TFL payment Declined as switched to new card before old transaction completed.

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1

I got a bus on TFL yesterday and tapped as normal. I come home to find my new Monzo card as the old one is expiring and so activate it on the app. This deactivated my old card straight away. All good.

However, this morning I see that the TFL payment for yesterday is declined as my old card is no longer active. TFL calculate the cost overnight so that if I use multiple times during the day I get the right charge.

I don’t know how to fix this now. It appears TFL have tried to charge again using my old card. Can I reactivate the old one to pay this?

I’ve registered my new contactless card with TFL but I also deleted the old card off their profile yesterday so can’t see the history on their site (to see the unpaid journey yesterday).

I guess I fix this my contacting TFL and it is going to be a rare set of circumstances but wanted to flag this up as the efficient switch from old card to new may cause other problems like this (if only everyone was as quick as Monzo)

2

TfL state you can sign into your Oyster account to pay if payment was declined by your bank. Can you do that and pay the outstanding fare?

I don’t live in London, or use TfL, so I am probably not the best person to answer.

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3

What’s the consequence if you do nothing and just get on with your life?

I can’t imagine if you contact TfL they’ll be able to authorise the £1.65 transaction on a different card - it probably costs them more to even deal with you on the phone.

At the end of the day your transaction slipped between the cracks and you got a free bus ride. If you keep doing this, of course they’ll investigate and have you done for fare evasion, but as a one-off, I think TfL have bigger fish to fry.

4

It’s possible they will be able to debit from the new details in a few details time.

Depends how their systems are designed and if it’s smart enough to take from the new details you added.

5

Thanks for the responses.

It looks like they have now taken the payment for the travel on my old card but I’m also still getting another “transaction declined” coming through after that payment was taken which is a bit confusing.

Hopefully it’s just taking a bit of time to sort itself out. I’m happier now that I have paid so can just ignore the delicned messages for now and keep an eye on it.