What smart card, introduced in 2003, is widely used on London buses?

The smart card introduced in 2003 and widely used on London buses is the Oyster card.

Transport for London launched Oyster to modernize fares across London’s integrated transport network. It became valid on London Buses, the Underground, the Docklands Light Railway and Tramlink from 30 June 2003. Pay-as-you-go bus use followed in May 2004, while daily fare capping arrived in 2005.

Oyster is a contactless, stored-value card: passengers touch it on a reader, and the system validates the journey or deducts the fare. It can also hold Travelcards and other travel products. London buses stopped accepting cash fares in 2014, making electronic payment especially important.

A common mix-up is confusing Oyster with Hong Kong’s Octopus card, Sydney’s Opal card or San Francisco’s Clipper card. Contactless bank cards and mobile wallets now work across much of London’s network too, but Oyster remains the name of London’s dedicated transport smart card.