Contactless Payments FAQs

All Central Connect buses accept contactless payments for all tickets available to purchase on board. We accept all major credit and debit cards except for American Express. You cannot pay by chip and pin on our buses; your card must be a contactless-enabled card.

Paying by contactless on the bus is not the same as using a contactless card for a normal transaction in a shop or restaurant. As such, we advise that you read the information below carefully before making a journey by bus with us.

Why do I not get charged for my full journey on the bus immediately?

When you pay by contactless payment card, our ticket machines do not validate your transactions in real time. This is because, unlike in a shop or restaurant, we don't always have 3G or 4G signal when our buses are on the road.

When you pay by contactless, you'll see an initial transaction of 10p go through on your card. This is a holding transaction, recording the journey that you have made.

Our ticket machines communicate with the merchant bank (payment provider) periodically throughout the day and settle outstanding transactions in batches. Your bank statement will then update and the holding transactions will be replaced with the full cost of your journey(s).

If you are using "Tap on Tap off" available on some of our bus services in Norfolk, then please see www.central-connect.co.uk/toto for further information on how that system works. 

Why does my contactless card get declined on the bus?

Because we do not validate your transactions in real time, it is possible to pay for a bus ticket on our buses, even when you do not have enough money in your bank account. When you do this, if we cannot successfully charge your card, your card will be blocked automatically by our payment provider.

This means that next time you try and travel with us, even if, at that point, you have money in your account, your card will be declined, and you will have to use an alternative means of payment. The process of trying to pay and having your card declined also allows us to collect the debt you owe to us, which means that your card will then be unblocked for future use.

This is why you may experience a situation where your card is declined but it appears that you are still charged - you are not being charged for the trip that the card was declined for, but instead are being charged for a previous trip which you had taken, but we were unable to collect the funds for. Once this charge has been taken, your card should be unblocked and you would then be able to travel as normal.

If your card is declined on the bus, you will not be allowed to travel, unless you can make payment using an alternative card, or using cash.

For more information on Tap On Tap Off contactless payments, please see here.