Apple Pay Express Transit now available for MRT rides in Singapore

Whenever I ride the MRT with The MileLioness, there’s always this awkward moment where I sail through the gantry, and she gets stuck.

That’s because The MileLioness has an iPhone, and I have a real phone. You see, while Android users simply tap their phone and get on with their day, Apple users have the additional step of authenticating the transaction with Face ID first. Unless you’ve bothered to do it beforehand — and many people don’t — you’ll end up holding up the line. It’s a not-so-subtle way of announcing to the world that you own an iPhone.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Apple introduced Express Transit in 2019, a convenience feature that removes the need to authenticate public transportation payments. However, this wasn’t available in Singapore…until now. 

Apple Pay Express Transit now available for MRT rides

According to recent reports on Reddit and Hardwarezone, Apple Pay’s Express Transit is now available for MRT rides in Singapore. Users can simply tap their devices against the card reader and enter the gantry — no additional button tapping necessary. 

As a caveat, however, it only works at certain fare gates — namely the latest generation turquoise models (you can see the different generations of fare gates here). Mind you, this isn’t an official launch, so you shouldn’t expect 100% acceptance just yet. Moreover, Express Transit is currently only available for MRT rides, and not buses.

But now that the feature has broken cover, it’s surely only a matter of time before a systemwide rollout happens. For what it’s worth, a member of The MileLion community shared this DM with the Transport Minister (no, not that Transport Minister), which pointed to a full switch on by the end of 2026.

How does Express Transit work?

Express Transit allows iPhone and Apple Watch users to designate a credit or debit card as the default payment mode for public transportation rides.

It also allows you to use your iPhone (but not Apple Watch) for transit payments for up to five hours after the battery dies — the phone reserves a small amount of battery power for NFC transactions.

Express Transit mode can be set up under Settings > Wallet & Apple Pay.

What’s the best card to use for public transportation?

Bus and MRT rides paid through SimplyGo code as MCC 4111. You can use the following cards to earn up to 10 mpd on these payments.

🚆 Best Cards For SimplyGo (Specialised Spending Cards)
Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
DBS yuu Card Apply Visa	10 mpd	Min. S$800 per c. month with 4x participating merchants; max S$823 per c. month
StanChart Smart Card Apply	Up to 9.28 mpd	Min. S$1.5K per s. month; 7.42 mpd with min. S$800 per s. month, 0.46 mpd otherwise
UOB Preferred Visa Apply	4 mpd	Max. S$600 per c. month. Must use mobile contactless
UOB Visa Signature Apply	4 mpd	Min. S$1K max. S$1.2K contactless spend per s. month
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Apply	4 mpd	Max. S$750 per c. month, choose Transport as bonus category
UOB Lady’s Card Apply	4 mpd	Max. S$1K per c. month, choose Transport as bonus category
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card Apply	2.4 mpd	With min. S$1K SIA Group spend in a m. year

For other general spending options, refer to the post below.

2026 Edition: Best Credit Cards for Public Transport (SimplyGo)

While we’re talking about cards to use with Express Transit, you may have read online about a possible vulnerability concerning Visa Cards. For what it’s worth, Visa’s opinion is that such attacks are “impractical outside of a lab”, and “cardholders should continue to use them with confidence”.

Conclusion

Apple Pay Express Transit has started to pop up at selected MRT stations around Singapore, allowing Apple Pay users to breeze through fare gates without an additional verification requirement.

However, the functionality isn’t available for all gantries just yet, and it also doesn’t work for buses at the moment. These will no doubt be added soon, but until then, you’ll need to do the extra verification.

Or, you know, get a real phone.