It's not far off now....

" London bus drivers will no longer accept cash payment on board their vehicles
when new measures are introduced this summer.
Transport for London (TfL) has announced a raft of changes, including allowing
passengers with insufficient Oyster card credit to travel for a whole journey
before they need to top up.
TfL said dwindling numbers of bus passengers using cash has prompted the
change, following a consultation in which it said 99% of customers already use
Oyster, prepaid tickets, contactless payment cards or concessionary tickets.
Leon Daniels, managing director for TfL surface transport, said: "The decision
to stop accepting cash fares on London buses reflects the changing way that
people pay for goods and services in our city, including journeys on the bus
network."

This has been the case on many routes in zone 1 for years. However in these areas they have ticket machines by bus stops for those who, for whatever reason, find themselves needing to travel unexpectedly (or dont have an oysrer card with them)

I think it will be a sad day if people get stranded miles from home - especially at night when when many Oyster retailers are closed - as they don't own or hold a validated Oyster. It's a pity the buses cant have those touch only debit card readers as well as Oyster readers, after all, the technology is there as you can use credit/debit cards in many black cabs nowadays

You can use a debit or credit card on London's buses now - providing you have pre-registered the card.

One word of warning though, Oyster cards are capped, DC and CC cards aren't so you pay full for each journey. Also, don't 'swipe/touch' a wallet with both an Oyster and registered DC/CC as you have no control over which is accepted.

I feel sorry for tourists in outlying areas who rely on being able to buy a ride.

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Lets be careful out there !

When cash has gone "They" will be in a position to control us much easier. Offend "Them" and they will switch off your card and make you unable to buy anything, you'll have no access to funds. It's coming ....

Correct

One clever hacker to disable DC and CC payments and you are stuffed

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Lets be careful out there !

I remember seeing a film in church in Belgium in the 70s saying this was coming. It's all predicted in the Bible.

there is also another side to this story..
If you decide to register your oyster card as you might think it's a good idea if it got lost or stolen, think again.
This gives Big Brother the chance to see all your travel movements from the time you get on and off each bus or train.
Maybe they want even greater control over you....

I thought the home made currency we use, promises to pay the bearer the sum of! not credit to the sum off.

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Its not always the biggest and the bestest, its them that make the least mistakes.

You don't 'swipe' off a bus so you can sneak about

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Lets be careful out there !

... and when "They" introduce road-pricing under the guise of "reducing congestion" they'll be able to see when and where you've been.