i’m pretty sure the debit card function is completely separate from the travel wallet

But how do you activate the debit card function??

You have to call to activate the debit card feature. Be aware there are a number of fees if you use the debit card feature. Check the "Cardholder Agreement" on this page. https://septakeych.mycardplace.com

here u go

Yeah I think this is what I was looking for, gracias

This is good, thank ya

In case it's not clear - any money you put on the card using a fare machine or the SEPTA Key website will NOT be available for anything but paying SEPTA fares even if you activate the debit card functionality. They are separate pots of money, if you will.

I'm also not sure how much longer the debit card functionality will be available. It was an interesting and well-intended idea - many Philadelphians are unbanked and the thought was that this would give them a way to have a debit card without a bank account - but in practice almost no one uses it.

This is the last thing I wanted to hear.

So you're essentially saying that my money is stuck and can't be used for anything except Septa rides?

Edit - I don't even know why I asked this when you already said exactly that. Was hoping I misunderstood but don't think I did.

Thanks anyway

Yes, you're understanding correctly.

I don't know that you'll get anywhere, but you could try calling SEPTA Key customer service. Maybe if you explain that you were confused about how the Key wallet works versus the debit card functionality they'd consider giving you a refund. Probably not, but, it might be worth a try.

The good news, ish, is that your fare money won't expire if you register the Key card. The card itself will expire in a couple of years, but if you still haven't used the fare money by then you can have it transferred to a new Key card. So you could try to look at this as paying ahead on a whole bunch of SEPTA rides. The system has its problems, of course, but its reach is pretty extensive.

It was basically my grocery/hygiene products money until my foodstamps reload, so this is very less than ideal. Also I tried Septas customer service number before I made this post but it's automated and said to call back during business hours, then auto-hangs up on you. So yeah, just a not great sitch all around.

For real, thanks for the information though. At least I can temper my hope now.

“If you have money in the Mastercard debit Wallet you can use it to add funds to your Travel Wallet or purchase a SEPTA fare for your Key Card. You can't transfer money from your Travel Wallet to the Mastercard debit wallet and your Travel Wallet money can't be used to pay for things like coffee or groceries. If you only have money in the Mastercard debit Wallet, you'll still be able to pay for a trip on SEPTA - it just won't be a discounted fare.”

https://www.septa.org/key/faq.html

Basically the tldr is you can activate the debit feature, but it’s not a great idea because the fees are absurd. There are better reloadable debit options, eg Amex Bluebird.

I think that's saying if you only have money in the Mastercard and not the Travel Wallet you can only use the Mastercard for Septa, isn't it? That's what I'm getting from that, anyway. As much as I don't want that to be true.

It’s saying if you have too low a travel wallet balance, it will pull from the debit side as a cash fare instead of a Key fare.

Tomorrow try to call in and say you mistakenly loaded it as travel wallet, and intended to load debit. Maybe there can move it or refund it.

Unfortunately I suspect the limit is there to prevent people from arbitraging pretax or reduced fares into a more liquid debit balance, so they may not be flexible on it.

And for the future, research your options for prepaid debit accounts. I don’t know that much about them, but septa key appears to be worse for fees.

Looks like others are saying something similar but if you have a card already don’t do this.

Yeah, I definitely fucked up big time. I almost feel like I got scammed

I would go to speak to someone in person to try to get a refund. There used to be a counter at city hall station.

Why would you think this isn’t allowed?

Some subs have extremely ridiculous convoluted rules about what can and can't be posted. So I said that just in case.