The age of contactless card payments is firmly upon us, with London’s transport system now accepting a staggering 1.2 million contactless transactions a day.
Despite having only been introduced to the tube, train and bus network last September, just nine months on contactless transactions have hit unpredicted heights, with growth continuing daily.
“Last September we opened up this service to every transport system in London. The uptake has been staggering,” Shashi Verma, TFL’s Director of Customer Experience said addressing TrustedReviews.
With TFL having seen a continual and steep rise in contactless transactions since launch, Verma delved a little deeper into the impressive figures surrounding the emerging payment system.
“We are now seeing 18,000 new contactless cards on our systems every single day,” he stated.
“Overall we have seen 4 million contactless cards used on our system. These are from 61 countries. One of the biggest origin countries for contactless cards used on the TFL network is Australia.
“I don’t think any of us thought we would get this sort of usage.”
While compatible bankcards account for the majority of contactless payments made on the TFL network, smartphones are also getting in on the act – albeit on a smaller scale.
With mobile wallets from EE and Vodafone accepted on the transport network, uptake has reportedly been slow, but steady.
Despite its lack of UK launch, US visitors have already started using Apple Pay on the TFL network.
“There’s not too many of the mobile purses. People are already using Apple Pay on the TFL network, Even though Apple Pay has yet to launch in the UK,” Verma said.
“The system is opened up to everything right now.”
Related: Apple Pay vs Samsung Pay
Currently exclusive to US residents, it is believed that Apple Pay will be opened up to additional markets later this year.
With Apple’s WWDC 2015 conference being held next week, stay tuned to TrustedReviews for all the latest Apple Pay announcements.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.