Contactless payment piloted on the Suomenlinna ferry

You can use contactless payment to buy adult single tickets for all fare zones. The HSL area is divided into four zones, identified by letters A, B, C and D.

For the Suomenlinna ferry, you need an AB ticket. If you plan to change to other services, buy a ticket that covers all the zones you will be traveling through.

In Helsinki, Espoo, Kauniainen and Vantaa i.e. zones A, B and C, you always have to buy a ticket for at least two zones (an AB or BC ticket), as there are no one-zone tickets for zones A, B and C.

Ticket prices for different zones:

• AB, BC, CD, D EUR 3.40
• ABC, BCD EUR 4.70
• ABCD EUR 5.10

You can check the zone boundaries in the Journey Planner. If you use the Journey Planner’s route search, it will show you which ticket you need.

Buy a single ticket with your debit or credit card (Visa or Mastercard) at the card reader before boarding the vehicle. During the first phase of the pilot, you can buy tickets using contactless payment at card readers located at the Market Square, Katajanokka and Suomenlinna ferry piers.

1 First, select the zones.

2 Show your debit or credit card to the reader.

3 Your debit/credit card serves as your ticket.

The card reader does not print a ticket. Your debit/credit card serves as your ticket, which you present to ticket inspectors. The reader will not request your PIN code.

You can pay using a contactless-enabled Visa or Mastercard card. Look for the contactless payment logo on the card.

The card must be valid and have sufficient funds to cover the cost of the journey.

You can also make contactless payments using your mobile phone. Several Finnish banks offer apps that enable you to use your mobile phone as a credit card. At HSL card readers, you can buy tickets using the ApplePay and GooglePay apps.

Please note that Amex and Diners Club are not accepted as payment methods.

During the pilot, the ticket allows you to change to trams, the Metro, commuter trains and orange trunk route buses, but not the blue buses. Once all card readers support contactless payment, you can use it across all public transport modes.

The validity of the ticket is determined by the zones:

• AB, BC and D tickets 80 minutes
• ABC and CD tickets 90 minutes
• BCD tickets 100 minutes, and
• ABCD tickets 110 minutes.

The reader shows the expiry time of the ticket:

Show your debit or credit card to the ticket inspector’s mobile phone. The inspector uses an app on their phone to check the validity of the ticket. The ticket inspector will not physically handle or take your card. Your card information is processed securely.

The card reader will alert you if your card is not accepted for your journey.

There may be different reasons for this:

• If you have multiple contactless payment cards in your wallet and place the wallet near the reader, it may not be able to read the card. Present only one card to the reader at a time. 
• You removed the card too quickly. Show the card to the reader again.
• If you are using a new card for the first time for contactless payment on HSL public transport, it may not work because your bank may require you to activate the card at a chip and PIN payment terminal. This cannot be done at HSL card readers.
• The card may be blocked from use on public transport if were previously unable to charge tickets to it. You can use the card again once you have settled the outstanding amount with HSL. 
• The error message may also be due to insufficient credit or reaching daily security limits. You can adjust these limits in your online bank. 

The card reader does not print a receipt for your ticket.

• If you need a receipt, log in to the contactless payment portal here. Enter the requested information in the portal and you will receive a receipt and ticket details.
• Several banks offer apps that allow you to use your mobile phone as a credit card. At HSL card readers, you can buy tickets using the ApplePay and GooglePay apps. If you pay using your bank's app, you will receive a receipt via the contactless payment portal if you purchased the ticket with a card linked to the app. 
• Contact HSL’s customer serviceif you have questions about contactless payments.

We will first test contactless payment on the Suomenlinna ferry and then at Metro stations to ensure it functions without errors in a real operating environment. During the pilot phase, tickets purchased using contactless payment do not allow changing to the blue buses; however, the tickets are valid on all other public transport.

We will inform customers through all our communications channels once contactless payment becomes available across all our public transport services. Once contactless payment has been fully rolled out, it can be used to buy adult single tickets for all HSL's public transport services: trams, the Metro, commuter trains, all buses and the Suomenlinna ferry.