EE customers can now pay for London buses by tapping with their smartphones

UK mobile operator EE has today announced that customers can now tap to pay for bus travel in London using their smartphones.

We first met EE’s Cash on Tap service just over year ago, but now we’re finally seeing the company turn it into a viable payment method for everyday life. Last month the UK’s largest mobile network announced that come September 16th this year, Londoners would be able to tap their phones on Oyster card readers across the London Underground, DLR and Overground networks to pay for travel.

Today’s announcement extends this new payment method to include London buses too, and users won’t have to wait; they can pay using their smartphones starting today.

Some 8600 London buses now accept NFC-based (near-field communication) payment when used in conjunction with EE’s Cash on Tap service. Billing requires that the Cash on Tap app contains funds, just as an Oyster card would and charges mirror that of the current Oyster system. Single journey fares clock in at £1.45, with daily and Monday to Sunday bus fares capped at £4.40 and £20.20 respectively.

EE’s Pippa Dunn, Chief Consumer Marketing Officer said, ”We’ve been working hard to bring our contactless mobile payments service, Cash on Tap, to TFL’s network – removing the need for customers to queue for a ticket, or hunt through their pockets and bags to find the right card”.

The ability to pay on various means of transport throughout London is just the latest feather in Cash on Tap’s cap. EE currently claims that there are over 300,000 locations across the UK where users can pay for goods and services simply by tapping with their smartphones, including McDonalds, Caffé Nero, Pret A Manger and Greggs.

Around 500,000 existing customers are said to sport handsets which are capable of supporting Cash on Tap such as the Samsung Galaxy S5, HTC One (M8) and Sony Xperia Z2, however, you need to ensure that you’re a 4GEE customer (existing T-Mobile and Orange customers don’t yet have access to the service) and that your EE SIM features the letter ‘N’. More information about setting up Cash on Tap is available from EE’s website.

Do you like the idea of being able to pay for more things with your mobile? Should other UK carriers offer similar services and should Cash on Tap for transport be made available in more locations? Leave your thoughts in the comments down below.