London Banter - View Single Post - Can't update Oyster card with cash any more

Scott · August 11th 20, 09:03 AM posted to uk.railway,uk.transport.london

On Mon, 10 Aug 2020 08:58:30 +0000 (UTC), wrote:

On Mon, 10 Aug 2020 09:04:09 +0100
Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 07:40:56 on Mon, 10 Aug
2020, remarked:
I took the tube for the first time in months yesterday and it seems you
can no longer update your oyster card with cash.

Is that a subset of the TVMs perhaps not accepting cash for *any*
transaction?

No idea.

I asked one of the staff about this apparently "temporary" measure and
he said he doubts the facility will ever come back and I tend to
believe him. So thats another avenue of anonymity out the window.

Get yourself a pre-pay credit card, for example from a bureau
-de-change. That'll break the chain of traceability unless you are a
suspected terrorist on the run.

I'm not fussed enough, but thats not the point. Why is the cash option being
dropped? Any covid excuses are BS since the staff never need to physically
touch it, they just empty the bucket into something Securicor (or whoever)
take away.

A trader I knew said that once handling costs and pay-in charges are
taken into account, cash is more expensive to process than a debit
card.