please empty your brain below
Can anyone think of a reason why so many Oyster cards might not have been used for at least a year? Oh, that.

Ian | 11.09.21 - 7:26 a.m. | #

Can someone explain in words of one syllable why it was possible to provide the weekly cap on other contactless but not oyster?

RogerB | 11.09.21 - 7:37 a.m. | #

Well one of those 82 million is mine, not having been in London since March 2020.

I am going to assume the author of the piece did not write the headline. Never quite figured out why in journalism this is traditionally left to the sub.

Kevin | 11.09.21 - 8:02 a.m. | #

I used to have spare Oyster cards that I only topped up and used when family came to visit. This hasn’t happened in ages so I cashed them but others could just as well have “seasonal” oysters.

Renata | 11.09.21 - 8:05 a.m. | #

And my reason to use oyster is the same one outlined in the post: I keep it in my pocket during journeys for easy access and I’d NEVER do that to my bank card. That one is kept safe enough to be inconvenient to reach to several times during a commute.

Renata | 11.09.21 - 8:08 a.m. | #

Another (niche) reason for oyster - my partner has to travel round London for work, and needs to submit details of this travel to claim expenses. She would rather give them her (work oyster) printout without sharing her personal (contactless) journey history.

I accept this is a reasonably unusual case, but there must be dozens more reasons why people would prefer oyster.

Mike on a bike | 11.09.21 - 8:14 a.m. | #

Rog B: Blue card maths is done quick when you touch with just small stats stored on card. Bank card maths is done slow at end of the day and can check what you have paid on past week days and charge less if you have reached the cap.

Grah | 11.09.21 - 8:15 a.m. | #

We over 60s south of the river need to have both, as our over60 Oysters are not valid on trains in this part of London until 0930.

Timbo | 11.09.21 - 8:33 a.m. | #

Wow, Grah, that’s brill. But why can’t the blue card peeps tweak the week sum with slow maths off line, post week, not just as you tap out, and then tweak the stored card stats when you use it next? Like when you fix the big fare from a card tap out miss. Some piece of it must be very hard to fix, if it takes so many years.

And | 11.09.21 - 9:01 a.m. | #

I'm with Mike on a Bike's other half, preferring Oyster for "expenses" journeys.

However, when the occasion came for the first time in 18 months to do exactly that this week, the Oyster card could not be found. I opted for a Travelcard instead.

Man of Kent | 11.09.21 - 9:07 a.m. | #

I feel robbed that you've headed off the normally entertaining comments from the "thin-skinned miseryguts" and "selfish bastards".

Frank F | 11.09.21 - 9:09 a.m. | #

London freedom passes (of all sorts) are technically Oysters, as are Zip cards (child passes), although you could recreate these as dedicated contactless (same solution as citymapper pass, which is actually a locked down MasterCard debit card) and that might be overall simpler/cheaper for Tfl and could increase flexibility to use on transport elsewhere which is increasingly offering contactless (ITSO standard smartcards are less common).

Miles(t) | 11.09.21 - 9:09 a.m. | #

This article is a good example of how receptive the BBC are to correcting items that are pointed out to them. Within 20 minutes of me making two comments about the article it was amended. The first related to a graph that made no sense and was clearly wrong - it has been amended twice since then although one axis is still not clearly labeled. They also added a line about Freedom passes and Zip cards which while not an error in the original article had been ignored and are a major reason why Oyster cards in some form will be retained for a long while.

kerspatula | 11.09.21 - 9:22 a.m. | #

That is outrageous that phones and debit cards are capped and an Oyster card isn't. I find that really hard to believe.

In my city debit cards can't be used but phones can. They seem much slower than the PT Myki card. I could use my phone, but the card seems better.

I am not allowed to leave Australia to travel, but I would have in August and I would have used my Oyster Card. It sits forlornly at the bottom of the stack of travel cards for various cities.

Andrew | Homepage | 11.09.21 - 9:37 a.m. | #

I have a number of Oyster cards, all with various amounts of credit on them dating back 10 years plus. These were purchased on my rare visits to London for gigs and galleries etc and left on a shelf for 'the future'. Would these still be valid now? Who knows?

JohnnyC | 11.09.21 - 9:44 a.m. | #

That sent me off looking for my Oyster card and I can't find it. This leaves me feeling slightly nervous even though I haven't used it since about 2014 (so one of the 82m).

Sarah | Homepage | 11.09.21 - 10:05 a.m. | #

JohnnyC, yes they are still valid. Bring them all with you the next time you’re in London and you’ll get all the money back plus the £3 or £5 deposit for each card.

Jan | 11.09.21 - 10:14 a.m. | #

I generally prefer to use an Oyster rather than fumble around trying to take my debit card out of my card wallet. And I can't leave it in there as I touch in, as I have a debit and credit card there, so could get "card clash"

I also, when I had to replace my old Oyster, had a few technical issues, so ended up ordering 8! The other 7 are all sitting in a draw, waiting for their moment in the sun, and adding to the "unused Oyster" stats!

Mikey C | 11.09.21 - 10:37 a.m. | #

If I lose my Oyster or it's nicked then there is a relatively small and finite limit to what I've lost.

That doesn't apply if I use my bank card or my phone to pay for my travel.

It's a question of mitigiating the risk.

Nfn | 11.09.21 - 10:54 a.m. | #

As a younger reader still eligible for 16-25 Railcards, I don't have a choice in the matter, as you can't load railcard discounts (from a physical card) onto contactless cards, phones, smartwatches etc. 90% of the time though it's a moot point cause I'll get a Travelcard in from either Essex or the Midlands, but still, my options are restricted the other way because of different weird things.

Raedwald | 11.09.21 - 11:12 a.m. | #

If you have a load of Oyster cards at home you can get refunds on them by registering them online and putting your bank details in. No need to travel to London. They will of course be cancelled and can't be used again.

ap | 11.09.21 - 11:19 a.m. | #

I used my Oyster card last week. Previous use was by a visiting Czech friend, definitely not in the last year, who was in the “can’t use contactless” category.

miker | 11.09.21 - 11:24 a.m. | #

I got an email from the opticians yesterday saying it was time for an eye test ... today you use the smallest font and I've got my nose up to the computer screen.
Yes, maybe it's time I should go to Specsavers.

Caroline | 11.09.21 - 12:15 p.m. | #

As several others, my Oyster card is considered "out of circulation" or "abandoned" - but it certainly isn't, it's here in my handbag with credit saved on it, ready for next time I come to London.

I could very easily use contactless (as I can & do on the Metrolink here in Rochdale), but I have a railcard loaded on my Oyster card.

Penny | 11.09.21 - 2:43 p.m. | #

Prompted by this blog post, I decided to apply for a refund on my old oyster card, which I no longer need, having a Freedom pass. I visited the TfL website, followed the links, to be advised to phone TfL as I have a first generation Oyster card. Phoned TfL and after a short wait, my details were checked and a refund of £24-45 was submitted. So thanks, that will fund a round of drinks the next time I'm out and about.

Dave Edwards | 11.09.21 - 3:20 p.m. | #

I couldn't help but notice that the Oystercard in the picture has a red-coloured roundel in it - instead of white. I have one of those too. For some inexplicable reason I always check the colour of the roundel when I see an Oystercard (or an image of one). I wonder how rare they are - and whether they still actually work?

Jag | 11.09.21 - 3:23 p.m. | #

That photo's from 2007 and shows a first-generation (pre-2009) Oyster card. They still work the gates, but aren't compatible with the TfL app so they recommend you replace it.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 11.09.21 - 3:54 p.m. | #

I'm very happy that the Oyster's days are not numbered. I am one of those who prefer not to use contactless, as I would rather see all my travel history in my Oyster records rather than dotted all over my bank statement.

AA | 11.09.21 - 4:34 p.m. | #

What AA said above! ^^^

Cornish Cockney | 11.09.21 - 5:01 p.m. | #

I guess quite a lot of Oysters are kept by tourists. I have one myself, bought in 2015, but I did remember to bring it when I revisited London in 2018.

Patrickov | 11.09.21 - 5:33 p.m. | #

Will do, thank you Jan.

JohnnyC | 11.09.21 - 7:39 p.m. | #

What's the advantage of oyster over a rechargeable prepaid credit card with contactless? It seems to me that TfL could simplify things for themselves by selling such cards rather than maintaining two completely parallel systems.

Lmm | 12.09.21 - 8:34 a.m. | #

Lmm: Two (likely unsolveable) disadvantages of TfL migrating all transit cards to (bank) contactless tech:

• Have to pay a card scheme/issuing bank for each card issued and a usage fee. At scale, TfL might be allowed to self-issue a UATP scheme card to mitigate that

• Contactless debit cards also need to have an expiry date (3 years, not sure if UATP would allow longer).

MilesT | 12.09.21 - 8:50 a.m. | #

I hung on to Oyster for many of the above reasons, and because the journey history is presented more conveniently for transferring to travel expenses records than the contactless version, which I was surprised was different.

There will be many unused cards that are in the 'may come in handy' category, such as my MTA Metrocard which I have every intention of using again... I just had a look at it and it's expired. Looks like I may have donated a couple of dollars to NY, which is ok.

NickW | 12.09.21 - 9:49 a.m. | #

Excellent stock photo

Wolf | 12.09.21 - 1:01 p.m. | #

As others have commented - with Freedom pass hours being curtailed some of us must have a little-used "full" Oyster card to be on the safe side. Then there are all the Oysters we kept on hand for the constant stream of out-of-town visitors (rule being bring it back with at least the same balance). We handed these out like candy back in the Before Times

SteveP | 12.09.21 - 4:26 p.m. | #

I can’t recall the last time I used an Oyster. Being able to use my iphone to touch in is just so convenient.

Yup | 12.09.21 - 8:41 p.m. | #

Weekly capping was the *only* reason I moved to contactless. Of course I then got a credit card with cashback and that made it even more attractive. For a while, TfL fares even counted as "travel" and got an enhanced cashback rate but they closed that loophole a while back.

All things being equal, I would probably rather use an Oyster card. But they're not equal.

Chz | 13.09.21 - 9:09 a.m. | #

When I saw the BBC News article I was suddenly prompted to look at what was on my own Oyster card. Turned out there was £25 on the balance. A useful reminder to me to use it up in future trips to London as I'd completely forgotten about it.

Andrew Bowden | Homepage | 13.09.21 - 11:52 a.m. | #

The 82m unused cards with stored credit must have netted something like £1bn in cash to TfL

dg writes: If you read the article, £550m.

Technically this is interest-free crowdfunded borrowing! Even if a few people cash them in I'm guessing the number of unused cards and total stored value goes up, not down.
TfL would be bonkers to end such a handy source of finance.

Paul | 13.09.21 - 4:44 p.m. | #

"82m Oyster cards haven't been used for at least a year"
Mine hasn't been used since I left in 2003. I'm hoping it will still work when I return.

Flash | 16.09.21 - 2:43 a.m. | #

You still get the entire journey history on a statement same as Oyster (can even see it on a App for both Oyster or contactless cards). Your bank account only gets charged at the end of the day with the total of travel so it’s not lots of charges dotted around, just one per day.

Jon | 17.09.21 - 6:15 p.m. | #

Interesting post :)

I cancelled an old pre-gen Oyster card a number of years ago with refund duly processed. However, this card still `exists' (virtually) in my Oyster account (although I didnt physically keep it) and am unable to delete it from my online account. I wonder if others have old Oysters `existing' (in a virtual sense) in their accounts which they didnt physically keep but which count towards the figure of Oysters that are `unused'?

London Lass | 25.09.21 - 9:43 a.m. | #











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