Pay for your London bus journey by swiping any NFC card including PayPass

Haven’t got an Oyster card or any change but need to hop on to a London bus? Well, if you have a card with the contactless payment system symbol, you can pay for your fare via NFC transactions from today.

You can now use any contactless payment-enabled credit, debit or charge card, such as PayPass, on the London bus network.

Just look for the Wi-Fi style contactless payment symbol (above) on your plastic.

Any regular visitor to the capital will already be packing Oyster (probably) but research suggests that 30% of bus journeys in London are made with cash or a paper ticket!

The obvious bonus to this system is that it will negate that horrible feeling of not having enough credit on your Oyster card after waiting for the night bus.

Payment through PayPass will cost the same as having paid on Oyster – including the discounted rates. That, from 2013, is £1.40 for a single ride. Cash payments will cost £2.40 from 2013.

“Today many commuters lose valuable time as they queue up to buy tickets or top up their Oyster balance,” says Marion King, head of MasterCard’s operations UK & Ireland. “Now that Transport for London accepts MasterCard PayPass you can skip this step altogether.”

I am sure that the NFC payment system will prove popular with visitors doing a tour of UK cities that may only need to use the iconic red London bus a couple of times on their visit.