This app was mentioned in 4 comments, with an average of 2.50 upvotes
You can on Android phones and it is one of the handiest things ever. Literally waiting for the bus, check the balance and add credit in a few seconds.
App: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ie.leapcard.tnfc
If you have an iPhone, check if the NFC allows Leap card top-ups. I've heard Apple can be cunty about that.
For some reason none of the papers are linking the app directly. Bit of a pain to search for with the generic name. Here it is