Tap On Tap Off

Choose a contactless card or device, e.g. Apple watch/mobile phone and simply tap it on and off the card readers each time you travel. You must use the same card or device every time, as your card/device acts as your ticket. There’s no need to ask the driver either, simply tap on and take a seat, but remember to tap off when you leave the bus for the best value fare.

Tap On Tap Off uses contactless to guarantee our best on bus fare! Whereas contactless is just a payment method for your tickets, Tap On Tap Off guarantees that you will never pay more than the day or week cap, no matter how many journeys you make.

This is perfect for people who don’t know their travel plans in advance, who may purchase day tickets for which they do not receive full value, or who end up buying two singles when they could have bought a day ticket. With Tap On Tap Off you will never pay more than you need to!

Tap On Tap Off is ideal for adults who purchase single and day tickets within a specific zone.

Unfortunately, Tap on Tap Off is not available for child, student, or group tickets. 

No, but you can still buy multiple tickets with the same contactless card from the driver. Alternatively, you can purchase multiple tickets via the First Bus app. 

No paper tickets are issued when you pay with Tap On Tap Off. Instead, your payment card acts as your ticket.

You can keep track of your payments using our online portal.

The money will come out of your account at the end of the day, or very early the following morning depending on your bank. You should only see one transaction, which is the total cost of all journeys made that day. 

You can check our customer portal for a more detailed breakdown of what your charge is made up of.

When you use Tap On Tap Off, your card acts as your ticket. If you use more than one card or device, each will act as a separate ticket and will be entered into separate caps.

Absolutely, you can still use your contactless card for all types of tickets. Tap On Tap Off guarantees you our cheapest on-bus fare!

You will be charged the single fare to the end of the route, so always remember to tap off in order to pay the correct fare. If you do forget to tap off and are overcharged as a result, you can request a refund via our our online portal.

Alternatively, you can contact our Customer Services via our contact form.

Unfortunately, due to the nature of contactless payments, our drivers will not be able to explain why a payment has failed. However, if for any reason a payment does fail, you can try a different card or pay using an alternative 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.

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.

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

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.

Current capped transactions will not be affected.

You can check all your contactless charges, including those from Tap On Tap Off, by accessing our online portal.

Your journey will appear on our online portal within a few hours of purchasing your ticket.

All Visa and MasterCard cards displaying the contactless symbol   , along with Apple Pay and Google Pay, can be used. Unfortunately, we do not accept payments by American Express or Maestro.

If you’re using a pre-paid card, please ensure you have enough credit before trying to purchase your ticket. Failure to provide funds could result in your card being rejected.

Most contactless cards issued outside of the UK will be accepted on our ticket machines. However, if you find that your card doesn’t work, please contact your bank or card issuer. Please be aware that cards issued outside of the UK may incur overseas transaction fees applied by your bank or card issuer.

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 can request refunds for any contactless/Tap On Tap Off transactions directly through our online portal.

Alternatively, you can contact our Customer Services using our contact form.

You can request a refund for any contactless transaction via our online portal.