Making it easier to be Oyster smart

Transport for London (TfL) is making it easier for customers to do business with the organisation and be ‘Oyster Smart’ with further additions to the Oyster online accounts. Now customers can get more accessible, comprehensive and interactive records of journeys and fares – which is all a part of TfL’s focus on improving customers’ experience of travelling in the capital and making sure that every journey matters.

Last year, enhanced Oyster online accounts were launched, enabling Oyster users to more easily manage their account, check their journey history and the fares they pay, monitor their pay as you go balance and see when their season ticket expires. Over 600,000 customers now use the online accounts. Since the end of 2012, customers have been able to automatically receive their journey history by email weekly or monthly, taking the time and effort out of keeping track. Previously, statements were only available by contacting the Oyster help desk and requesting a printed journey history to be posted.

Customers with Oyster online accounts are also now benefitting from receiving notifications when they receive a refund after an incomplete journey has been completed by the system on their behalf. Using previous journey history the likely journey is inferred and fare readjusted. This process is automatically offered to customers once a month if they have forgotten to touch out. On average, 150,000 of these refunds are generated each month. This is in addition to the mass automated refunds that are set when TfL is aware customers have been unable to touch out, for example if gates are left open for crowd control purposes.

To make it even more simple for customers, from the beginning of this year, those with Oyster online accounts have been receiving notifications when they have an incomplete journey that is eligible for an online refund claim. Once they have entered some simple information about where their journey started or ended their request is then processed within a short period of time.

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, said: “Being able to see journey history and applying for refunds through online accounts means Londoners are now able to better manage their Oyster use and ensure they are always paying the cheapest fares. This is another way we are making doing business with TfL a better experience.”

Shashi Verma, TfL’s Director of Customer Experience, said: “Making it easier for customers to do business with us is at the heart of all we do and providing more online and interactive options demonstrates our priority of putting customers first. The feedback we have already received on the improvements is encouraging and helps us to identify more areas we can focus on to make travelling around London an easier and more pleasant experience.”

Work is also progressing on a new TfL website that will launch later in the year, providing a more personalised experience for customers looking to plan their journeys or calculate their fares.

Three new online videos have been launched by TfL setting out the improvements that are helping Londoners to become more ‘Oyster Smart’ and demonstrating how to get the best out of their Oyster accounts. The films, posted on TfL’s website and YouTube account, cover:
- How to manage your Oyster card with an online account;
- Paying for your travel using Oyster; and
- On the move with Oyster.

March 6, 2013