Standard Hafilat
The Standard card is the everyday Hafilat — the one most riders carry. It is anonymous, sold from vending machines at the Main Bus Terminal in Abu Dhabi and at every major station, and it costs AED 10 to issue. There is no photo, no registration, no rider profile. Adult fare applies on every tap, and the card can be passed from one person to another between trips.
The 13-digit Hafilat ID printed on the back is the only identifier. If the card is lost, the credit is gone with it — there is no way to look up an anonymous balance from a name, since the ITC does not hold one. For this reason riders rarely carry more than the credit they need for a week or two.
Online recharge through the desk works the same way as for the other types: pick Standard from the drop-down, type the 13-digit ID, choose an amount.
Personalised Hafilat
A Personalised Hafilat is registered to one rider. The card carries a photo and a fare profile — adult, student, senior or child — that is set in person at any Hafilat customer-service desk against the supporting document. Once the profile is on the card, every reader applies the matching fare line; there is no need to remember a discount code or to ask the driver.
Personalised cards are the best fit for riders who travel daily on the network and for anyone entitled to a reduced fare. Because the card is bound to a person, a lost card can be replaced and the remaining balance transferred at the same counter — anonymous Standard cards do not get this safety net.
The fare profile cannot be changed online. It is set, renewed and revoked only at a Hafilat customer-service desk, against a current document. The desk we run forwards AED amounts; it never alters profiles.
Premium Hafilat
The Premium card is issued to riders who routinely use Premium-bus seats — the front-section seating with the higher fare line. The card looks the same as a Standard one and reads on the same network of regular bus readers; the difference shows up at boarding, where the Premium fare is applied to a Premium ride.
The Premium card is convenient for commuters who like the calmer Premium section on long intercity coaches between Abu Dhabi and Dubai or Sharjah. On a regular city bus the card behaves like a Standard one — there is no premium charge for ordinary boarding.
Online recharge takes the Premium type from the drop-down and credits the same balance the rider sees on the chip. The card has the same 13-digit ID printed on the back as the other types.