How Does An Oyster Card Actually Work?

By Alphr Last edited 99 months ago
How Does An Oyster Card Actually Work?

Technology content is brought to you in partnership with Alphr.com

It’s easy to take the Oyster card for granted. To most Londoners, it’s little more than another card to cram in a wallet — but what’s the tech that makes it tick?

As far as you’re concerned there are probably only two things that anyone needs to know about TfL’s contactless cards — the difference between a good beep and a bad beep.

However, there’s actually some pretty clever technology involved. In simple terms, an Oyster card uses radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology to communicate with the card readers, which is the self-same technology used in modern smartphones.

But have you ever wondered what happens, when you wave your Oyster card near a ticket barrier, where your data goes when you touch in or out; and what’s actually inside an Oyster card? Our friends over at Alphr.com have been doing some digging on your behalf.  

If you want to find out a little more about what makes your Oyster tick, click here to head on over to Alphr.com’s fascinating explanation.

Last Updated 08 December 2015

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