Contactless Model 2

Contactless Model 2 is the type of contactless card payment that you experience when you travel on public transport in some large towns and cities. A good example of this in the UK is London.

Some Contactless Model 2 schemes require you to tap on when you board and then tap off when you get off. This makes it possible for the system to calculate how much to charge you for your journey between beginning and end. This is TOTO (Tap On, Tap Off) contactless.

Other Contactless Model 2 schemes are known Tap & Cap contactless, where you be charged a fixed amount (a ‘flat fare’) for every journey you take. The charge will usually be capped at a certain amount over a period like a day or a week.

This type of Contactless Model 2 payment method allows you to simply “tap” your contactless payment card (or device) onto a reader at the start of your journey. You don’t need to tap out at the end of your journey, with the fare being calculated automatically in the background.

This is different to Contactless Model 1 where the products you are buying are totalled up by the cashier, or a self-service machine, and you pay the total on the screen with your contactless payment card. If you want to buy a specific ticket on a bus or tram in the UK, you will use Contactless Model 1.