station on Metro Line 9, a poster reminded passengers that they can use their mobile phones to board the train. Photo/Xinhua News Agency

Starting from August 14, Beijing citizens can take the subway by "swiping their mobile phones". According to the Beijing Municipal Transportation Card Company, citizens can use their mobile phone cards to take all subway lines, but currently this function only supports mobile phones with NFC function. In other words, Apple phones that do not have the public transportation NFC function activated cannot be used on the subway for the time being.

Card swiping is not available for all models

Yesterday afternoon, a Beijing News reporter went to Ciqikou Station on Line 7 of the subway. After using a Xiaomi 5 phone to download the Beijing I-Card APP and registering and binding a bank card, the system automatically generated a virtual public transportation card for the reporter. The reporter placed the phone close to the card swipe gate on Line 7, and the simulated card popped up automatically. After clicking, it showed the card swipe success and the balance on the card. After exiting the station, repeat the above process again to complete the deduction.

It is understood that this function is launched by Beijing Municipal Transportation Card Company. The virtual card in the APP can cover most of the functions of the physical card of the Municipal Transportation Card, including ground public transportation, convenience stores, fast food restaurants, vending machines that support physical card swiping, etc. Yesterday evening, the reporter took the No. 41 bus at the Beijing Stadium bus stop and also used the card APP to complete the card swiping and billing.

However, not all mobile phones support this function, and Apple phones are not among them. According to data released by market research firm IDC, among the top five smartphone manufacturers in China, Apple shipped 8 million units in the second quarter, accounting for 7.1% of the Chinese market. In addition, some Android phones are also not among the phones that support it.

The requirements are the same as when using a physical card to take the subway. When swiping your phone to enter the station, the balance on the card must be no less than the lowest fare for the entire network (3 yuan).

NFC was once "abandoned" by Xiaomi

Using NFC (Near Field Communication) technology, users can exchange data when they are close to each other. In recent years, it has been widely used in mobile payment, access control and other fields.

The official website of Beijing Municipal Transportation Card shows that if Beijing citizens want to experience mobile phone card swiping, they need to first determine whether their mobile phone supports the activation of the mobile phone card. Currently, nearly 160 models with NFC function from Xiaomi, Huawei, Samsung, Nubia, etc. already support this service.

According to public reports, mobile phone manufacturer Xiaomi once removed this function from the Xiaomi 4. Its chairman Lei Jun once admitted in a public interview that part of the reason was that there were relatively few NFC users. However, the function was later restored in some subsequent products.

In the eyes of industry insiders, this represents one of the future development directions of the payment industry. "From the original cash, to bus cards, to mobile payments," Dong Zheng, a credit card expert, told the Beijing News reporter that as the scenario-based application of the payment system becomes more and more important, public transportation has also become an important entry point.

From a national perspective, Beijing is not the first city to "take the lead" in mobile payment. According to Dong Zheng, in August last year, Guangzhou Metro took the lead in supporting mobile payment and financial IC card payment, becoming the first urban rail transit line in the country to support Cloud QuickPass (including bank card QuickPass, mobile phone Pay, QR code scanning and other payment methods). In May this year, Hangzhou Public Transport Group also announced that it would open Cloud QuickPass services on its subordinate lines.

■ Explanation

(1) Which mobile phones can activate the Mobile Card?

The hardware requirement for activating the Mobile Card is an Android smartphone with NFC function. Currently, the Mobile Card can support 160 NFC smartphones from brands such as Xiaomi, Huawei, Samsung, Nubia, OnePlus, and Meizu.

(2) What should I do if my mobile phone runs out of battery after I swipe my phone to enter the station?

The mobile phone card is the same as the stored-value card. The card swiping adopts the offline transaction mode and does not rely on the network environment. However, network support is required for online recharge of the mobile phone card.

However, the mobile phone card cannot be used when the phone is out of power. Different mobile phone brands have different requirements for the use of the mobile phone card when the phone is turned off. To ensure normal transactions, it is recommended that users keep their phones turned on at all times when using the mobile phone card.

(3) Can I enjoy discounts on public buses and subways by using a mobile phone card?

When using a mobile phone card to take the bus or subway, you can enjoy the same ticket system and fare policy as an ordinary stored-value card.

In addition, in order to prevent users from being unable to take the bus due to insufficient balance, the mobile phone card has an overdraft function. As long as the balance of the mobile phone card is not less than the lowest fare of the entire railway network (3 yuan), you can swipe your phone to enter the station and take the bus. The overdraft amount generated by the ride will be automatically deducted when recharging.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.