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Contactless payments are highly secure, often safer than carrying cash. Here's why:

- Advanced Security Technology: Contactless payments use encrypted data and secure Chip and PIN technology, making them just as safe as regular card transactions. Each tap generates a unique, one-time code that prevents fraud.
- Protection Against Fraud: If your card is lost or stolen, you're protected against unauthorized payments as long as you report it to your bank quickly. They can block your card immediately.
- Bank Monitoring: Your bank monitors transactions for unusual activity. If anything seems suspicious, they may require a Chip and PIN transaction for extra security.
- Apple Pay & Google Pay Security: If you use Apple Pay with Express Mode, you can tap and go instantly for faster boarding without unlocking your phone. However, you can still choose to authenticate payments using Face ID, Touch ID, or a passcode. If you want to turn off Express Mode:
1) Go to Settings on your device
2) Tap Wallet & Apple Pay
3) Select Express Travel Card
4) Choose None or Off

If you have any concerns, check with your bank for additional security features or guidance.

Most contactless cards issued outside of the UK should work on our ticket machines. However, if your card doesn't work, please contact your bank or card issuer for assistance. Keep in mind that cards issued outside of the UK may incur overseas transaction fees, which are applied by your bank or card issuer.

No, but you can still buy multiple tickets with the same contactless card from the driver. Alternatively, you can purchase multiple tickets via the First Bus app.

Absolutely, you can still use your contactless card for all types of tickets. Tap On Tap Off guarantees you our cheapest on-bus fare!

We don't currently accept contactless payments for topping up smart cards on our buses as we believe this may increase boarding times and therefore, delay our buses.

When you use Tap On Tap Off, your card acts as your ticket. If you use more than one card or device, each will act as a separate ticket and will be entered into separate caps.

You can check all your contactless charges, including those from Tap On Tap Off, by accessing our online portal.

Customer portal

You will need first to set up Apple Pay. On iPhone, simply open the Wallet app, tap +, and follow the steps to add your credit or debit cards.

To enable Express Mode for Apple Pay take the following steps:

For iPhone:

- Open Settings, scroll down and tap Wallet & Apple Pay
- Tap Express Travel Card
- Select a card. You will then need to authenticate with Face ID, Touch ID or passcode.

For Apple Watch:

- Open the Watch app on your iPhone and select the My Watch tab.
- Select Wallet & Apple Pay, then tap Express Travel Card.
- Select a card, then authenticate with your Apple Watch passcode.
- Find more information on Apple Pay on their website.

To check if your card is contactless-enabled, look for the contactless symbol on your credit, debit, or prepaid card. Most new cards have this feature. If you're unsure, you can contact your bank or card issuer to confirm.

For devices, if you want to use Apple Pay or Google Pay, simply check your device's app store. You can download the relevant app and set up payments if your device is compatible.

Tap On, Tap Off uses contactless payments to cap your travel charges so you will never pay more than the price of a day ticket or week ticket, no matter how many journeys you make. Simply tap your card/device on the scanner at the start of your journey and tap off with the same card/device at the end of your journey.

If you would like to find out more details on whether Tap On Tap Off is available in your area, please contact us below.

Contact form

Contactless payments allow you to pay for your bus fare quickly and easily by tapping your contactless-enabled bank card, phone, or smartwatch on the card reader when you board.

Here's how it works:

- Simply tap your contactless card or device on the reader at the start of your journey.
- Your fare is not taken immediately - instead, your trips are grouped together into a single payment, usually processed at the end of the day.
- If you make multiple journeys, fare caps may apply, ensuring you never pay more than the daily or weekly limit where available.
- You can check your payments and journey details on our customer portal.

Check customer portal

Your journey will appear on our online portal within a few hours of purchasing your ticket.

Customer portal

We are aware of an issue with some AIB-issued cards. Please contact your bank for a new card or add it to Google Pay or Apple Pay.

This can happen if you have received a ticket from a previous journey, but we were unable to take the payment. When your card was presented again, it will have declined, no ticket issued and the payment taken for the previous journey. If the payment is successful, your card will then be accepted onboard going forward. Unfortunatelty, we are unable to offer a refund for these transactions. You can also check your contactless transactions on the portal below for further details.

Customer portal

If your payment was declined and your card is now blocked, here's what happens next:

When you tap your card on the bus, the payment is processed later the same day. If there are issues - such as insufficient funds - your bank (the card issuer) decides whether to approve or decline the payment. If the payment is declined, we will attempt to collect it again over the following days.

Until the outstanding fare is successfully paid, your card will continue to be declined when you try to use it for travel. Your bank may also have blocked the transaction due to insufficient funds or security reasons.

To resolve the issue, you may need to:

- Check with your bank to understand why the payment was declined.
- Ensure there are sufficient funds in your account.
- Use a different card or an alternative payment method, such as Apple/Google Pay or purchasing a ticket via the First Bus App.

If you continue to experience issues, your bank should be able to provide further guidance.

No, nothing has gone wrong. Occasionally, we may authorise a small payment (e.g., 10p) to check with your card issuer that the card is valid. This is a standard process, particularly if it's the first time your card has been used or we haven't seen it in a few days.

The 10p authorisation will not be charged to your account, and it will be cancelled within a few hours. The full transaction amount will typically appear on your statement within the next 24-48 hours. If you have any concerns, feel free to contact us.

Contact form

You will be charged the single fare to the end of the route, so always remember to tap off in order to pay the correct fare. If you do forget to tap off and are overcharged as a result, you can request a refund via our our online portal.

Customer portal

Tap On Tap Off uses contactless to guarantee our best on bus fare! Whereas contactless is just a payment method for your tickets, Tap On Tap Off guarantees that you will never pay more than the day or week cap, no matter how many journeys you make.

This is perfect for people who don't know their travel plans in advance, who may purchase day tickets for which they do not receive full value, or who end up buying two singles when they could have bought a day ticket. With Tap On Tap Off you will never pay more than you need to!

Each Tap On Tap Off journey will be a Single journey. However, the price of each journey may be adjusted throughout the day or week to guarantee that you never pay more than the price of a Day or Week ticket within your region, no matter how many journeys you make within that period.

Tap On Tap Off is currently only available for Adult fares and is not available for Child, Student, or Group fares.

Our customer portal allows you to view your contactless transactions.

Customer portal

You can use contactless to purchase any available tickets up to a total value of £45. This can include more than one ticket in a single transaction, e.g. an adult and a child ticket so long as the total price does not exceed £45.

For purchases of more than £45 we recommend using mTickets on the First Bus App.

All Visa and MasterCard cards displaying the contactless symbol , along with Apple Pay and Google Pay, can be used. Unfortunately, we do not accept payments by American Express or Maestro.

If you're using a pre-paid card, please ensure you have enough credit before trying to purchase your ticket as unfortunately this could result in your card being rejected.

There are several reasons why a contactless payment might not work, but unfortunately, our drivers won't know the exact cause. If your payment fails, try using a different card, an Apple or Google Pay-enabled device, or purchasing a ticket through our First Bus App.

Some common reasons for a failed contactless payment include:

- The previous payment to First Bus was declined and so your card has been blocked until the payment is settled. This could be because your bank hasn't approved the transaction. This could be due to security checks, fraud prevention measures or insufficient funds.
- Multiple contactless payments in a short time – Banks sometimes block further transactions as a precaution.
- More than one card was detected. If multiple cards are in the same wallet or phone case, the reader may not take payment. Try tapping again with just one card.
- Card has expired - Please check that your card is still valid.
- Card type not supported. Not all cards are enabled for contactless travel payments.
- Temporary bank issues. Outages or delays in processing can sometimes cause payments to fail.
- Device settings (for Apple/Google Pay users). Ensure NFC is enabled, and the correct payment card is set up.

If your payment fails, you can try again using a a different card, pay via Apple/Google Pay, or purchase a ticket in advance using the First Bus App.

There are a number of reasons why your card payment may have been declined:

- Some of the card/personal/authorisation details entered do not match the information held by your card issuer. Please make sure that the card-holder address and post code you entered exactly match card-holder address and post code registered with your card issuer. Do not add commas or other punctuation in the address.
- Your payment request may have been declined by your card issuer.
- If your bank thinks this purchase is unusual behaviour for your account they might block the transaction.
- If your bank account is not based in the UK: Some banks automatically put a stop to paying for things internationally.
- Your card may be or is due to expire and has been replaced by your card issuer.
- Your card may have recently been replaced by your card issuer but not yet activated.
- Your card may have been reported as lost or stolen and been cancelled by your card issuer.
- If you are sure your card details are correct please either contact your bank or try again later.
- Card payments can sometimes be declined because of an issue with your bank's systems; the fault could be with your card issuer.

If the problem persists you should contact your card issuer for further information.

First Bus set a transaction limit of £45 for contactless payments. This is to prevent the use of stolen cards to buy large quantities of tickets in a single purchase.

If using Tap On, Tap Off or Tap & Cap, you won't receive a receipt for your transaction. However, you can check our customer portal for details of your transaction.

If purchasing a paper ticket from the driver, you will get a receipt once your transaction has gone through, along with a ticket for your journey. Please ask your driver for your receipt as well as your ticket if you're unsure you have received one.

Customer portal

If you are using Tap On Tap Off, you won't receive a ticket - your payment card acts as your ticket.

When buying a ticket directly from the driver with a contactless card, you will receive a paper ticket.

You can keep track of your payments using our online portal.

Customer portal

When you tap your card on the bus, the payment is processed later the same day.

Instead of charging your card for each tap, we group your journeys into a single payment.

This means you may see one charge for multiple trips instead of separate payments. You can check what you've been charged for each journey on our customer portal.

If you made multiple journeys, fare caps may apply reducing the payment amount.

Check customer portal