Oyster On The Tube

A new system might see mobile phones replacing London’s Oyster card.

Every real Londoner knows the Oyster card, which can be swiped to pay for journeys on the city’s famous underground system and other public transport in the city. Indeed, owning one is the markof a real Londoner.   But in a sign of the times, the card might soon be replaced by a mobile phone. According to a report in The Guardian, Nokia isworking on a system that will let users run a compatible phone over the card reading machine instead.   The system will use RFID technology that’s already quite commonplace on mobilephones in Japan, allowing for contactless payment.   So far, none of the parties has been willing to say more, but the trial will involve Transport forLondon, Nokia, and mobile operator O2.