Paying for Transperth With a Contactless Card or Phone: The Rules, Default Fares and Blocked Cards (Perth, WA)

You can pay for Transperth buses, trains and ferries by tapping a Visa or Mastercard, or a phone or watch with a Visa or Mastercard in its wallet. Contactless fares are charged at the standard cash rate, and the daily charge is capped at the standard DayRider fare as long as you use the same card or device all day.

The Public Transport Authority announced on 20 November 2025 that contactless payments would roll out in Perth from Monday 8 December 2025. This guide covers the rules Transperth sets out in its conditions of use and its FAQ: what works, how to avoid default fares, when you are charged, and what to do if a card is blocked. Checked on Friday 23 October 2026.

Which cards and devices work?

The Transperth contactless page says you can use your Visa or Mastercard, or a digital wallet. The conditions of use list physical Visa or Mastercard cards, credit or debit, and cards used through digital wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay or Samsung Pay on smartphones, smartwatches or other smart devices. If you have an account with several cards, all those with the contactless symbol can be used.

• Cards from non-participating payment schemes, for example Amex, Diners and gift cards, are not accepted.
• Damaged cards or devices may not be accepted.
• If your phone or watch has a flat battery, you may be charged a default fare, or receive an infringement for travelling without a verifiable ticket.

What does it cost, and is there a daily cap?

All tickets bought with contactless payment are charged at the standard cash fare. The conditions of use give these rules:

• A single journey within 3.2 kilometres is a 2 Sections fare.
• If you continue or transfer within three hours of boarding, the fare becomes Go Anywhere.
• The maximum daily charge is capped at the standard DayRider fare when you use the same payment method.
• Transfers and DayRider rules only apply when you use the same payment method, so tag on and off with the same one to get them.

Contactless payments do not support concession fares. Concession customers need to use their SmartRider, and SmartRider is also needed for the 10% and 20% discounts. The fares themselves are in our Transperth fares guide.

How do I tag on and off?

Where	What the conditions say
Train	Tag on before boarding; tag off as soon as there is a reasonable opportunity after leaving the train
Bus or ferry	Tag on immediately at the front on boarding; tag off before leaving, at the front or back of a bus; tag on and off on the same bus
Every leg	Repeat with the same card or device for each leg, with exceptions at Warwick and Whitfords Controlled Stations and where the same bus continues as another service
Time limit	Tag off every trip within 180 minutes of tagging on, or you may be charged a default fare

Other rules in the conditions:

• You cannot tag on twice with the same card to pay for yourself and another person. Each traveller needs their own payment method.
• If you tag on and then change your mind, you can tag off at the same location with the same card or device within 15 minutes and not be charged. After 15 minutes, two default fares may be charged.
• If you cannot tag on successfully, you must use another payment method.

What causes a default fare?

Transperth says that failing to tag on or off correctly may result in a default fare. The common causes in its conditions are:

• Tagging on with one card or device and off with another. Transperth says your physical card and its digital version are separate payment methods, and that a mixed tag-on and tag-off is treated as two incomplete journeys, charged as two default fares.
• Presenting more than one card at the reader, which can cause a card clash. Transperth says to take your card out of your wallet and present only one card or device.
• Tagging on and off on different buses.
• Not tagging off within 180 minutes.

Transperth’s conditions for SmartRider describe the default fare as the cash fare calculated as if you travelled to the farthest point possible from where you boarded. Check the conditions of use for the current wording that applies to your payment method.

What do the validator messages mean?

Message	Transperth’s explanation
Please present one card only	The validator is reading more than one card; remove the one you want to use from your wallet
Card not accepted	The card was not held correctly, is from a non-participating scheme, is reported lost or stolen, or is blocked by the bank
Card expired	The card is expired and cannot be used
Card declined contact your bank	Insufficient funds, or an error such as a blocked card that needs your bank’s help
Remove Card	The card was left on the validator for too long

What are the Warwick and Whitfords exceptions?

Warwick and Whitfords are Controlled Stations. Within the interchange area at one of them, you can transfer from train to bus without tagging off the train, or from bus to train without tagging on to the train, and the system transfers you automatically. You always need to tag on and off the bus. When you arrive on a bus or enter the station to catch a bus, the second tag must come within 15 minutes of the first, or a default fare is charged. If you finish a bus journey at a Controlled Station and are not transferring to the train, you must tag off at the fare reader.

When am I charged, and what shows on my bank statement?

Transperth’s FAQ says contactless fares are calculated at the end of the Transperth day. The validators collect journey data during the day and the system recreates your trips overnight, working out the correct fare, including whether you are entitled to a DayRider fare. For that reason the validator does not show a fare when you tag off, and does not say whether you tagged on or off, because the information is not stored on your card.

• Payment is processed at the end of the Transperth business day, generally overnight. It can take another one to three business days to appear on your bank statement.
• You may see a $1 authorisation hold, which Transperth says is temporary and not counted in your total.
• Travel on Friday, Saturday or Sunday may lead to several debits on one day, because some banks do not process payments over the weekend.
• You can see up to 35 days of trips and payments made with your contactless card in Transperth’s customer portal. Each time you open it, a temporary $0 pre-authorisation hold may appear on your statement.

What if my card is blocked?

If you can tag on, you can complete the journey, according to Transperth. A Mastercard user needs at least $1 in the account to tag on. If Transperth cannot collect payment for your travel, the card or device cannot be used for travel again until the payment has been received.

1. Present the blocked card or device at a SmartRider validator. This triggers an attempt to collect the unpaid fares and asks your bank for authorisation.
2. If it succeeds, the block is lifted, which Transperth says usually takes about 15 minutes.
3. If you cannot wait, use another payment method for that journey, or call 13 62 13.

Transperth warns that only a limited number of attempts to collect payment are possible, so make sure there are enough funds in the account.

Is contactless travel free on Sundays and in the city?

Yes, on both. Every Sunday travel is free for SmartRider and contactless users on all Transperth services from first service until last service, except late-night services after midnight on Saturday, and the Free Transit Zone is not charged for contactless users who tag on and off as normal. The PTA’s statement of 20 November 2025 said people using the new payment options would still get free travel on Sundays by tagging on and off. Our free Sunday travel guide has the full Sunday rules.

What about inspections, refunds and parking?

• Transperth says new revenue inspection devices are used to check your card or device for a valid ticket. You must present the card or device you used to tag on and off if an authorised officer asks, and allow it to be read.
• A refund is credited only to the same card or device used for the journey, and can take up to 10 business days to appear.
• For parking at stations, Transperth says contactless cards cannot be used on SmartParker machines. Pay by Plate machines accept Visa and Mastercard cards and wallets, but Claremont, Seaforth and Swanbourne are SmartParker only, and Cockburn Central, East Perth, Fremantle and Murdoch are SmartRider only, with no coins or contactless. See our station parking guide.

Sources

• Transperth — Contactless payments (checked 23 October 2026)
• Transperth — Types of tickets and contactless FAQ
• Transperth — Ticket conditions of use (Section C, contactless payments)
• Public Transport Authority — New public transport payment options to go live next month (20 November 2025)

Featured image: An information machine at Warwick railway station, September 2025 (photo: Nick-D / CC BY-SA 4.0) (text added)

OZ Local Updates is an independent local guide and is not affiliated with Transperth or the Public Transport Authority. Rules can change; check the official pages above before you travel.