Transport for London accepts contactless bank cards and mobile devices for pay-as-you-go travel across the Tube, buses, trams, DLR, London Overground, the Elizabeth line and most National Rail services within London. There is no ticket to collect and no balance to top up: the system calculates the fare from your taps.
Why the same card matters
TfL uses your taps to join journeys and apply the correct fare. It also uses them for daily and weekly capping. Switch from a physical card to a phone, or from a phone to a watch, and the system cannot combine those journeys even when every device is linked to the same bank account.
An incomplete journey can trigger a maximum fare. If something goes wrong, TfL provides contactless journey history and a process for reviewing charges.
What capping actually does
Pay as you go applies automatic daily caps and, for eligible contactless travel, weekly caps running Monday to Sunday. Once qualifying journeys reach the relevant cap for the zones and services used, additional qualifying journeys do not keep adding normal fares. You still need to touch correctly after reaching a cap.
Not every London-branded experience counts toward every cap. River services and the London Cable Car have separate details, so check TfL when they are part of the plan.
The tiny routine at a station gate
- Take the chosen card or device out before reaching the reader.
- Touch the yellow reader flat and wait for the green response.
- Use that exact payment method at the destination gate.
- Keep using it for the rest of the day if you want the journeys capped together.
Can visitors use foreign cards?
Many overseas contactless Visa, Mastercard and American Express cards work, but acceptance is not universal. Your issuer may also charge a foreign transaction fee for each processed payment. Check the card before the trip and keep a backup plan.
A phone is convenient until its battery dies. A physical backup card or an Oyster card can be a sensible alternative, but remember that changing payment method mid-day starts a separate fare record.
When Oyster may be the better answer
Contactless is particularly easy for solo adults with a supported low-fee card. Oyster may be better if a foreign card is not accepted, you want a separate travel balance, or you are travelling with a child aged 11 to 15. The Young Visitor discount cannot be attached to a bank card.
Each person needs their own payment method. You cannot tap the same bank card twice to pay for two adults travelling together.
Five mistakes that cost more than they should
- Touching in with a phone and out with the physical card.
- Letting several cards sit against the reader together.
- Forgetting to touch out after a rail journey.
- Touching out on a bus when only an entry tap is needed.
- Assuming a foreign card has no transaction fee because the gate opened.