On 14/12/2012 10:57, Paul Corfield wrote:
On Fri, 14 Dec 2012 07:44:36 +0000, David wrote:

Do contactless credit cards store the journey like Oyster cards?
Blub from TfL says that if an inspector gets on to check tickets, you
just show your card in the same way as Oyster.

My guess would be that the contactless chip is written to with basic
txn info when successfully presented to the bus reader.


My understanding is that while 'banking information' is written back to
the card by the reader (transaction counts, cumulative transaction value
since last online PIN confirmation, etc), there is nothing on the card
that is 'transport application' related. So no capping can be done (for
example) on the card.

Future systems may take the transaction record from the bus's ticket
machine(ETM) or the Underground's gates, and then process them in the
back office to determine the total amount to charge. So the 'taps' of
the card on the ETM and gate are really just "I am here" events. It may
be that the transaction with the card is only for a nominal amount - one
of Visa / MasterCard allows a zero-value transaction, but I can't
remember which. There is a completely different transaction model for
transit / tranport use compared with 'normal' retail.

There is a new generation of contactless bank cards coming along which
will contain 'transit sectors', allowing the transit / transport
application to record data on the card. But I have absolutely no idea
how different trasnport operators and schemes might share this data area.

Hope that helps

Kevin