We recently returned from London and inadvertently learned:

You need to pay £7 for an Oyster card.

If you got your card on or after 4 September 2022, the fee is non-refundable.

If you got your Oyster card before 23 February 2020, you can get your £5 refunded when you don't need your card anymore. If you got your Oyster card on or after this date, your £5 will be refunded automatically as pay as you go credit after one year, when you make a journey with your card. You must collect your refund within six months or you won't be eligible to receive it.

So, perhaps one more reason to use contactless.

Or . . . If anyone has plans to ever visit London again -- their Oyster will still be usable on subsequent trips so no reason to want a refund. And anyone who has visited over the years - their old/original Oysters are still valid. I've used the same OysterCard for years.

Contactless is good option but there are issues . . .

hmmmm.. are they trying to phase the oystercard out?

I love my oystercard. I do not want to dig out my credit card every time I go on the tube, but maybe that is the future.

Right, I guess I assumed Oyster veterans knew their cards were good to go.
This change affects new visitors considering tube travel options.