App can help you Leap onto bus and train

A Leap Card app has been launched that will allow some users check their card balance and instantly top-up their credit by touching their card against their phones.

Leap Card holders with a Google Play account and a Near Field Communications-enabled smartphone, which runs Android operating system 4.4 KitKat or newer, can download the Leap Top-Up App, which was made available yesterday.

National Transport Authority chief executive Anne Graham said the development came in response to bus users who wanted a more convenient way to top up their Leap Card.

“Train, Dart, and Luas users’ cards automatically update following an online top-up or ticket purchase when the card is touched-on to a gate or terminal at the start of a journey, but the bus user has to go to a shop or a dedicated terminal, not always on their way, to load-up the credit they’d bought online or to collect their TaxSaver ticket,” said Ms Graham.

The app means people can make those top-up or ticket collections, using credit or debit cards, while they are on their way from A to B or whenever suits, she said.

The app will not be available to iPhone users, however. The NTA said Apple has not yet decided to allow access to NFC technology by third parties, but that it will develop an app for iPhone users if this policy changes.