Contactless in the London Transport System
 

Hi all...

We are going back to London in the spring -- our fifth (or maybe sixth) visit from the US. In the past we have always loaded up our Oyster Cards with a week pass (or whatever is appropriate for our trip). We've come to love our Oyster Cards. :-)

I am now hearing a lot about contactless cards. My questions:

• Are these just credit cards that function "contactless-ly"??
• If so, I assume I have to get one from my credit card provider...true?
• If so, do I need to go to the TFL website to register it, or does it just work like any other charge card when you wave it near the reader.
• If so, I assume it always charges you the least amount...for instance, as soon as you hit the daily or weekly cap, it stops charging you...is that true?

Thanks for the answers to these questions...and any other helpful info that is relevant to contactless payment in the TFL system.

ssander

Just keep using your Oyster card. You don't have to follow the lemmings yet.

If you don't have a contactless card, no point in getting one, just use the Oyster.
If you do have one (there's a symbol on it) you just use it instead of the Oyster to check in and out at the gates. It automatically charges a maximum daily and a maximum weekly rate.
You never have to top up a card again.
The Oyster card also has a daily cap - not sure if it has a weekly cap, I think that is only for the contactless payments.

Some cards have the contactless symbol on it, but you have to tell your bank to activate it first.

It's an option, but I would guess, one of limited value to those with contactless cards on an account held in a foreign currency: think of your bank's foreign exchange charges each time you would use it.

Plus, as you will hear from the frequent announcements, you charge yourself the maximum if you get your cards muddled up and check in and out of the system on different cards - the computer obviously can't match them up so charges the maximum to both.

So if you have a contactless card, keep it separate from your Oyster (there were reports, I'm not sure how reliable, of the system being confused between the two if they're kept too close to each other in the wallet you wave over the terminal).

I suppose it depends on what your bank charges; if it's a percentage, it doesn't matter. If they charge a fixed amount per transaction, then I wouldn't use it.

Thanks, all...I will check my cards to see if they are now or can be made contactless...I have several cards that I take to Europe, none of which have foreign exchange fees.

Patrick...thanks for the heads-up about not using multiple cards...I hadn't thought of that, but it makes sense that to TFL different cards are different accounts for the purpose of keeping a running total of daily/weekly maximums. That fact seems to argue for continuing with our Oyster cards. We're only in the UK for a short time, so we generally only add funds/travel cards to our Oysters once at the start of our trip.

ssander

You can only use contactless cards issued in the UK to get through the turnstiles at tube stations. If your card was issued elsewhere you will need to go to the ticket machine or window and physically buy a ticket or load your oystercard.

Not true RM67. We use our Belgian and Dutch contactless cards without problems.

You get a weekly cap on contactless but not on the Oyster card. You get daily rate caps on both.
Since you have an Oyster card, I would suggest you keep using it unless you have a requirement for the weekly rate cap. Some non UK contactless cards might not be accepted as per TFL website info.

The TFL website says contactless cards must be issued through a UK bank, so I'm not sure how you managed that Tulips.

If that is true they changed it very recently. We've all used credit cards and bank cards that were not issued in the UK.
Contactless amex works too.
I will try it this weekend.

https://tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payment...ds?intcmp=8610

Non-UK contactless cards

Most contactless cards issued outside the UK can be used to buy tickets or top up an Oyster card at ticket machines at Tube, DLR, London Overground and TfL rail stations, at ticket offices and Visitor Centres, even if they can't be used for contactless travel.

The list below shows which cards issued outside the UK are accepted for contactless travel.

Attachment 226

American Express (AMEX)
All American Express contactless payment cards.

Attachment 227

Attachment 228

MasterCard
Nearly all MasterCard and Maestro contactless payment cards issued outside the UK are accepted.

Some cards issued in the USA, Canada and the Netherlands are not accepted. If your card is rejected on our services, please contact your card issuer.

Attachment 229
Attachment 230

Visa
Some Visa and V PAY contactless payment cards from countries issued outside the UK are not accepted.

You're also suppose to be able to use mobile wallets like Apple Pay on your iPhone.

I think most European cards have Maestro, so they work. It's such a convenient system, I wish they would use it in more countries.