Any problems with ditching Oystercard now?

Chomeur

Now that I can use a contactless credit card for travel in London it seems I might as well take my Oystercard back and reclaim the deposit on it. But before I do so I thought I might ask on here if anyone has had any problems with using a credit card on tfl. If my credit card doesn't work then I have to pay the cash fare which is a lot more, so I have to be confident in my credit card. So how's the credit card system working?

SW17

I've had no problems using my contactless (debit) card on TfL, don't use it every day but at least a couple of days a week. I'm keeping my Oyster until the remaining credit has gone, though I will hang onto it since I didn't have to pay a deposit when I got it many moons ago.

Perhaps if you only have one contactless card, it may be worth keeping Oyster as a backup, but if you have more than one it would be fine to return it IMO.

theEnd

I find Oyster a bit better than using a credit card.

It reacts quicker at the gate and you only get one account entry per top-up, rather than everyday.

SW17

theEnd wrote: »

I find Oyster a bit better than using a credit card.

It reacts quicker at the gate and you only get one account entry per top-up, rather than everyday.

Personal choice of course, but the one entry per top-up is because you're paying in advance in order to "pay as you go", contactless is truly pay as you go (also one less card to carry and you don't have to top up). Depends how often you use the service I suppose, for infrequent users I would say contactless is a clear winner, for the more frequent user there is less difference.

giraffe69

I'm an infrequent user(maybe 4 times per month). Contactless (debit card not credit card) has worked without problem.

surreysaver

What happens if the contactless credit card requires a PIN? As you cannot enter a PIN on a bus or Underground, how do you get around this?

Chomeur

surreysaver wrote: »

What happens if the contactless credit card requires a PIN? As you cannot enter a PIN on a bus or Underground, how do you get around this?

You don't have to enter a PIN for contactless payments.

rorylando45

Chomeur wrote: »

You don't have to enter a PIN for contactless payments.

I thought that as a security measure, 1 in 20 contactless payments requested a PIN?

Altarf

rorylando45 wrote: »

I thought that as a security measure, 1 in 20 contactless payments requested a PIN?

That would only be a problem if you used a card exclusively for the tube/bus. If you are using the card normally, then you will be making PIN transactions occasionally in normal shops.

wealdroam

rorylando45 wrote: »

I thought that as a security measure, 1 in 20 contactless payments requested a PIN?

TfL transactions avoid that requirement by not processing the card transaction in real time, but at the end of the day... when it is physically impossible for the cardholder to enter a pin.


That means that the following information is unnecessary:

Altarf wrote: »

That would only be a problem if you used a card exclusively for the tube/bus. If you are using the card normally, then you will be making PIN transactions occasionally in normal shops.

surreysaver

Altarf wrote: »

That would only be a problem if you used a card exclusively for the tube/bus. If you are using the card normally, then you will be making PIN transactions occasionally in normal shops.

That is my point. What if you are? Or one of the 1 in 20 times happens when you use the tube or bus?