More ways to pay

Cash is still king across Reading, but we are proud to be able to offer our customers more ways to pay! We've worked hard on making lots of different payment methods available for our customers - especially in the simplyReading area where our buses don't give change.

contactless

You can use your contactless bank card to pay for bus tickets, as well as your smartphone or your smartwatch, for Apple Pay and Android Pay.

Contactless is available on all our buses, so there's no need to worry about having the right change.

Pay for tickets like your coffee!

Paying with contactless works just the same as when paying with cash. Just ask for the ticket you want and tell the driver you’re paying with contactless. When prompted, place your card or device on the reader just like when you pay on the high street. Your ticket will be issued and you can then find your seat.

If you are unfortunate enough for an error to occur, the driver will cancel the transaction and the amount will be refunded to your card without you having to do a thing.

Top-ups for smartcards are unfortunately not able to be paid for with contactless due to using the same reader for both the smartcard and payment card. If you need to top-up, why not go online to get the best fare?

smartcards for smart travellers

If you travel a lot with us, then the best fares can be found by using our smartcards. You can check information on smartcards here, or check your best fare here.

Smartcards work by buying your travel in advance to save. You just tap the card on the reader when you get on the bus. It's that simple!

If you know you will be travelling lots with us, then getting a smartcard will give you the best long term fare and can be topped up online meaning you always know that you have your travel to hand. 

mTickets on our app

If you only travel every now and then with us, our mobile app not only gives you peace of mind with our live bus tracking, but guarantees you will get the best value fares. There’s also 7 and 30 day tickets for those that might travel a bit more regularly, but don’t want to carry a smartcard in their wallet.  

Our mTickets are downloaded to your phone and you just scan the QR code under the reader when boarding.