Do they? I guess. You didn't get the 1 free xfer for the last 28 years MTA required a Metrocard, if I recall, if you paid cash; I could be misremembering that though. I'm not here to say SEPTA is great - their communication su ks bad. But I think if you had your keycard linked to the SEPTA app now you could have used the scanner for the app, you wouldn't have needed your card and could pay for you and a guest. Or your guest could buy a keycard. It's what you had to do up to a year or so ago in Chicago as well.