London's buses no longer accepting cash

Research reveals that 99% of customers pay using prepaid tickets, Oyster, contactless payment cards, or concessionary tickets.

16:16 07 July 2014

As 99per cent of passengers are using Oyster, prepaid tickets, contactless payments or concessionary tickets, Transport for London has decided that London’s buses will not longer be accepting cash as of early July.

The move, which is a part of a raft of reforms, will mean that passengers who do not have one the tickets mentioned above will not longer be able to travel by bus. 
Mike Weston, TfL's director of buses, said: "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 £24 million a year which will be re-invested to further improve London's transport network."

Meanwhile, Dave Hobday, managing director of Worldpay UK, the country's leading payment processing company, said: " We're on the cusp of a seismic shift in shopper behaviour, and predict that everyone from farmers markets to buskers will go cashless.

"Contactless kills queues and means businesses never lose a sale during peak times."