Contactless open-loop payments have surged in recent months for Transport for London, returning to their steep growth trajectory before the pandemic, and now account for 70% of all pay-as-you-go, or PAYG, trips on the London Underground and two-thirds of PAYG trips on buses. And contactless has surpassed 50% of all trips–including those made with season tickets (see chart below).
That’s according to the Transport for London, which continues to refute speculation that its closed-loop Oyster card is on its way out. There’s no doubt that contactless credit and debit cards and card credentials on NFC phones and watches are becoming far and away the most favored way to pay by London transit riders for Underground, bus and other transport modes. But in response to questions from Mobility Payments, it’s also clear that transit officials see a definite role for Oyster going forward.
“Regardless of the popularity of contactless, there will long be those who will require an Oyster card to travel, such as children, and we expect Oyster cards to remain a part of London for the foreseeable future,” Mike Tuckett, head of customer payments at the agency, said through a spokesman.
