30 March 2022
From today, if you top up your Oyster card online automatically you’ll no longer have to top it up with a minimum of £20. You’ll now be able to top it up with just £10.
And that reduction is thanks to London TravelWatch, with some help from our friends at Just Fair. When we started campaigning over a year ago to reduce the auto top up amount, we were told it couldn’t be done but we persisted and today it’s actually happening.
With the price cap on energy costs being lifted on 1 April and the costs of living really start to rise, this change is welcome news for Londoners.
As someone in our digital community said to us last year: “I only keep £20 or less on my Oyster card as I don’t use it much and can’t afford to have much on it.”
Although Contactless payment is becoming more popular, many people still rely on using their Oyster card because it helps them to manage their finances better; or because they have a Railcard linked to their Oyster account; or simply because they don’t like getting their bank card out at a ticket barrier. Some parents also use auto-top up for their child’s Zip Oyster Card.
We hope this change will be welcomed by all Londoners struggling with their finances at the moment, and we congratulate TfL on finally making the change. Anyone wanting to change their top up amount needs to visit the ‘Manage Auto top-up’ page on their online account.
