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Ground Transport

What Cities Can Learn From Travelers Using Apple Pay on London's Tube

Dan Peltier

Photo Credit: Travelers can pay for London tube fare using their credit cards and Apple Pay as part of the contact-less system implemented across that city's transportation network. Transport for London

Skift Take

London's contact-less payments system is already embraced by many international travelers who want to quickly get where they're going. It doesn't make sense for travelers to buy a card they may only need a few times and tapping credit cards and Apple Pay on card readers solves this problem.

London's transportation network launched contact-less credit card payments and Apple Pay during the past 18 months and they've since accounted for 350 million trips--many of them international travelers using the system. Travelers and locals riding the London tube, for example, bought Oyster cards at vending machines when that card first rolled out in 2003 but that step has been eliminated for travelers with credit cards containing chips or Apple Pay. With the contact-less system, travelers riding the tube can take out a credit card or their iPhone, tap it against a contact-less card reader and enter the station without waiting in line to buy a ticket. Travelers use contact-less cards and Apple Pay the same way as the Oyster

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