OVpay

I am a Dutch citizen living abroad. I tried to set up the app, eventually succeeded. Not after many frustrating errors like “something went wrong on our end” and endless re-sending of verification codes You need a Dutch address to have the “OV pas” sent to. Well, that’s a problem for me. But you can use a credit card as pass. This is as frustrating as the luggage rules of an airline. In trying to set up the credit card a browser window was opened outside the app, and I was greeted by a 403 Forbidden browser error. Likely the gateway only accepts IP traffic from within the region. Some questions and remarks: - why not allow the pass to be sent abroad? Charge a shipping fee if you have to. - but really: why not have a virtual transit pass on the phone? Phones have been capable of NFC for years - check your IP gating, your security measures are failing users from abroad I have also signed up for a Belgian transit pass. A world of difference, super easy and none of the headaches.

Step 1 - download app and set up an account. Step 2 - use a debit, credit or mobile payment to pay for any kind of public transit ride (train, tram, bus, etc). To do this, scan your payment method at an entry gate and at the completion of your ride, exit gate. Step 3 - Access your payment method account to look up the charge for the ride you just took. Once that charge has posted on your account you can now register that payment method on the OVpay app. Now you have an overview of your trips in the app.

Attention! This app does not allow you to pay for public transit in the Netherlands. Instead, it allows you to track what you've spent and when you checked in and out with your credit card. To set it up, create an account and then register a charge that shows up on your card once you've tapped your card or Apple Pay on any transit reader. The app allows you to set up notifications for certain events and is very straightforward. I cannot find any complaint and I wish other cities and countries have this feature as well. Well done, the Netherlands! Not only did you crush physical infrastructure, you did a good job on this digital infrastructure as well!