wrote in message ...
On 03/01/2014 12:21, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 11:37:31 on Fri, 3 Jan 2014,
Mizter T remarked:
However, they have either withdrawn the restriction on using foreign or
prepay cards (and many tourists will have foreign prepay cards) or
they've just stopped mentioning it.

How many (if any) prepaid cards have contactless enabled? I suspect
they won't have it, as contactless transactions are all about being
super-quick, 'touch and go', without time for online authorisation.
Enabling contactless would be a risk for the issuer - existing prepaid
cards have a zero floor limit (i.e. automatic online authorisation),
for example.

Yes, I know what the problem for the merchants is (very similar to the
old Electron/Solo issue), but a prepaid card is the sort of thing that
minors, tourists[1] and the uncreditworthy [all three of whom buy tube
tickets] are very likely to have.

Now maybe but the use of such cards will grow over time.

Have they met the deadline set when first introduced [Dec 2012]:

"From the end of 2013, contactless payment cards will be accepted on
the
Tube, Docklands Light Railway, London Overground and trams."

I'm not looking forward to that because it would seem it obsoletes my
"Onepulse Barclay/Oyster" - the system charges neither rather than one
or both, apparently. Will they be sending me an automatic refund for
the
stored amount?

"the system charges neither rather than one or both, apparently" -
really? I'd expect it to continue acting as an Oyster card when
presented to an Oyster validator

The December 2012 press release says:

"If an Oyster card and a contactless bankcard are presented to a reader
on a bus together (for instance, in a wallet), the readers will normally
reject them both, as it can't be sure which card was intended to be
used."

That doesn't happen everywhere. I have a contactless card for transport
from another city, which I keep with my Oyster. Some readers on the tube
and bus accept the Oyster with no problem/question, while others will
indicate that there are two cards.

I wonder if TfL would eventually do away with and accept either thumb
prints or have ceiling mounted readers that can read your face or irises.
Fares would be directly deducted from people's accounts.

I can just see the DM headlines now

tim

On Sun, Jan 05, 2014 at 09:45:59AM +0100, tim...... wrote:
wrote in message ...
I wonder if TfL would eventually do away with and accept either thumb
prints or have ceiling mounted readers that can read your face or irises.
Fares would be directly deducted from people's accounts.
I can just see the DM headlines now

How dare those blind hook-handed cripples dodge their fares?

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