Transport for London to accept Apple Pay

Transport for London have announced that they will accept Apple Pay when it launches in the UK in July.

The move makes TfL the first public transport operator to accept the mobile payment technology.

The announcement follows Apple’s confirmation that Apple Pay will be making its way to Britain. At Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco last week it was also confirmed that Apple Pay will be available to customers of nearly all of the UK’s banks, with Barclays being the notable omission. The service still requires an iPhone 6 or Apple Watch.

Apple have stated that Apple Pay will also be supported at a number of other retailers, including Boots, Marks and Spencer, the Post Office and Waitrose, however the near field communication (NFC) technology used by Apple means that any retailer which accepts contactless payments will accept Apple Pay as well.

TfL have confirmed that Apple Pay users will receive the same benefits as contactless card users, such as Monday to Sunday fare capping, which is currently unavailable on Oyster.

TfL have reiterated their commitment to not phase out Oyster and to bring all the benefits currently enjoyed by contactless users, such as Monday to Sunday fare capping, to Oyster customers as well.

Meanwhile, Google has announced Android Pay, a very similar service to Apple Pay but specific to Android devices. Like Apple Pay, the technology makes use of the same NFC technology meaning that when it launches in the UK, Android Pay will also likely work on TfL services.

The news comes as TfL’s controversial plan to close Tube ticket offices takes pace. At time of writing, ticket offices have been closed at a number of tube stations including Gloucester Road and West Kensington. The ticket office at South Kensington is scheduled to close at some point between October and December.

Some stations are to gain a replacement “Visitor Information Centre” which will sell travel tickets as well as tickets to enter London attractions. The first centre recently opened at King’s Cross St. Pancras station near the Eurostar terminal.

This article was imported from an earlier version of Felix Online - see the original article here.

Old Comments

Oyster will be around for a long time. Many smaller banks/building societies have yet to issue contactless cards, and many people will not want to involve themselves with a third party system and the data harvesting that implies just to use their phone. One might ask how Yoyo is getting on in the real world. Then there's the issue of those who are only allowed the most basic of bank accounts, if at all.

Another big problem in a major tourist city is that visitors are not keen on contactless due to transaction charges. A £1.50 bus fare can more than double by the time the currency conversion is done and a usage fee paid.,Very good points you raise there. Although, perhaps a switch away from Oyster to ITSO may happen one day, although considering poor uptake by national rail I do not hold up hope.

Another reason for Oyster to remain would be the discount cards (Zip, 18+ etc.), there is no reason why TfL couldn't apply those discounts to a contactless card but considering how they love checking that