The end of paper tickets?

[whole diary]

[TaplowGreen]

How will it work if you pay by PayPal or similar? Or are the ToCs still too old-fashioned to recognise these methods? 

But really it's not to do with the ToCs or even Red spotted hanky etc. It's being promoted by the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) Cards Association. Why? Clearly, more opportunities to charge for handling with cards than cash (yes, I know businesses get charged for cash handling, but cards provide the possibility of charging the purchaser too) and, perhaps more importantly, more tracking.

Oh, and what about paying in Bitcoin? 

Paying with a contactless card would make the need to use Paypal etc redundant, surely that's one of the advantages?

[Bmblbzzz]

For PayPal I was thinking of people buying tickets online in advance. I'm not sure how you use a contactless card online ^ well, of course you can, but you won't be making use of its contactlessness ^ and some people might prefer PayPal for its security and (perceived) controllability, as well as for its habitually siding with the purchaser in cases of dispute; while others might shun it for its (perceived) lack of security!

Then we have the likes of mPesa, but I'm not sure if they operate in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom).

[ellendune]

Surely the handling charges are higher for cash precisely because banks prefer people to use debit or credit cards (or interbank transfers)? And they prefer those in part at least because the handling costs ^ as reflected by the charges ^ are lower.

I banked a load of cash and cheques last week and it took the cashier several minutes (you didn't want to be in the queue behind me).  The cheques took no time to process it was the cash that took the time.  That is why banks charge so much to bank cash. That and the security costs of handling large amounts of cash.    

[Bmblbzzz]

Yep! Though what we see the cashier doing is presumably only part of the story. Cheques are easy for the cashier to deal with but then require correlating with other banks, and so on.

One thing I've noticed is the preferred method of payment varies from country to country. Three air tickets bought within a month or so of each other, one each in UK^▸ (United Kingdom), Poland, India: UK wanted a card, Poland accepted a card but wanted a transfer, India wanted cash.

[didcotdean]

Some countries retail banking was originally based on giros or credit transfers rather than cheques. If you wanted to pay someone, you would get a giro slip from them with their bank account details on (or get the details to use on your own pre-printed giros), and send it to your own institution who would do the transfer. This naturally evolved today into entering the same details online. Some countries with a dominant giro system operated by the Post Office which banks belonged to never used personal cheques to any extent.

[ChrisB]

Similar to TfL^» (Transport for London - about) now, you can only buy singles, peak and off-peak. Or seasons

Who wanted a fares simplification? Looks as though you'll get it!

[IndustryInsider]

Who wanted a fares simplification? Looks as though you'll get it!

I won't be holding my breath!