Leap Card wtf

kearney121

Leap card has such potential but clearly is being ran by the biggest idiots in the world. the on line top up system has far too many steps, as is designed for portability and convince should have pay with paypal option. the service could also benifet from a text to top up system. In Dublin there are vending machines at luas stops, one of these would be of benefit in cork. Secondly loading far too little agents, im based in cork and finding it impossible to use. auto-loading only allows for 30, 40 and 50 for the average person these sums are too high, a 20 option would be reasonable.

Victor

kearney121 wrote: »

convince should have pay with paypal option.

Too messy. You would transfer money from your bank to your credit card to Paypal to Leap (which has its own internal transactions) to the bus operator.

the service could also benifet from a text to top up system.

Much the same issue. Text top-ups work for phone companies because it is they who are receiving the money. Any text top-up services that are run by third parties are horribly expensive.

In Dublin there are vending machines at luas stops, one of these would be of benefit in cork.

Agreed, but they are expensive (probably in the order of €50,000+). They can only be put in places that have a high through-put.

Secondly loading far too little agents, im based in cork and finding it impossible to use.

Agreed. There is amp of outlets here: http://www.payzone.ie/paywithpayzone.jsp

auto-loading only allows for 30, 40 and 50 for the average person these sums are too high, a 20 option would be reasonable.

It's down to overhead cost and the risk of non-payment. However, you are using the Leap Card before the next transaction is taken from your account.

I was one of the first people to sign up for auto top-up and I've had no problems.

Carawaystick

Yet every email I send goes from Billy to Jack to a load of other lads who I have no relationship with, and it arrives in seconds.
I've had paypal payments go through in seconds.

You'ls wonder why the machines at tram stops are so expensive though. Maybe its cos they are Scheidt.

Lidl will allow a 17 cent credit card/debit card transaction. the dublin bikes have a 1 euro charge to validate a new cc. If the nta can't negotiate a reasonable margin, they should get someone who will.

bk

Victor wrote: »

Too messy. You would transfer money from your bank to your credit card to Paypal to Leap (which has its own internal transactions) to the bus operator.

That isn't how most paypal payments work, you most not have used it before! Mostly paypal just operates as a credit card processor, it simply charges your credit card and sends the money to the merchant (NTA). No different then any other credit card processing service. While it is an option, there is no need to first send money from your bank to your paypal account!

It is really extremely convenient. You simply register your credit card with paypal when you first create an account with them. Then rather then having to enter your credit card with every new site you visit, you instead just enter your paypal username and password to authorize the transaction.

It saves lots of time having to fill out your credit card details, name, address, etc. on every little new website that you buy things from. Also I would trust Paypal to keep my credit card details secure more then some random small website. I always use the paypal option (or the similar services from Google, Amazon and Apple) when available.

Also it really isn't messy, from the perspective of a web developer, it is MUCH easier to add paypal support then it is to setup with a random credit card processing service. Also the costs with paypal are generally the same or cheaper then most credit card payment services.

I note that Irish Rail supports Paypal, so I see no reason why Leap shouldn't.

Victor wrote: »

It's down to overhead cost and the risk of non-payment. However, you are using the Leap Card before the next transaction is taken from your account.

I was one of the first people to sign up for auto top-up and I've had no problems.

Me too, it is great.

But the OP is also correct. It is WAY too expensive for the vast majority of people.

Many of my friends simply can't afford the big hit it involves. They would rarely even have that amount of money in the account! I notice most of them even run out of money on the leap cards and just end up paying cash, even though they are the people with the least money and the ones who can least afford it!

It is often the case that the poorest, minimum wage, working class people are the ones who get hit the worst.

The reality is Leap is fundamentally and badly broken!

Of course there are logical reasons for why they do what they do, but it just isn't good enough! If the NTA want leap to actually be successful, then that means they need to fix these issues and make Leap easier to use. And yes that may mean the NTA paying out of their own pocket to fix it (buy new ticket machines, take the loses for any fraud, etc.). What needs to be fixed?

- New modern ticket machines, that support applying online topups on the actual buses almost immediately.
- Reduce the auto-topup amount to €10

BTW note if they get new ticket machines that support always on connections, then the fraud issue is reduced as they can process the transaction almost immediately.

Honestly, non of this is rocket science, they just need to stop messing around and actually fix the issues :mad:

AlekSmart

bk wrote: »

I note that Irish Rail supports Paypal, so I see no reason why Leap shouldn't.

Me too, it is great.

But the OP is also correct. It is WAY too expensive for the vast majority of people.

Many of my friends simply can't afford the big hit it involves. They would rarely even have that amount of money in the account! I notice most of them even run out of money on the leap cards and just end up paying cash, even though they are the people with the least money and the ones who can least afford it!

It is often the case that the poorest, minimum wage, working class people are the ones who get hit the worst.

The reality is Leap is fundamentally and badly broken!

Of course there are logical reasons for why they do what they do, but it just isn't good enough! If the NTA want leap to actually be successful, then that means they need to fix these issues and make Leap easier to use. And yes that may mean the NTA paying out of their own pocket to fix it (buy new ticket machines, take the loses for any fraud, etc.). What needs to be fixed?

- New modern ticket machines, that support applying online topups on the actual buses almost immediately.
- Reduce the auto-topup amount to €10

BTW note if they get new ticket machines that support always on connections, then the fraud issue is reduced as they can process the transaction almost immediately.

Honestly, non of this is rocket science, they just need to stop messing around and actually fix the issues :mad:

Excellent post.

Currently,it appears that the Wayfarer/Leapcard issues have returned to bother us all.

After a period when the Transaction speeds actually became acceptable,and the functionality of Leapcard appeared to be ready to expand,we have now returned to the "Pregnant Pause" situation.

The Wayfarer again hangs,as it always did,with up to 8 seconds elapsing BEFORE the Leap Menu appears,couple with a significant increase in "Bad Reads" and call-backs to Leapcard customers.

This is both demoralizing and unnecessary,particularly for both Staff and Leapcard customers who have bought into this system.

The major issue,for me,is the total lack of any effective feedback channel to the Leapcard development team coupled with a strong sense of deatchment in relation to anybody taking responsibility for Leapcard's future.