How is NYC subway OMNY able to take payment while phone is locked?

by narshian on 9/9/2020, 1:57:45 PM with 2 comments
Apple Pay requires confirmation with the double click and Face ID, but OMNY is able to take payment merely by device proximity. Guessing this is NFC-based. But without confirmation? Aren’t there dangerous security implications to the mechanism behind whatever technique is being used here? Thanks

  • by phillipseamore on 9/9/2020, 2:13:52 PM

    Since the funds can only go to one party there is little opportunity for fraud. Likely you can only pay once at a turnstile (or station for that matter). Not sure how OMNY works but usually transport passes will not work unless you've checked-out before using it for another entry.

    The pass is only an identifier, it contains no payment information (you could be using pre-paid, credit card, direct debit but that happens on the "server" end).