Tap On, Tap Off

No you do not, just continue to use these as normal.

Our drivers will not always be able to explain why a payment has failed. If your payment does fail, you can try a different card or a different payment method, such as using an Apple or Google Pay-enabled device or purchasing a ticket via our First Bus app.

Below are some of the more common reasons why a contactless transaction may have failed:

• The card hasn't been approved by the bank for the transaction.

This can occur as a result of several contactless transactions in a short space of time, which can trigger automated fraud risk management policies with your bank or card issuer.

• The card hasn’t been used at a Chip and PIN terminal for a certain period or is new.

Most banks and card issuers require a Chip and PIN transaction every so often to help ensure it really is you using that card. Once a Chip and PIN transaction has been seen by your card issuer, this temporary block will usually be removed.

• More than one card or device has been detected by the reader at the same time.

If this happens the reader will not take any payment and the driver will be notified that no payment has been made. This is not a problem – simply make sure that only one card or device is presented to the reader and try again.

Currently capped transactions will not be affected if a payment fails.

Contactless payment is available for all tickets we sell on our services. Tap On, Tap Off is even quicker and easier as you don't even need to ask for a ticket - just tap your card or device when you get on and off the bus and we do the rest.

If you use a card for a payment which is subsequently declined for insufficient funds, unfortunately your card will be automatically blocked by our ticket machines.

However, we will try again to recover the money owed automatically after a few days or when you try to use the card again on our buses. As soon as the amount outstanding is settled with your bank or card issuer, your card will be unblocked by our ticket machines and you can make contactless payments on our buses once more.

Currently capped transactions will not be affected.

Yes you can - click below to visit the transaction portal. Once you’ve entered your card details, you can see the trips you’ve made and how much you’ve been charged over the past 90 days.

Check your contactless payments

Who can I contact for help if there’s been a problem?
If you’re unsure about a payment showing against your card in the portal, or a journey has been registered on the portal that you do not recognise, give our customer services team a call on 0345 646 0707 between 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday. Alternatively you can contact customer services using our contact form www.firstbus.co.uk/help-and-support. Live Chat is also available in the First Bus app.

How do I get a refund?
Our drivers are only able to ‘undo’ a tap for a short while after the tap was made. If anything has gone wrong, or you otherwise require a refund after the point of purchase, you will need to contact our customer services teams on 0345 646 0707 between 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday. You can also contact customer services using our contact form at www.firstbus.co.uk/help-and-support, and Live Chat is available in the First Bus app, too.

To help our customer service agents to resolve your request, please provide the following information:

• The bus service on which you were travelling and in which direction it was heading,
• The date and time you boarded and tapped on,
• The first 6 and last 4 digits (only) of your card, or
• Whether you paid via Apple or Google Pay.

Full details of your trip(s), payments and capping will appear at the end of the day for each day you travel - these completed payments have a blue marker on the left hand side. Not yet completed payments have a yellow marker on the left hand side.

Single journeys will show the price charged for the single journey. If making a 2-Trip journey, the journeys will be shown separately and where discounts are applicable, the price charged for one of the journeys will be reduced so that the total comes to the correct amount.

The Tap On, Tap Off fare is calculated based on the distance travelled on the road between the boarding (Tap On) stop and the alighting (Tap Off) stop. It is not based on a direct, straight line, distance.

The money will come out of your account at the end of the day. The amount you will be charged is calculated based on the journeys you make during each day.

Yes, you can! Just click here to view your payment history and travel receipts.

From time to time, we authorise a payment for a nominal amount. This allows us to check with your card issuer that the card is valid and will be replaced by the full transaction amount in the next 24-48 hours.

You will be charged the single journey price to the end of the route, so please remember to tap off to make sure you are charged the right price and benefit from the discounts. The 2-Trip or day ticket discount may not be applied if you don't tap off. We know that mistakes can happen, so if you've had a problem, please contact us using the details below.

If you travel together, each person needs their own contactless card or device to use Tap On, Tap Off (as your card or device acts as your ticket).

You can still use the same card or device to use Tap On, Tap Off and then buy another ticket, for example, tapping on for yourself and then buying a child single.

You need to use the same card or device for every journey to benefit from the caps.

Please remember that you need to use the same payment device, whether that be a contactless card, a phone or a watch. Even if you use a contactless bank card to tap on, you won't be able to use that same contactless card through your watch or phone.

Yes, you can tap on and then use your card or device to pay for any other tickets as normal.

No, you will be charged the adult price.

Yes you can. With Express Mode for Apple Pay there is no need to wake or unlock the device, open an app or use Face ID or Touch ID, just tap and go! 

Card clash is when a second card or contactless payment device gets too close to the ticket machine when you're trying to use your primary contactless card or payment device. 

If more than one card or device is near the reader at the same time, we may end up charging the wrong card or payment device, so make sure to keep the card or device you want to use separate. Check your journey history here if you think you may have had a card clash.

No, please make sure you only use one device and do not swap between your card and your Apple Pay or Google Pay device(s). Although linked to the same account, each device has a unique card number and therefore capping will not work properly.

How do I know when I am able to tap off?
The tap off readers switch themselves off while the bus is moving between stops. They come back on as the bus approaches a stop, and the screen will display "Present Card" to show that it is ready for you to tap off.

In the rare event that the tap off reader is not working, you can simply tap off on the driver's ticket machine (the same place you tapped on).