3D art installation celebrates contactless rollout on London Underground, tram, DLR London Overground and most National Rail services

With millions of customers set to benefit from faster, easier and more convenient contactless journeys around London from 16^th September, Visa Europe crafted an immersive 3D art installation at Waterloo station to mark the occasion. The image enables passers-by to join Visa Ambassador, Usain Bolt, in a race to the London Underground gates where they can touch their contactless card on the reader to pay directly for their journey.

Contactless journeys – using credit, debit, charge or pre-paid cards or devices – work in the same way as Oyster on TfL services, by touching in and out on the readers at the start and end of every journey. Fares are cheaper than cash with users being charged adult pay as you go fares and benefitting from daily and Monday to Sunday fare capping.

The availability of contactless journeys on all TfL services coincides with new figures released by Visa that show the use of contactless across the UK has continued to gain pace. In June 2014, the use of contactless cards to make payments increased month-on-month by 7%, reaching a total transaction value of £136.4 million. This also indicates a growth in contactless use of 207% since June 2013, with the transaction value increasing by 202%.

“Tuesday 16^th September marks a great day for Londoners,” says Nick Mackie, Head of Contactless at Visa Europe. “No longer will London transport users need to queue for a ticket, or to top up their Oyster card. Contactless journeys will offer a convenient, fast and cost effective way of paying for travel around the city. Contactless payment use has reached record highs in the past few months, as our latest stats show, and with TfL offering contactless across all its services this is only set to accelerate further.”

Contactless Facts

• Using a contactless card is the fast and convenient way to pay for everyday purchases that are under £20
• Nearly 1 in 2 Londoners already has a contactless card
• There are now over 300,000 terminals accepting contactless payments in the UK
• As well as on TfL services you can pay with contactless cards in retailers including Boots, Tesco, McDonalds, Costa Coffee, Waitrose and Greggs
• Visa contactless cards use the same secure technology as Chip and PIN so you can feel totally confident when you’re using it to pay