Travel Cards can be obtained from either the Public Transport Operator whose Public Transport service you use, or from other Fare Media Issuers who advertise Account Based Ticketing Public Transport Travel Cards.

The South African Coat of Arms and CiPurse^TM Certified logos must appear on the back of the Travel Card. Please refer to How does the Travel Card look?

Travel Cards will be available from Ticket offices, kiosks close to bus stops and stations. Public Transport Operators may advise you of other places where you can obtain Travel Cards.

At some Municipal offices or Public Transport Operator walk-in-centres there will be Self-service Terminal which will allow you to register your account and get a Travel Card.

There are many ways to top-up your account. There are often kiosks close to bus stops and stations where you can Top-up. These kiosks are managed by the Public Transport Operator or in many instances by a retail store or appointed agent. At many sites there are top-up locations where the Public Transport Operators service is advertised. Top-Ups can either be made in cash or by using bank cards. Top-ups will display immediately against your account. When topping up at a kiosk, you can travel immediately.

Public Transport Operators may advise you of other places where you can top-up and will advertise them in your area.

Bank card Top-ups can be made if you download the SANRAL Mobile App from the Apple App Store, Android Play Store, or the Huawei AppGallery. On the SANRAL Mobile App, you can either register or remain anonymous and still top-up your account. There is a delay in the Top-up transaction reflecting in your account if you top-up via the SANRAL Mobile App. It is recommended that you top-up your account in good time before you intend to travel when you are using the Mobile App to top-up.

At some Municipal offices or Public Transport Operator walk-in-centres there will be Self-service Terminal which will allow you to register your account and then top-up using your bank card. Using the Self-service Terminal will allow you to travel immediately.

Top-ups can also be made at various retail stores by asking the teller to top-up your SANRAL Account and providing them with your Account number which is the 16-digit number printed on the front of your Travel Card. Cash or bank cards can be used. It can take up to 5 days for payments made at shops to show on your account.

Payments can be made from your bank account into the pre-defined beneficiary, namely, “SANRAL Transaction Clearing House (TCH)” using your 16-digit travel card number that is printed on the front of your Travel Card as your reference. It can take 2 to 3 days for EFT payments to show in your account.

Your balance is available if you download the SANRAL Mobile App from the Apple App Store, Android Play Store or the Huawei AppGallery and log into your account as either an Anonymous or Registered user.

At some Municipal offices or Public Transport Operator walk-in-centres there may be Self-service Terminal which will allow you to register your account and then view your balance.

Some of the top-up kiosks advertising the Public Transport Operator service may enable you to see your balance when you tap your card. The balance that is shown is the prepaid balance on your card and will not necessarily be the same as your balance on your pre-paid account, as there may be outstanding fare transactions that have not yet been charged to your account. Please also refer to the section How quickly does my balance get updated?

With some Public Transport Operators, you will be able to see your balance when you tap on the reader on the bus or station gate where you pay for your trip.

You may call the SANRAL Public Transport Call Centre (0800 726 725), and the Public Transport Liaison Officer (PTLO) can give you the current balance. If there is a Top-up or transaction being queried, the PTLO will confirm whether it appears on your Account and thereafter refer you to the appropriate place. You will need to provide the account number as well as the Personal Identification Number (PIN) that is printed on the card.

Public Transport Operator kiosks and top-up locations advertising the Public Transport Operators service, update your balance immediately.

The SANRAL Mobile App will take some time before you may be able to travel, so top up in good time before you intend to travel.

The Self-service Terminal update your balance immediately.
Retail stores can take up to 5 days for your balance to be updated.
EFT payments from your bank can take 2 to 3 days to update your balance.

To personalise, or register your account, you can use one of the Self-service Terminal at some Municipal offices or Public Transport Operator walk-in-centres.

You can also download the SANRAL Mobile App from the Apple App Store, Android Play Store, or the Huawei AppGallery.

The SANRAL Mobile App allows you to remain as an Anonymous Account holder or you can register your account and obtain many benefits.

An Anonymous Account holder can perform the following functions on the SANRAL Mobile App:

• Top Ups/Payments
• Manage Linked Payment Cards
• View Transactions
• Perform Account Enquiries
• Convert to a Registered Account

A Registered Account Holder can, amongst other functions, perform:

• Top Ups/Payments
• Manage Linked Payment Cards
• View Financial Documents
• Manage Account Details
• Manage Travel Cards
• Manage Vehicles and Tags
• View Transactions
• Register to pay for Parking
• Perform Account Enquiries

Travel Card Holders can register their accounts and receive additional benefits like the ability to be able to report lost and stolen cards and to link multiple cards to one account.

Commuters who have registered via the SANRAL Mobile App from the Apple App Store, Android Play Store, or the Huawei AppGallery or on a Self-service Terminal are called Registered Account holders. Registered account holders can log enquiries/investigations with the SANRAL Transaction Clearing House by logging an enquiry on the SANRAL Mobile App.

By registering an account with the SANRAL Transaction Clearing House, an account holder is registering a Mobility Account that can be used for public transport, associated parking services and toll transactions. To use the Mobility Account for public transport only, the account holder is not required to register any vehicles or tags against their account.

If they do own a vehicle and travel on any tolled roads, no toll transactions will be charged against their SANRAL Transaction Clearing House account unless they register a vehicle and tag against it.