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Contactless bank card success on London buses

Posted: 22 August 2013 | Shashi Verma, Director of Customer Experience at Transport for London (TfL) | No comments yet

Shashi Verma, Director of Customer Experience at Transport for London (TfL) speaks to Intelligent Transport to give an update on how the first phase of the network’s contactless bank card roll-out has gone so far on London’s 8,500 buses. When we last interviewed you about the project1 it was some time before the bus launch. Can you remind us why TfL is adopting contactless payment cards?

The opportunity to use contactless payment cards (CPCs) will offer much greater convenience for our customers since they’ll be able to use a contactless debit/credit card that they already have, instead of needing to get and keep an Oyster card topped up. It’s part of our ongoing focus to improve customers’ experience of travelling in the capital.

Paying for transport should be as easy as buying a sandwich. Enabling customers to use their CPC on buses, and from early-2014 on London Underground, the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), London Overground and trams, removes the inconvenience of needing to top-up an Oyster card or dig around for cash before making a journey. Plus, it also makes London’s public transport far more accessible for visitors, as anyone with a CPC will be able to enter the transport network as soon as they arrive simply by ‘touching in’ with their payment card. In addition, visitors will also have confidence that they are getting the best value possible, as opposed to having to understand complicated local fare structures.

Shashi Verma, Director of Customer Experience at Transport for London (TfL) speaks to Intelligent Transport to give an update on how the first phase of the network’s contactless bank card roll-out has gone so far on London’s 8,500 buses. When we last interviewed you about the project1 it was some time before the bus launch. Can you remind us why TfL is adopting contactless payment cards? The opportunity to use contactless payment cards (CPCs) will offer much greater convenience for our customers since they’ll be able to use a contactless debit/credit card that they already have, instead of needing to get and keep an Oyster card topped up. It’s part of our ongoing focus to improve customers’ experience of travelling in the capital. Paying for transport should be as easy as buying a sandwich. Enabling customers to use their CPC on buses, and from early-2014 on London Underground, the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), London Overground and trams, removes the inconvenience of needing to top-up an Oyster card or dig around for cash before making a journey. Plus, it also makes London’s public transport far more accessible for visitors, as anyone with a CPC will be able to enter the transport network as soon as they arrive simply by ‘touching in’ with their payment card. In addition, visitors will also have confidence that they are getting the best value possible, as opposed to having to understand complicated local fare structures.

Shashi Verma, Director of Customer Experience at Transport for London (TfL) speaks to Intelligent Transport to give an update on how the first phase of the network’s contactless bank card roll-out has gone so far on London’s 8,500 buses.

When we last interviewed you about the project1 it was some time before the bus launch. Can you remind us why TfL is adopting contactless payment cards?

The opportunity to use contactless payment cards (CPCs) will offer much greater convenience for our customers since they’ll be able to use a contactless debit/credit card that they already have, instead of needing to get and keep an Oyster card topped up. It’s part of our ongoing focus to improve customers’ experience of travelling in the capital.

Paying for transport should be as easy as buying a sandwich. Enabling customers to use their CPC on buses, and from early-2014 on London Underground, the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), London Overground and trams, removes the inconvenience of needing to top-up an Oyster card or dig around for cash before making a journey. Plus, it also makes London’s public transport far more accessible for visitors, as anyone with a CPC will be able to enter the transport network as soon as they arrive simply by ‘touching in’ with their payment card. In addition, visitors will also have confidence that they are getting the best value possible, as opposed to having to understand complicated local fare structures.

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