EE brings contactless smartphone payments to London buses

EE has announced that its contactless Cash on Tap application is now compatible with all London buses, with support extending to the London Underground, DLR and Overground services from September 16.

There's no waiting required for those of you who love travelling on the iconic red double deckers, as you can jump aboard any one of the 8,600 buses from today and use the Cash on Tap app to pay for your journey.

EE promises that you'll pay the same using its app as you would using an Oyster card, with any single journey costing £1.45, with daily and Monday to Sunday bus fares capped at £4.40 and £20.20 respectively.

Being able to leave your Oyster card at home - and potentially your contactless bank card as well - means there's less chance of the dreaded "card clash" happening too.

Limited appeal

You'll need to be an EE pay monthly customer and have a compatible, NFC-enabled Android smartphone (sorry iPhone and Windows Phone owners) for the service to work - so it's rather limited for now.

At the moment the service only supports pay-as-you-go journeys, and we'll have to wait and see about season ticket support - although it does provide the same value as daily and weekly passes.

• Contactless coming to the tube on September 16