Mizter T wrote:
snip

Ultimately, I think that many would find it useful, but of course if
anyone was worried about it then they don't have to use the system.
Indeed I wouldn't recommend it to one of my scatterbrained friends. She
doesn't trust herself with a monthly Travelcard so buys a weekly one,
and she manages to lose an average of at least one a month. She doesn't
have an Oyster card, which is just as well as I reckon the Oyster
system couldn't cope with such consistant incompetence!

I don't really see any advantage of using an Oyster card as electronic
cash, over a debit card. Since TfL regards these as a possible source of
extra revenue, presumably retailers would have to pay some charge, in
the same way as they do when they accept credit cards.

As for losing Travel cards, I've lost one monthly and one weekly in a
ten-year period. I don't know if you still do, but you could get a
replacement for a monthly and also claim for any tickets that you
purchase while waiting for the new card. There was no replacement for
the weekly. Of course, you can't get a monthly now: that's why I had to
get an Oystercard.