For more than three years now, it has been possible to top up the Navigo pass with your smartphone. A technological advance whose deployment took time, the first step before the use of the mobile as a transport pass in its own right, allowing you to use the metro, tram, bus and RER, or even the Transilien.
Which smartphones are compatible?
Anyone running Android or iOS, preferably up-to-date. If IDF Mobilités does not specify from which version of Android it is possible to load your pass, the iPhone must be at least equipped with iOS 14.5. Needless to say, an NFC-compatible smartphone is mandatory, since the chip detects your Navigo pass. On Android, a good majority of the park has been equipped with NFC for about ten years, which is not the case with Apple terminals (you will need at least an iPhone 7).
Then comes the question of the pass to possess. Not all of them are compatible and you will need at least its silver purple version (flanked by the STIF logo), failing the most recent ones in blue black with the Île-de-France Mobilités logo.
The old blue violet card is not compatible. © IDF Mobilités
The process is simple. Start by installing an app on your phone. You can opt for Bonjour RATP, IDF Mobilités, Transdev IDF or Assistant SNCF. Personally, we use Bonjour RATP which works a little better than the others. Our examples will therefore be based on the latter, even if the purchase process is common to all applications.
Hello RATP
Bonjour RATP is the official application for Parisian public transport: RER, Bus, metro, Navigo pass recharge, route calculation, VTC vehicle order, etc.
- Version :
RATP SMART SYSTEMS - Downloads:
83 - Release date :
02/27/2023 - Author :
RATP - Licence :
Free License - Categories:
Leisure – Travel
- Operating system :
Android, iOS iPhone / iPad
In the case of Bonjour RATP, you have to go to the Titles tab, then click on Read my pass by referring to the drawing to find out how to position it in relation to the NFC chip. Done, the app detects whether your pass already contains a ticket or not. In the latter case, you are redirected to the purchase page. You then have access to several options for recharging your card: simple tickets, daily, weekly, monthly or simply weekend formulas, with different associated zones.
Then, place to the payment. You can use your bank card or go through services such as Apple Pay or Samsung Pay for more speed. Payment validated, you will have to replace your pass on the NFC chip to load it with the chosen title(s). And There you go !
The process on the Bonjour RATP application on iOS and Android (Samsung). © Digital.
A first step before replacing your pass with your smartphone
It is currently not possible to use your iPhone as a pass in its own right. Long-awaited, the feature should arrive by the summer of 2023, according to Île-de-France Mobilités. The deployment would therefore take place before the Olympic Games in the capital in 2024.
On Android, the feature has already been available since 2022. In Bonjour RATP, a tab On my phone is available next to On my pass. To install your Navigo pass, it is necessary to download the contactless Ticket app developed by Wizway, IDF Mobilités’ partner in this dematerialization of transport tickets.
On your smartphone, you can buy books of tickets, single tickets, a daily, weekly or monthly pass, or even RoissyBus and OrlyBus tickets. The OrlyVal is still missing, as we already deplored in 2019.
