London Banter - View Single Post

Mizter T · September 17th 14, 08:12 PM posted to uk.transport.london

On 17/09/2014 20:42, Roland Perry wrote:

In message , at 14:24:48
on Wed, 17 Sep 2014, remarked:
[...]
One question that occurs to me is whether railcard discounts will
be available with contactless cards if so, how?

Currently a bald "no". From the TfL FAQ:

"If you're eligible for discounted travel, you should carry on
using your existing Oyster card or Oyster photocard.

Discounts can't be added to contactless payment cards. This
includes all National Railcard discounts."

I thought so but wonder why. If the processing is all in the back
office why
can't railcards be associated with the accounts there? Or is that another
one of your apparently simple developments we'll have to wait for? :-)

It is indeed "apparently simple" About two lines of code could apply
such a discount to a suitably registered contactless account.

You'd need a solid system in place to verify that the payment card
holder really did hold a Railcard.

Then you'd need a solid system in place for RPIs and the like to be
informed that they should also checking for a valid Railcard.

Bit more than two lines of code there.

Maybe they have issues with the idea that people could lend such a card
to another unqualified family member (or even friend) to get cheaper
travel. A bit like a discounted Oyster, I agree, but maybe they already
have too much leakage from those and don't want to compound the felony?