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TFL to launch contactless payments 16 September
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Not really.
If you have a zero balance, you will get one "free ride" out of it, but you will remain in debt to TfL and will not be allowed to travel until you clear this money owed to them.
If you have a bit more money, but not enough to cover your whole days travel, you will probably be allowed to travel all day, but after they try and collect the money and fail to do so, again, you will not be allowed to travel until you clear everything you owe.
They also have agreements in place to try and collect any fares due later on.
The above working will also protect your card in case it is lost or stolen, if you have reported it, then at worst, anyone using your card could travel until the end of the day after which it will be blocked permanently (and your bank should cover you for any charges incurred after you reported it lost or stolen).
So no, not really free rides...you will end up paying at some point.
andrewkeith5
Member
There's no such thing - all contactless transactions take place offline even if Chip & PIN transactions don't. Hence why it isn't possible to make a contactless transaction once the offline limit has been reached.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I suspect it will be treated like most other offline transactions which put your balance over-limit or below-zero - that is, the bank will honour the transaction but you'll get the appropriate penalty (in the case of a credit card) or go into an overdraft/unauthorised overdraft (in the case of a debit card) in the same way that contactless transactions do now. Obviously once the transaction clears, the card won't authorise any online transactions, and once an online transaction is declined offline transactions will follow. TfL probably have a system in place to decline the cards automatically too.
As the Contactless trial has been also on NR, but not officially available over the vast majority of the network, could we see cases where a card is accepted for a journey, then the RPI's PF a passenger post Sept 16th, despite the system officially accepting the journey?
I am sure there will be teething problems. It is likely that the penalty fare system would work a bit different in the world of contactless - because all transactions are done in the back office. So it is likely that if you present a contactless card the transaction will be sent to the back office and they will determine what to do with it at the point where they calculate your charge.
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andrewkeith5
Member
I'm sure there'll be at least some RPI's who haven't a clue what's going on with the whole scheme and will penalty fare away.
What would the situation be in this case, considering you would of course have just as valid a ticket as any valid Oyster card? Presumably TfL have a method of checking that a Contactless card has been touched in - if not, surely they cannot issue penalty fares against them. As such if the TOCs don't bother to give their staff the same, surely they can't validly issue penalty fares against almost anyone claiming to be travelling on a Contactless card?
swt_passenger
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There will be a 'Retail Inspection Device' (RID) issued to TOC (and TFL) staff - we had a discussion in a recent thread about it:
http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=103077
but IMHO that thread didn't ever pin down the exact technical details of how it works...
Has this launched as planned? I can find no mention of it from TfL, but EE have announced that their Cash on Tap service has gone live on the buses today, with capping included. So one might assume that capping for all contactless users is now working, but I wouldn't want to make a costly assumption
Yes, and a press release has also gone out:
https://www.tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2014/august/fare-capping-for-bus-passengers
http://www.mayorwatch.co.uk/tfl-introduces-contactless-fares-capping-for-buses/
https://www.tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2014/august/fare-capping-for-bus-passengers
http://www.mayorwatch.co.uk/tfl-introduces-contactless-fares-capping-for-buses/
I can only asume that the extended notice of the launch is to enable TfL to come to agreement with the TOCs. Living in SEland it will be useless to me if I can't use it on the trains, except on the very rare occasion that I use 4 buses in one day and nothing else. I also can't see joe-public getting to grips with where you can and can't use it when it uses the same infrastructure as Oyster. It just seems like a recipe for disaster with PFs being issued all round.
In fact, I can almost picture the smiles going round SE head office realising the opportunities for exploiting another OEP-style kludge.
In fact, I can almost picture the smiles going round SE head office realising the opportunities for exploiting another OEP-style kludge.
Aha! Thank you. I had a look at the TfL media centre before posting earlier but there was nothing to see.
Update!
I've just spoken to a contact in the press office at TfL who assures me that the TOCs will be on board before the implimentation date. She assures me that they are well aware that launching without acceptance on NR will be a disaster, both for contactless and Oyster.
I've just spoken to a contact in the press office at TfL who assures me that the TOCs will be on board before the implimentation date. She assures me that they are well aware that launching without acceptance on NR will be a disaster, both for contactless and Oyster.
As an update, I can confirm (having tried it today) that at least daily contactless capping on buses does work. I'm impressed too by the speed with which the day's travel has appeared on my TfL account, with all of the journeys including one just 3½ hours ago already being listed. The only negative I can find so far is the slower speed of registering a touch-in with a CPC versus Oyster.
Definitely confirmed that contactless will include National Rail:
http://www.londontravelwatch.org.uk/news/view?id=487&x[0]=news/list
http://www.londontravelwatch.org.uk/news/view?id=487&x[0]=news/list
adamskiodp
Member
Hi folks 
,
Sorry for the stupid question.
Can anyone confirm or deny that the daily cap will run from 04.30 to 04.30 with these contactless cards? When I was chatting to a friend who works in my local bank they said that the banks day is 00.00 to 00.00.
Thanks,
Adam
,Sorry for the stupid question.
Can anyone confirm or deny that the daily cap will run from 04.30 to 04.30 with these contactless cards? When I was chatting to a friend who works in my local bank they said that the banks day is 00.00 to 00.00.
Thanks,
Adam
Yes, ignoring off-peak caps, the Oyster/contactless day runs from 0430 to 0429, and the Oyster*/contactless week runs from 0430 Monday morning to 0429 the following Monday morning. This is one of the small disparities between Oyster and equivalent bus passes/travelcards, as the validities of the latter begin at 0000 on the first day, not 0430.
* Oyster weekly capping isn't available yet, but will be next year.
* Oyster weekly capping isn't available yet, but will be next year.
Capping runs from 04:30 to 04:29. If you took a night bus and the data was not available by the time a fares calculation was done, it will be included in your next day's charge (or charged separately if you have no charge for the next day). It all works out at the end with thede adjustmemts, but these are definitely based on travel done between 04:30 and 04:29.
No, same as Oyster - one card per passenger.
Each passenger needs an individual contactless card, but it doesn't have to be their own. So someone with two contactless cards can pay for two people, for example.
I tried today with a Contactless Mastercard that had only been used online previously, and had not ever been near a Chip+PIN terminal. Rejected with
79 Card not accepted
So it seems that you probably need to have done at least a single Chip+PIN transaction for this to work
79 Card not accepted
So it seems that you probably need to have done at least a single Chip+PIN transaction for this to work
That is normal for any contactless payment, not just on TfL. The card needs to be activated by doing a chip and pin transaction or using it in a cash machine first.
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