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Cashless Transport For London (TFL)

London buses drive cashless society closer

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By John Glenday, Reporter

July 7, 2014 | 2 min read

Anyone looking to hail a London bus with a pocket full of small change is in for a disappointment from today after Transport for London (TfL) moved to make the service entirely cashless.

The switch means only passengers with a valid Oyster card, pre-paid ticket or contactless payment card will be able to hop onto one of the iconic red double decker’s, an initiative geared toward improving travel times.

TfL cites falling customer demand for notes and coins as fueling the change with surveys showing that as many as 99 per cent of all passengers plump for non-cash methods of payment.

Explaining the move Mike Weston, TfL's director of buses, commented: "The way our customers pay for goods and services is evolving, so we need to ensure our ticketing evolves too. Removing cash from our bus network not only offers customers a quicker and more efficient bus service but it enables us to make savings of £24m a year which will be re-invested to further improve London's transport network."

Analysts believe that a payments revolution is currently underway in Britain with the expectation that most sectors of the economy will make the leap to contactless payments within the near future.

Cashless Transport For London (TFL)

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