Tap On Tap Off contactless payments

Tickets are now even easier and cheaper, with new improved contactless payments Tap On, Tap Off now available on all our buses.

You can pay by:

  • Visa
  • Mastercard
  • Apple Pay
  • Android Pay

What is tap on, tap off?

  • EASY
  • CONTACTLESS
  • PAPERLESS
  • BEST DAY FARE (not suitable for returns)
    • Tap on, tap off automatically calculates your best available daily fare

Who is it for?

Tap on tap off is suitable for anyone making a single trip or multiple trips on Bluestar and Unilink buses in any one day.  

How does it work?

Simply TAP ON using the driver’s ticket machine at the start of each journey and TAP OFF at the end of each journey on the tap off reader located by the exit door, using a contactless payment method (Visa/Mastercard payment card or device using Apple Pay or Android Pay).

There is no need to tell the driver where you are going, and you don’t need a paper ticket. This all helps to make boarding our buses easier and faster.

How do I know what I will be charged?

If you use tap on tap off, we are initially offering you the best available daily fare guarantee.  The price of any journeys you make will be calculated by the system and charged to your account at the end of each day. The system will automatically calculate your best available daily fare depending on what fare zone you have travelled in.

What if I only make one or two trips?

The system will record exactly where you have travelled from and to and your fare will be charged at the rate of a single journey.

How can I check what I have been charged?

You can check your journey and fare history through our Contactless Customer Portal. The portal will be branded littlepay.  You can either set up an account or proceed as a guest - you will need the details of the payment card you used on the bus to track your trips.

Do I have to register my card first?

To use Tap On, Tap Off there is no need to register or sign up - you can board the bus with your contactless card or device to tap on and off. However, if you want to see your trip history, you will need to log into the customer portal.

Can I use more than one bank card?

To get the best available daily fare you will need to use the same card that day. However, you can use other contactless cards, but your transactions will not be linked.

Who is Tap On and Tap Off suitable for?

Adults who buy single or dayrider tickets.  It may not be suitable for all returns, but during our offer period our new daily capped rates will be cheaper than many return journeys.

Who does it not work for?

It won't be suitable for:

  • Customers buying return tickets that are less than the daily capped zone price
  • Child fares
  • Group tickets
  • Customers purchasing a weekly ticket from the driver
  • Customers purchasing a transfer fare from one route to another
  • Customers who want a return that is a lower price than the daily capped fare
  • Customers who wish to buy promotional discounted tickets from the driver

These will continue to be available on the bus as paper tickets and you can still pay for these tickets using contactless payment devices or cash. You do not need to tap off when buying paper tickets.

What happens if I forget to tap off?

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, please contact customer services.

How will it appear on my bank statement?

You will see a charge to your bank account from Go South Coast, you may see more than one charge in one day, but the total added together will be no more than the cost of a dayrider.

What if the bus I am on breaks down and I am asked to transfer to another bus?

On the rare occasion this happens our driver will tell you what to do, but you should tap off of the bus you started your journey on, i.e the bus that broke down and do not tap on or off of the bus you are transferred to.  For any additional trips you make that day, please tap on and tap off as normal.

What if I get asked to use my PIN?

The new requirement to enter your PIN number after five contactless transactions does not apply on our buses.

Troubleshooting

What if my payment does not work?

There are a few reasons why a card may not work when presented for travel; if this happens your driver will ask you to try another card, or to pay using cash or another form of payment such as the mobile app. 

Some of the reasons why a card may not work include:

  1. The card is not a contactless card
  2. The card is of a type that we do not accept e.g. American Express
  3. The card is being presented for a payment over the £100 limit – this doesn’t apply to Apple Pay or Google Pay
  4. Your bank must verify Apple Pay or Google Pay on your device; you won’t be able to use it if this step hasn’t been completed
  5. Issues with the ‘deferred authorisation’ payment method, explained below.

Deferred Authorisation and Pre-Authorisation

The ticket machines for all bus operators in the UK operate the ‘deferred authorisation’ payment method. Unlike transactions made in a store where the payment is authorised immediately, deferred authorisation takes place some hours after the person has travelled.

The deferred authorisation payment procedure operates as follows:

  1. When a passenger boards a bus and taps the reader, a green light indicates a valid card.
  2. The data collected by the electronic ticket machine is sent to the payment service provider at varying times of day, due to the mobile nature of electronic ticket machines and their sometimes-intermittent access to the internet.
  3. The payment service provider then sends this data to the acquiring bank for processing. This part of the process then goes to the issuing bank for authorisation. The bank will either say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the transaction.
  4. This process means a customer can travel, but the merchant doesn’t discover until later that day or the following day whether the transaction has been honoured or declined.  The passenger will have travelled, but if the transaction is declined, the customer effectively owes the bus company a debt, which the bus company will need to recoup.
  5. When a transaction is declined, the bank card that was used for that transaction will be put on a temporary ‘deny’ list and blocked from use on any other buses operated by that merchant until the debt is recovered.
  6. This debt recovery is made by the payment service provider attempting recovery up to 4 times in a 30-day period after the card was initially declined, as part of an automated process.
  7. One of the ways in which this recovery is attempted is tap-based, i.e. when a customer with an outstanding debt taps their card to use the service again.  In this situation, the terminal on the bus will decline the transaction for travel at that time, due to the card being on the ‘deny’ list, but the automated payment system will attempt to collect the debt relating to the previous transaction.   If this happens, you may be denied travel for that particular journey unless you can provide an alternative form of payment.  
  8. Once the previous transaction has cleared, the card will be removed from the ‘deny’ list, and can be used for further journeys. 

With the deferred authorisation process, card schemes apply a pre-authorisation.  This means that an amount is set aside by the card issuer but not actually transferred to the merchant - the amount is 'reserved' until the transaction settles. The amount of the pre-authorisation varies depending on the card scheme – some card schemes apply a 10p amount, others 0p.

The Morebus payment service provider does not apply this pre-authorisation process to every transaction.  Typically, they apply in circumstances such as when a card has not been used on a Morebus bus before (e.g. a new customer); if the card is new (e.g, when a previous card has expired or been replaced); if the card hasn’t been seen for a length of time such as a month or so. 

Where a pre-authorisation applies, the full transaction will be settled - either honoured or declined - hours after the customer taps on the bus.  This is usually within 24 hours, but it can take time to be authorised by the bank, particularly at weekends or public holidays. This may show on your bank statement as 2 separate transactions.

When a transaction is declined, the bank card that was used for that transaction will be blocked from use on any buses operated by that merchant until the debt is recovered.

My card has stopped working

Sometimes your card won't be accepted, even though you've used it before to travel on our services.

This could be because of unpaid fares – this is when the bank declines to honour the transaction (see above). Your card may have been accepted by our card readers at the time of the original travel, but the payment was later declined by your card issuer.

When this happens:

  • You've made a journey that you've not paid for -i.e. the transaction was declined by your bank
  • Your card will be added to the ‘deny’ list automatically. Once the debt has been recovered, the card is removed from the list, again automatically

How do I pay my unpaid fare?

  • Our automated debt recovery process will attempt to collect the debt from your bank. This is done a maximum of 4 times during the 30-day period after the transaction date. If this is not successful, tap recovery (where the debt is collected when a passenger taps on the reader on the bus) is sometimes successful.  However, as described in the deferred authorisation process above, you may be declined travel as your card could be on a temporary ‘deny’ list, and you will have to use an alternative payment method on that occasion. 
  • If the payment is successful, this could appear on your bank statement up to 30 days after you travelled.