Contactless Payment Rollout Threatened by More Negativity
Of all places, it seems that London is the latest authority to heap negativity on the potential rollout of contacless payment systems.
Despite being the host city of a self-proclaimed 'Cashless Olympics' next year, the London Assembly's Transport Committee has criticized Transport for London (TfL) plans to replace their Oyster contactless ticketing system with universal standard debit/credit contactless payment system.
Instead of welcoming the bold initiative that will make the transport system of London more accessible to the millions of visitors it enjoys every year and the attempt to drive cost out of the administration of the system (to benefit users and taxpayers alike) the committee 
chooses to focus on the old scare stories of data security and exclusion.
Such negativity not only betrays a complete lack of understanding of the practicalities of using proximity technology for payment and the widespread availability of pre-paid debit cards for the non-banked population, it displays the worrying lack of vision which seems prevalent throughout much of public sector bureaucracy in the UK.
If London is able, in full view of the world, to host the Olympic Games with all the logistical and organisational challenges that that represents, surely it is capable of migrating its transport ticketing system from what is essentially a closed loop to an open platform and provide continuity and better value for money for its current users as a result?
Where has all that can-do spirit gone?