New system means never overpaying

PASSENGERS have avoided overpaying by more than £5 million while travelling on National Express West Midlands buses since a new contactless payment system was brought in, transport bosses have said.

The ‘Tap and Cap’ scheme was introduced in July 2021, and means people can tap their bank card or device every time they board a bus in a week and their payment will be capped at a particular sum regardless of how many journeys they make.

National Express West Midlands said: “Contactless Tap and Cap means never overpaying - saving the travelling public more than £5 million.”

According to the firm, 340 million trips have been made on its buses over the past two years, with a “big increase” in the number using contactless.

Three-day and seven-day capping is calculated for journeys made between a set time period of Monday to Sunday. Passengers save 50p on a three day cap and £13 on a seven day cap, with payments limited at £4 for one day, or £11.50 for three days and £15 for seven days.

Passengers pay £11.50 instead of £12 for the three-day contactless cap and £15 for the seven-day contactless cap instead of £28 if they bought individual day savers every day.

David Bradford, National Express West Midlands managing director, said: “With Tap and Cap, you can make as many bus journeys as you like using the same contactless card or device and we’ll cap your fare so you don’t pay more than you should. It takes away the stress of searching for change at the bus stop and is easy to do. It’s great that so many of our customers are using Tap and Cap so they’ll never overpay and it’s unbeatable value too.”