Contactless is a simple and secure way to pay for bus travel without needing cash. Contactless payments can be made for any tickets up to the transaction value of £45 by placing your contactless card or device on the ticket machine’s reader. Simply tap and go!

Look for the contactless symbol  on your credit, debit or pre-paid cards. Most new cards are issued with this feature, however, if you’re not sure whether your card is contactless enabled please check with your bank or card issuer.

You can also check whether your device is Apple Pay or Google Pay capable by searching for them on the relevant app store.

Sometimes the payment will be taken from your account at the end of the day, and if you make multiple journeys on the same day, the cost of these journeys might be combined and taken from your account in a single transaction.

You can check what you’ve been charged for each journey on our customer portal :

Check your contactless payments

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 as unfortunately this 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 didn’t work this time 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.

You can use contactless to purchase any of our tickets up to a total value of £45. This can include more than one ticket in a single transaction, e.g. an adult and a child ticket so long as the total price does not exceed £45.

For purchases of more than £45 we recommend using mTickets on the First Bus App. For FAQs on mTickets click here.

The limit for contactless payments in the UK is £45.  Unfortunately we’re unable to process single contactless transactions above £45 on-bus.

For purchases of more than £45 we recommend using mTickets on the First Bus App. For FAQs on mTickets click here.

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 view your contactless transactions and request a refund on our online portal: https://first-group.uk.littlepay.com/first-group

Alternatively, you can fill out our contact form with the details of your request and our Customer Service team will be in touch. 

Unfortunately, due to the nature of contactless payments, our drivers will not know why a payment has failed. However, if for any reason a payment fails, you may wish to 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.

Tickets are often cheaper as mTickets on the First Bus App, so why not buy before you travel?

Below are just 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 make sure it really is you using that card. Usually once a chip and PIN transaction has been seen by your card issuer, this temporary block will be removed.
• More than one card has been detected by the reader at the same time.
• If this happens the reader won’t take any payment and the driver will be notified that this is the case. Don’t worry though, simply make sure that one card is presented to the reader and try again.

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 again.

Yes, you will get a receipt once your transaction has gone through, along with a ticket for your journey. Please ask your driver for your receipt as well as your ticket if you’re unsure you have received one.

We don’t currently accept contactless payments for topping up smart cards on our buses as we believe this may increase boarding times and therefore, delay our buses.

Buying tickets is easy! Tap the mTickets button in the app, click buy, choose your area, select your ticket from the product catalogue, and then simply choose a payment method.

Your selected First Bus region/area is shown on the First mTickets screen; if you need to change it, tap on the area name to choose a different area.

There is no minimum purchase. You can simply buy the ticket you want in advance of your journey or buy several at once.

All of your purchased tickets are automatically put in your wallet and stored there until ‘activated’ so you’ll always be ready for your bus journey.

Yes!  You can activate multiple tickets at the same time, on the same device.

This feature is available in the First Bus App version 4.5.0 or above, so please make sure you have the latest version.

You can pay for mTickets using all the below methods:
 

• By card (Mastercard or Visa Credit or Visa Debit cards)
• PayPal, Apple Pay (on iPhones)
• Pay by Google Pay (on Android phones)

  Sorry, we don't accept Maestro or Electron cards.

Receipts are sent to the email linked with the account at the time of purchase. If you're going to need your receipt, we would recommend double checking your account details are correct before making a ticket purchase and ensure to check your spam folder once the purchase is made.

Please be aware that as bus travel in UK is zero-rated for value added tax, we are not able to provide VAT receipts.

Please note that this purchase receipt is not valid for travel, and you will need to show the driver your active mTicket displayed on the app.

If your ticket has not been activated, please contact us and we can refund the ticket for you. Although activated tickets are non-refundable, we understand there may be times where you have purchased the incorrect ticket, or you can no longer use it. For any queries regarding activated tickets, you can contact us using our contact form.

Promotion codes are set for specific areas and tickets. If you wish to confirm that the promotion is valid for the ticket you wish to buy, please contact our support team and provide us with the code you are attempting to use and the name of the ticket you wish to purchase.

Webform: https://www.firstbus.co.uk/help-and-support/help-our-apps/contact-app-support

If you’re struggling to complete the security challenge that pops-up when you are making a payment, you need to contact your bank or card issuer to request assistance.  The security challenge can take a number of forms, and First Bus present these directly from your bank or card issuer.  It could be an SMS message is being sent to the wrong mobile number, or your bank is expecting you to use their mobile app to approve the transaction.

Only your card issuer can resolve this.  If you can’t complete the purchase, you could try a different card, use PayPal or buy your ticket on the bus using your card.

The security pop-up when checking out is called the 3D Secure challenge.  3D Secure is a banking initiative to make paying by card more secure and reduce on-line fraud by asking you to prove you are the cardholder.  It is mandatory for all mobile and web payments from 14th March 2022.  Your bank or card issuer decides whether to request that First Bus request the step.

Not every transaction will be challenged – you are likely to see it the first time you use a card with us, if transactions are more than £25, and if you have made other recent purchased with the card.

If you can’t complete the challenge, you should contact your bank to check the details they hold for you and request assistance.

Some higher value transactions (typically over £100) can trigger a further fraud check from your card issuer.  This may take the form of an SMS message asking you to reply ‘Y’ or ‘N’ to indicate whether it was you making the payment.  Transactions with us will be declined until this is completed.   Please complete this extra step and retry the purchase.  Your card should be approved for use on the First Bus app and you should not see this happen again.  

You need an internet/data connection to purchase an mTicket. A weak phone signal when you board your bus should not be a problem. However, the First Bus App does need to communicate with our system on a regular basis to keep itself up to date when you're out and about, so long periods without connection may cause an issue.

Please note the app is not designed to work with Wi-Fi only devices such as tablets and iPads.

Once a ticket is purchased and downloaded, it will appear in the 'wallet' of the mTicket section of the app. Tickets in this section are listed from the oldest at the top to the newest at the bottom.

When you want to use a ticket, select the one you want and then select 'Activate Now'.

You'll then be informed of how long the ticket will be active for, before confirming that you want to activate this ticket. We would advise reading this carefully to avoid activating unwanted tickets.

Once activated, the app will generate a moving ticket image on your phone's screen and a QR code. This will stay active for the remainder of the ticket's validity and will include the time and a four letter 'word of the day'.

You'll need to scan the QR when you board the bus.

Unless stated otherwise on the ticket description, mTickets can be used anytime within 12 months of purchase. The countdown on the ticket states how long the ticket can be used for if activated at that moment.

The validity of single tickets varies across each First Bus region. For the most part, single tickets will remain valid for 30 minutes once activated. The app will remind you of this before activating the ticket, to avoid any misactivation.
 

We advise customers to only activate a ticket when ready to use it.

If the ticket expires after already being scanned, but while you are still on the bus, this is not a problem. The ticket is valid for the entirety of that single trip, and you do not need to purchase another ticket while on the bus.

For a step-by-step guide on ticket gifting, please check our dedicated page here: https://www.firstbus.co.uk/buy-tickets/ways-pay/ticket-gifting.

Please note, the First Bus App must be installed on the phones of both parties and each must have their own account. Tickets that can be gifted show the share icon  

The First Bus App is only designed to work with one device per account. However, should you purchase a new handset, or lose or damage your current device, you can transfer your tickets with the Transfer now button in your ticket wallet. Please note, mTickets should not be shared between users.

No; while you don't need an internet connection at the point you ‘activate’ an already purchased ticket, a regular internet connection is required by the app to keep content up to date and secure.

The validity of mTickets is similar to paper tickets. This means a day ticket is not valid for 24 hours, but rather the remainder of the day on which it is activated.

For example, typical validities are as follows:

(Example tickets, different tickets are available in different areas)

• FirstDay – the remainder of the day the ticket is activated
• FirstWeek – the remainder of the day the ticket is activated plus a further 6 days
• FirstMonth – the remainder of the day the ticket is activated plus a further number of days in the month less one
• First4Week – the remainder of the day the ticket is activated plus a further 27 days

We also include a period of grace past midnight, so if our services end at 2am locally, the period 00:00 to 02:00 forms part of the previous day and the hours & minutes countdown shown on the mTickets screen reflects this.

Please note that any expiry date shown in words on the ticket screen is the last full day of the ticket, and does not reflect the period beyond midnight. This is so customers do not wrongly believe they have an additional full day's travel.

Trip tickets are different as they are valid for the number of trips specified.

Missing tickets are generally caused by your mTicket account becoming logged out, or a prolonged loss of internet connection. To restore your tickets, please make sure you have a good network connection and refresh from the Options button (iPhone) or Menu button (Android). All tickets in your account should reappear after a few seconds.

If your QR code is not being recognised by the scanner and you have purchased the correct ticket for your journey, don’t worry, your ticket is still valid, just show the ticket to the driver.

Take a look at these hints and tips which should help the QR to be scanned:

• Make sure you are using the correct ticket for the bus services and zones for your journey.
• Make sure your phone's app and operating system are updated to the latest versions.
• Turn up the screen brightness if possible.
• Through the settings on your phone, ensure the time on your phone is set to automatic.

If the problem persists, please contact our support team with your journey details: bus stop, service number and ticket purchased - so this can be further investigated.

Webform: https://www.firstbus.co.uk/help-and-support/help-our-apps/contact-app-support

We do not issue paper copies of mTickets. You will receive an email receipt when you make your purchase, but this will not be valid for travel.

With mTickets, it is the responsibility of the customer to ensure a working mobile phone is available to show the driver the ticket screen. If there is a problem with the system, please let us know and we'll do our best to help.

If you are still experiencing difficulties please contact our support team here.

To change your mTicket account email address, please follow the steps below:

- Open the app and select the more tab

- Select View profile settings

- Select Edit my personal info

- In the Email address field, delete your old email address and enter your new email address

- Confirm your new email address in the field below

- Select Save changes

No – It is not acceptable to use an out-of-date ticket or pass. A full adult ticket should be purchased until the new ticket or pass arrives to avoid being charged a £50.00 Standard Fare.

Once a Standard Fare charge notice is issued, the recipient has 21 days, beginning the day after the notice is issued, to make their payment or appeal the notice. The due date is clearly printed on the notice received. Should an appeal be made, the case is automatically put on hold until the appeal is determined. If the charge remains unpaid after the 21 days or following the appeal being declined, we send out a reminder email or letter. This involves us in significant extra costs and as such, the standard fare is increased by £25.00 to cover our administration costs in processing your case. Should the notice remain unpaid after the next 14 days we will send out a further reminder which will also incur an administration cost which will increase the balance due to £100.00.

When you tap on a bus, the ticket machine records the last 4 digits of your payment card, or virtual card in the case of digital wallet payments. When you leave the bus and tap off, the machine deletes the numbers. When our Revenue Protection Officers board the bus, they take a printout from the ticket machine, this will show a list of the last 4 digits of every card used when a passenger is still on the bus. You will then be asked to show or quote the last 4 digits of the payment card you used to tap on with. These will be matched to the printout to prove that you have correctly tapped on. Should you for any reason not be comfortable with telling, or showing the Revenue Protection Officer your payment card last 4 digits you will need to stop using this payment method and instead purchase paper tickets, as you will be charged a Standard Fare if you cannot confirm the payment method used.

Yes – if for example you were using a child monthly ticket and you were an adult, the Revenue Protection Officer would confiscate the ticket as well as issuing the Standard Fare charge notice. There would be no refund available for any unused portion of the ticket. In the case of misuse of a concessionary pass, this would also be withdrawn and returned to the relevant local authority issuer. If a mobile ticket is misused, we would block the use of this ticket. This also blocks your First Bus account and the device from receiving any further mobile tickets. If travel fraud is suspected the Police will always be called.

No – The body worn cameras are always in standby mode. They only start recording when activated by the Revenue Protection Officer. Should there be a reason they need to activate the camera, they will warn you before switching it on, if it is reasonably possible to do so. The camera will always be switched on to record the interaction between an Officer and a passenger being issued with a Standard Fare charge. This is both for the safety of the passenger as well as the Officer involved. They may be switched on at any time, without warning, if a crime is being committed, the Officer is worried about their safety or the safety of other passengers, or as evidence of fraud being committed against the Company. The body worn cameras record both video and audio and footage will always be used in prosecuting any individual who threatens or assaults our staff.

Absolutely not! – By travelling on our bus, you agree to either abide by our Conditions of Travel or pay our Standard Fare charge of £50.00. For the sake of the vast majority of our passengers who do travel correctly, it is only right that we pursue the few who don’t. If the Standard Fare charge remains unpaid despite our reminder letters, we will have no option but to issue a County Court Summons against you for the balance due. This will also include court fees, our reasonable legal costs and interest due at the Court prescribed rate from the date the notice is issued until judgement is received. It is worth noting, that should the judgement be in our favour; a County Court Judgement (CCJ) will be registered against you. If the debt remains unpaid, we will have to enforce the judgement using either Bailiffs or an attachment on your earnings. This could have serious consequences for both your personal and professional life as it remains active for 6 years.

Every day people do push on to buses without paying when there are a lot of people queuing to board. Some are more blatant and just walk on and refuse to pay, others will buy child tickets that they are not entitled to or use other people’s concessionary passes. Most of our passengers pay the correct fare, in fairness to them, it is right that First Bus do something about the minority who don’t. Allowing non-payers to travel free puts up the price of fares to those who do pay, which is unfair.

Yes – the notice you have been given contains full details on how to make an appeal. This must be done on-line within 21 days of receiving the notice. Late appeals will not be accepted. You can give as much information as you want in your appeal and upload photos or documents if you feel they are relevant. It should be noted that all appeals are judged against our standard Conditions of Travel. If you have breached these, it is very unlikely that your appeal will be upheld. You will be notified of the appeal result by either email or post and your case is put on hold until the decision email/letter is sent out.

No – when you are issued with a Standard Fare charge notice, you will be given the opportunity to pay the £50.00 on the spot by credit/debit card or cash. Should you choose to take the 21 days to pay option, payment can only be made through our online payment platform. Full details on how to make your payment are contained within the notice you have received. There are no facilities to pay over the phone, at a bus station/interchange or at any of our offices. You have 21 days to make a payment. Internet access is available free in most city centres, many coffee shops and public libraries etc. If you cannot use the internet at all, we suggest you ask a relative or friend for assistance in making the payment.

Yes – whilst we only allow 1 appeal and our decision on this is final, you do have the right to complain to Bus Users UK (bususers.org). The are an independent ombudsman who will look at any complaint you make. Should they find in your favour, we will close your case and refund any money you have paid. It should again be noted that they also can only judge complaints against our standard Conditions of Travel so an appeal to them is just as likely to be declined if you have not complied with our Conditions of Travel.

The £50.00 Standard Fare charge is neither a fine nor a penalty fare. £50.00 is the Standard Fare we charge for a journey if the passenger does not have a valid ticket or pass or does not comply with our Conditions of Travel in respect of payment. This Standard Fare charge is advertised on all our buses and our Conditions of Travel are available on our website. By travelling on our buses, you agree to accept and abide by our Conditions of Travel or pay the advertised Standard Fare.

Once we have sent you our appeal decision email/letter, that is the end our process and the Standard Fare charge becomes payable by the due date. Making a complaint to Bus Users UK will not put your case on hold and reminder letters will continue to be sent out involving you in additional costs. We strongly suggest that you make your payment to close your case and await the decision of Bus Users UK (this could take up to 12 weeks). Should they find in your favour, we will refund any monies you have paid immediately using your original payment method.

Yes – First Bus is committed to making your journey with us as safe and pleasant as possible. Our Revenue Protection Officers will always do their best to ensure that any instances of anti-social behaviour are swiftly dealt with. This includes but is not limited to – smoking, vaping, feet on seats, loud music, and drinking alcohol. Passengers involved in anti-social behaviour may be removed from the bus and in more extreme cases the Police will be called and CCTV and body-worn camera footage used to prosecute offenders.

Our Standard Fare charge is neither a fine nor a penalty fare but rather a charge for your journey. As such, we will always allow you to travel onward to your intended destination. As data protection regulations will not permit us to ask for your personal details within earshot of other passengers on the bus, we will always remove a passenger from the bus before issuing the notice. Once the notice is issued, if the passenger is under 18 years of age the Revenue Protection Officers will wait with the passenger and ensure they are safely put on the next bus to complete their journey. For passengers over 18, they will be given a single use ticket to get the next bus to their destination.

No – It is a condition of using a discounted ticket that you carry the relevant photocard or college ID. If you have forgotten to bring the entitlement ID, you should purchase a full adult ticket for that journey. Afterall, you wouldn’t pop into a High Street Retailer offering student discount and expect them to give you the discount without being in possession of the valid ID.

No – Our Conditions of Travel place the responsibility of ensuring they have the correct ticket or pass on the passenger. Whilst our drivers will always be happy to advise on purchasing the correct ticket, they are trying very hard to keep to timetables. You should be ready to present any proof of age or ID card to the driver as you board.  If you are in any doubt, you should always purchase a full adult single ticket. Full details on all our available fares and conditions of use are on our website.

No – we try very hard to be fair to all our passengers when carrying out our revenue protection duties. Our Conditions of Travel apply to everyone equally. We would therefore expect all passengers to familiarise themselves with our Conditions of Travel just as you would be expected to know laws and other regulations of any Country you happen to be in.

The responsibility of having a valid ticket for your journey is placed on the passenger. Data protection regulations prevent us from viewing CCTV for such reasons. Even if we were allowed to do so, we would not have the time or resources. Neither would the CCTV be able to prove what sort of ticket was purchased.

No – Our Conditions of Travel state that you must be in possession of a valid ticket, travel pass or other proof of entitlement to travel for your journey. This means that you must collect your ticket from the machine and retain it until your journey is complete. You can then dispose of the ticket in the used tickets bin on leaving the bus. Our tickets contain a lot of information including the price paid, type of ticket purchased, time and date, journey and stop details. It is for this reason we need to see the ticket. It would not only be against data protection regulations for us to go looking through your bank payment app but also, they simply don’t give the information needed which is only printed on the physical ticket.

In the first instance, we only ever issue a Standard Fare charge notice to a passenger if they have failed to comply in some way with our Conditions of Travel. We would therefore ask all parents to ensure that their children are aware of what they need to do before getting on our buses. We are still bound by data protection regulations when asking for personal details of minors, so we therefore must remove the passenger from the bus to obtain their details and issue the notice. At all times the passenger is accompanied by at least 2 Revenue Protection Officers, in full uniform. Once the notice is issued, they will wait with the passenger until the next bus arrives and ensure the passenger gets on the bus safely to continue their journey. At no time will a minor or other vulnerable passenger be left on their own in unfamiliar surroundings.

No – there are no circumstances where it is permissible to use someone else’s concessionary pass. The person who is pictured on the pass is the only person entitled to use it.

One of our biggest forms of fare evasion is adults buying child tickets to obtain half price travel. A child ticket can only be used by passengers aged 5 and under the local maximum age for child fares, as specified on our websites and which can be confirmed by our drivers or other company officials. There are some instances where older passengers can use child tickets, but they must be carrying the correct photo ID with them to prove entitlement. This ID must be produced at the time by the passenger, sending in pictures of entitlement after the event are not grounds for an appeal. In all other cases, it is not acceptable for any passenger aged over the local child fare limit to be in possession of a child ticket. This will always result in a £50.00 Standard Fare being charged. If you appear to be over-age, travelling on a child ticket, Revenue Protection Officers may ask for some proof of age. If a passenger is not able to provide that proof a Standard Fare notice would be issued. Whilst we readily accept that not all minors carry proof of age with them, we would happily close the case with no further action, if proof of age is sent in within the 21-day appeals period.

It is the responsibility of the passenger to ensure that they don’t travel further on our bus than the place to which they have paid for. If you travel further, we will issue a £50.00 Standard Fare charge notice.

If our Revenue Protection Officers issue a Standard Fare notice to a passenger who is under the age of 18. It is our policy to send a letter addressed to the Parent or Guardian of the passenger 7 days after the notice was issued if payment has not been made in the meantime. This letter will inform the parent/guardian of the reason for issue and the fact that there are still 14 days left to either pay or appeal the notice.