Types of tickets

If you receive a screen message other than ‘Tag OK’ there may be a few reasons why this is occurring. Below are the screen messages that will populate if your attempt to tag on or tag off is unsuccessful.

Please present one card only 
The validator is reading more than one card. To avoid a card clash or the wrong card being charged, please ensure the desired card for travel is removed from your wallet when attempting to tag on.

Card not accepted
The type of card that is presented is not accepted on Transperth services. This may be because:

• The card was not held correctly on the validator for a successful read,
• The card is from a non-participating payment scheme (e.g., Amex, Diners, gift cards),
• The card has been reported lost or stolen, or
• The card has been blocked by your financial institution.

Card expired
The card is expired and cannot be used for travel.

Card declined contact you bank
This message will populate if there are insufficient funds on your card or if there is an error (i.e. blocked card) that would require the support of your bank.

Remove Card
The card was left on the validator for too long.

Yes, contactless payments will not be charged in the Free Transit Zone. Please tag on and off as you normally would -if your journey is within the Free Transit Zone you will not be charged. For more information, visit Free Transit Zone.

Contactless payment fares are calculated at the end of the Transperth day. During the day, the validators collect information about your journeys. This data is then used to determine and charge the correct fare including if you are entitled to a DayRider fare, before your payment method is charged.

As the information for your travel is not stored on your credit or debit card the system is unable to distinguish between a tag on and a tag off. The system will instead collect your travel data for the day and use this to recreate your journey at the end of the day and charge you the appropriate fare.

Your contactless payment is processed at the end of the Transperth business day, generally overnight. After processing, it takes an additional 1-3 business days for the transaction to appear on your bank statement, depending on your financial institution. This timing is standard for most merchants and banks. You may notice a $1 authorisation hold in your bank statement however, rest assured this is temporary and will not be calculated within your total transaction amount.

Additionally, multiple payments may be debited from your bank account on the same day. Passengers who travel on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday may experience this because some banks don’t process payments over the weekend.

If you are able to tag on, (meaning a Mastercard user must have at least $1 in their account) you will be able to complete your journey. However, if Transperth is unable to recoup the funds for the travel you will not be able to tag on with that card/device again until the payment has been received and the card removed from the block list.

If Transperth are unable to collect payment for your travel from your bank, the card or device will be prevented from being used for travel.

The card of or device will be blocked until any unpaid fares have been paid in full and we have received a successful authorisation from your bank.

To unblock the card or device, present that card or device at a SmartRider validator, this will trigger an attempt to collect any unpaid fares and will seek an authorisation from your bank. If successful, the card or device will be unblocked, which usually takes about 15 minutes. Alternatively, you can call 13 62 13 for assistance.

Passengers may need to use another payment method to pay for that journey if they cannot wait the 15 minutes.