Diamond bus?

Has anyone used card on a diamond bus before, I used my Monzo for the first time on it and my receipt says £5 but only 10p has left my account?

That’ll be like using the Metrolink in Manchester. They’ll take 10p initially, and then update it with the total amount later…

This is (I think) for them to collate all your travel throughout a day, and work out what that correct amount is to charge. Some systems may have limits on daily charges etc.

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Ah that’s interesting that, thank you ive never seen anything like it

Is this not similar to how older pay at pumps work? Take authorisation for £1.

The transaction was basically checking the card was real and active?

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I’m not sure. I’m hoping they don’t take the other 4.90 out :sweat_smile: but was curious as like I say first time using a card on bus

TFL operate something similar on the Tube; the first tap of new card on the reader takes a pre-card-check / authorisation for 10p.

As you tap in + out through the day it calculates the balance and presents the full amount to charge.

I guess in your case you bought a specific £5 ticket? But if you were to go on a different journey in the same day on the same network, I think all the charges would be charged together.

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All the buses round here do the 10p charge and then overnight it corrects to the actual amount, that’s even if you buy a fixed price ticket, no tapping on and off for it to work out the actual fee.

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Yes I’ve noticed this — especially during using the contactless terminals. I think the 10p is to check you’ve got money on the account, and then they’ll the correct sum at the end of the day.

The TfL way of doing things is starting to become more widely spread - with a daily cap etc but most companies just add single after single together and charge you the final amount.

Some opcos are moving towards daily capping, but given how slowly tech development is in the sector it’ll be a long time before the level of sophistication TfL offers is widespread.

It took us more than two years to get our hands on a machine which was suitable for our needs, accepted ITSO and was able to take contactless payments.

It was finally rolled out in December last year and I understand there are still issues with the machines and how it integrates with Stagecoach’s back office.

It threw a spanner in the works when they lost all their rail franchises and we had to divorce ourselves from their systems and realign into Stagecoach Bus :man_facepalming:t2:

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