And this also means safety. If each card was checked on exit (with, as above, a few seconds delay) it's not hard to imagine the whole barrier line being blocked, with extra people coming up the escalator from behind. That's how crushes happen, and if TfL have decided safety trumps revenue protection then I agree with them.
Indeed - it's also the reason why even if a card is declined when TfL runs the background preauthorisation (usually within a few minutes of the first touch-in on any given day) you will be allowed (once) out of the system with the same card.
Does a declined card go on to TFL's internal blacklist after a few uses? Does the gateline check the internal blacklist each time a contactless card is tapped? I assume the answer to at least one of those is no for such prolonged use of a declined card to happen.
Perhaps the thinking was it will deter others from doing this if they know TFL will eventually catch up with them.
It's all over Tiktok anyway. 7/10 on the ingenuity scale though, unlike borrowing Freedom Passes.
Once the card is blocked it won’t open an entry gate, but it will always open an exit gate.
Ah, so it's not doing a real-time authorisation, but it is doing a real-time check of a database of blocked cards? And that check would take too long at the exit barriers?
No, the system is designed not to prevent exit. Similarly, with an Oyster card if you have been allowed to enter the system you will never be prevented from leaving.
I believe TfL changed the behaviour of blocked cards on exit to reduce the confrontation that gate line staff had to deal with.
I think that's unlikely. Pay as you go Oyster has always allowed cards to always exit (a negative balance can exit) and I imagine when it was expanded to contactless it similarly allowed all cards to exit.
Some time ago we had a case on the forum of someone who had done exactly that, and then got caught.
TfL clearly register the details of cards being used to "escape" the system in that way, and set up operations to catch prolific offenders. It may not be a perfect process but it is certainly detectable.
It’s the Nov 23 thread linked in post #19 by @dosxuk - I’ve just had a read because I was pretty sure this has been a well known ‘feature’ since a particular software upgrade, and in fact it’s all quoted in that thread.
I don't think this is accurate; Monzo for example still do KYC checks as you'd expect any regulated bank to do. You need to provide ID and record a video selfie. They have done this since day 1. Digital verification doesn't mean worse verification, and arguably there's far more data they can use to help make a decision than if you did it at a legacy bank by filling in paper forms.
I have noticed something like that happening when scanning eTickets.
I mean...
www.theguardian.com
This isn't what's happening. You can't be blocked into the system because TfL made a deliberate choice that this was the best option.
There are rather a large number of ways to get inside the ticket gates without having touched in. Get on any train at Hanwell or Mill Hill East, nearly any DLR station and a large number of national rail stations and you can immediately access the paid side areas. There are also lots of agency staff who will just open the gate rather than arguing if they're shown an expired ticket or one that has been picked up off the floor, or stations where not every entrance has the gates closed at the same time. People also jump remotely-monitored gates all the time and nobody sees them do it. It's really not unusual unfortunately.
This isn't correct. Oyster cards can be invalid for exit even if cleared to enter, for example if they were hotlisted but had dropped off the locally stored list because of non-use. In the past, exit was also denied for lack of OEP when needed.
Other options I'm aware of being used are "visa gift cards" purchased at retail, multi-store prepaid cards issued from Westfield and the like, as well as French luncheon voucher cards.
I know from a very good source that one newer bank came very close to having all their cards banned from TfL because of the level of problems with their customers.
OEP?
