Discounted Oysters are now processed through the backoffice

[MrJeeves]

This was mentioned by @MikeWh in the Project Oval thread, but I would have missed it if it wasn't pointed out to me by someone else, so I thought I'd also mention it in here in case others wanted to discuss it further.

There has been a development. https://oysterfares.com/all-oyster-cards-now-re-calculate-overnight/

This means that the back office now understands discounted fares, which has probably been one of the stumbling blocks.

From the post on OysterFares.com:

A few years ago TfL introduced retrospective weekly capping for blue adult Oyster cards without any discounts. This meant that each days journeys were run through the same back-office function as is used to calculate daily and weekly charges for contactless cards and devices. At the time it was stated that discounted Oyster cards would follow, but that seemed to be taking forever. Until now.

It actually started on December 7th 2025. I noticed an unexplained refund when looking at someones journey history and asked the question. I then tried it myself and lo and behold a refund came back. I’m not quite sure why they haven’t sought to publicise this more widely, but here it is.

So, what happens? Each day the journey touches are processed through the back office. This calculates the best combination of zonal caps and extension fares and arrives at a total. If that is less than the amount actually charged by the Oyster system then an adjustment is put in a queue. At the end of the week it also works out the best combination of weekly cap and extension fares and again compares that to what has been charged throughout the Monday to Sunday week. The adjustments are totalled each night and if they exceed £1.50 a credit is put on the Faster Universal Load (FUL) system to be picked up next time the card is touched on a reader as part of a journey. Two weeks after the first un-processed adjustment is raised any amount outstanding is added to FUL.

 

[Adam Williams]

Does this mean you can now finally get incomplete journey refunds yourself, via the self-service portal?

 

[_toommm_]

Does this mean you can now finally get incomplete journey refunds yourself, via the self-service portal?

Is that why it never lets me claim myself and I have to call up, as I have a railcard on my oyster?

 

[redreni]

Ah, splendid!

I wonder when Network Railcard discounts will be supported through back-office processing and rebates? Daily caps should be discounted (subject to the £13 minimum fare and the 10am restriction on weekdays), as should single fares on weekends.

All it would require is for registered Oyster cards to be capable of being set with the appropriate flag through the back office system, rather than on the card itself, as qualifying specifically for the Network Railcard discount, rather than the generic National Railcard discount. So you'd pay full fare initially and then get a rebate if the system calculates that your Network Railcard entitles you to a lower daily cap or for lower single fares than what you've been charged.

 

[Adam Williams]

Is that why it never lets me claim myself and I have to call up, as I have a railcard on my oyster?

Yeah. It's entirely undocumented (within the portal, from the perspective of the customer) that this deficiency exists, as far as I know, but basically as soon as you have a Railcard discount applied the ability to claim yourself just stops working completely, the portal will never work and you are required to deal with Novacroft to get your money back.

 

[akm]

Does this mean you can now finally get incomplete journey refunds yourself, via the self-service portal?

No, that's different.

 

[Adam Williams]

No, that's different.

Sigh.

Genuinely useless

 

[_toommm_]

Yeah. It's entirely undocumented (within the portal, from the perspective of the customer) that this deficiency exists, as far as I know, but basically as soon as you have a Railcard discount applied the ability to claim yourself just stops working completely, the portal will never work and you are required to deal with Novacroft to get your money back.

I thought I was on some sort of list for claiming too many as I've claimed three in the few months of living in London. Do you know if/when it'll be fixed?

 

[zero]

From the post on OysterFares.com:

The adjustments are totalled each night and if they exceed £1.50 a credit is put on the Faster Universal Load (FUL) system .... Two weeks after the first un-processed adjustment is raised any amount outstanding is added to FUL.

What's the significance of £1.50?

I don't understand the second sentence either. What happens when a saving of £1.40 is calculated, and it is the first time any adjustment has been made on that oyster?

 

[MrJeeves]

I don't understand the second sentence either. What happens when a saving of £1.40 is calculated, and it is the first time any adjustment has been made on that oyster?

I believe if the saving is under £1.50 you won't be given it back immediately, but multiple calculated refunds can be combined over a period to a value above £1.50 which will then be returned to the card? Maybe @MikeWh can tell me I'm completely wrong.

I believe it's simply to limit the load on the Faster Universal Load system so that a bunch of 10p transactions don't fill up the main load list and prevent people from getting their actual top-ups.

 

[redreni]

Yeah, I read it as meaning anything you're owed at the end of the day above £1.50 is refunded overnight, but anything under £1.50 remains unprocessed until the total amount you're owed exceeds £1.50 or two weeks passes from the first unprocessed refund (an unprocessed refund being one that doesn't get processed because the amount owing is under £1.50).

Which seems reasonable in terms of getting it right, but it seems to me TfL could do a much better job of making this information available to passengers so they can audit their Oyster account and have half a chance of identifying the reasons for the charges and refunds they're seeing on their account.

Rather than relying entirely on Mike doing the Lord's work in painstakingly working out what's going on and explaining it to the rest of us!

 

[MikeWh]

Yeah, I read it as meaning anything you're owed at the end of the day above £1.50 is refunded overnight, but anything under £1.50 remains unprocessed until the total amount you're owed exceeds £1.50 or two weeks passes from the first unprocessed refund (an unprocessed refund being one that doesn't get processed because the amount owing is under £1.50).

Yes, that's exactly what happens.

Rather than relying entirely on Mike doing the Lord's work in painstakingly working out what's going on and explaining it to the rest of us!

It gives me a purpose.

 

[bakerstreet]

Does this mean that on journeys where an intermediate touch out / OSI causes a higher fare than the through journey you will be charged correctly in the back office?

Eg Norwood Junction to Chalk Farm. Change at Farringdon or Canada Water/London Bridge, you are charged correctly. Stay on Thameslink to St Pancras and change there for northern line (eg if circle / met issues) you had to apply to Oyster for the refund. Which they were happy to do. But a faff.

 

[MikeWh]

Does this mean that on journeys where an intermediate touch out / OSI causes a higher fare than the through journey you will be charged correctly in the back office?

Eg Norwood Junction to Chalk Farm. Change at Farringdon or Canada Water/London Bridge, you are charged correctly. Stay on Thameslink to St Pancras and change there for northern line (eg if circle / met issues) you had to apply to Oyster for the refund. Which they were happy to do. But a faff.

Yes, you should be.

 

[bakerstreet]

Yes, you should be.

Thanks I’ll try this