Seven in ten London public transport users welcome an
alternative to complement Oyster and cash
To celebrate the launch of contactless payments on
London’s buses today, Visa Europe reveals research showing the
strength of consumer demand for an alternative to complement Oyster
and cash
London, 13 December 2012 - To coincide with the
launch of contactless payment on London buses today, Visa Europe
has released survey results showing that more than three quarters
(77 per cent) of London public transport users would like an
alternative payment solution to cash and Oyster. Almost half of
respondents (46 per cent) named contactless payments as their
preferred alternative.
The survey of 2,050 public transport users in the greater London
area in November 2012, conducted by research company Populus,
reinforced today that Oyster is the most-used payment method for
public transport. Eighty-eight per cent of respondents use the
technology, of which 77 per cent frequently use the system (between
daily and four times a week) and three fifths (60 per cent)
frequently use buses.
Mark Austin, Vice President - Contactless at Visa Europe
said: “Introducing NFC-based Oyster payments on London
transport has made travelling around the capital incredibly
convenient. Making contactless payments available on the buses
means that even people who don’t have an Oyster card have a faster
and more efficient alternative to cash.”
The addition of contactless card payments to the London bus
network will be good news for the three in five people who have run
out of Oyster credit when making a journey in the last 12 months –
ensuring that there’s always a fast and efficient way to travel in
the capital without ever needing to resort to cash.
About Visa Europe
In Europe, there are 460 million Visa debit, credit and
commercial cards. In the 12 months ending June 2012 those cards
were used to make purchases and cash withdrawals to the value of
€1.8 trillion. 14% of consumer spending at the point of sale in
Europe is with a Visa card, and almost 80% of that is on Visa debit
cards.
Visa Europe is independent of global Visa Inc., with an
exclusive, irrevocable and perpetual licence in Europe, while both
companies operate to ensure global interoperability. As a dedicated
European payment system Visa Europe is able to respond quickly to
the specific market needs of European banks and their customers -
cardholders and retailers - and to meet the European Commission’s
objective to create a true internal market for payments.
Visa enjoys unsurpassed acceptance around the world. In
addition, Visa/PLUS is one of the world’s largest global ATM
networks, offering cash access in local currency in over 200
countries.
For more information, visit http://www.visaeurope.com/
@visaeuropenews
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