With bPay, London Closes in on Full Contactless Rail Payments

A rail network in London plans to distribute free payment wristbands to passengers to lower costs and reduce paper-based ticketing on one of the few sections of the city's commuter network that has not adopted contactless payments.

London’s C2C rail line will be offering passengers free Barclays bPay wristbands, according to a Nov. 3 news release from the bank. The wristband is linked to a debit or credit card. Barclays is active in connected device payments, including its bPay band and other deployments, such as wearable computing.

With the wristband, commuters can pay for journeys up to 30 pounds (approximately $46) by tapping their wrist.

Much of the London metropolitan area has adopted contactless options, including an open system for the Underground and a national initiative to encourage open contactless payments.

However, in East London and Essex many commuters still rely on purchasing paper tickets. By switching to this contactless option, they will pay less for their travels and could save as much as 80 pounds (roughly $123) per month.