TfL Network Goes Contactless in September

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Credit and debit cards will work on Tube, rail and bus services

Pay as you go customers on London's entire transport network will be able to use their credit, debit, charge cards or devices in the same way as Oyster from September 16.

Customers will no longer have to spend time topping up Oyster balances as fares are charged directly to payment card accounts.

A new daily plus Monday to Sunday cap will also apply for contactless customers - TfL says it will automatically calculate the best value contactless fare over the course of the week.

Shashi Verma, TfL's director of Customer Experience, says:
" Offering the option of contactless payments will make it easier and more convenient for customers to pay for their travel, freeing them of the need to top up Oyster credit and helping them get on board without delay."

Only one charge per day will be sent to the bank for payment, clearly referencing it as a payment to TfL for travel.

Registered customers can see their journey and payment history via their TfL online account. This also gives customers the ability to obtain refunds on incomplete journeys.

TfL says contactless payments have operated on the capital's bus network since December 2012, and have been used by around 825,000 customers for 17 million journeys. Around 65,000 journeys a day are being made using a contactless payment card.

In April this year, around 3,000 customers took part in a successful pilot on the Tube and rail network. Feedback has been used to improve the service, including making the online accounts easier to use.

Customers are reminded to only touch one card to the reader to avoid 'card clash'. If you touch the reader with a wallet or purse containing several cards, it doesn't know which one to read and this could lead to your card being rejected or the wrong one being charged.

For more information and a video illustrating how contactless payments work, visit TfL Contactless.

Contactless payment cards are debit, credit, charge or pre-paid cards which can be used to make quick, easy and secure payments for everyday purchases of £20 and under. There's no need for a PIN or a signature, just touch your card on a contactless card reader. For more information go here.

August 11, 2014