EE has announced that from today its customers will be able to use their phones to tap-to-pay their way onto London buses.

Anyone with an EE phone packing NFC is able to use the Cash on Tap service to pay their bus fare. The usual daily and weekly payment caps will ensure customers only ever pay the same amount they would using an Oyster card. Except a smartphone is a little harder to lose than an Oyster card.

EE's Cash on Tap is an Android app which gives EE customers a virtual wallet into which they can deposit funds that they can spend using their contactless phone.

EE is the first network to offer this contactless payment method for London bus riders.

TfL has announced that everyone will be able to pay to travel on the Underground using contactless payment cars and supported NFC-enabled smartphones from 16 September. This will also apply to Overground, DLR and Tram services. The service has been going through testing since April with around 3,000 customers piloting the scheme. So it should, technically speaking, work perfectly from 16 September.

Buses are already open to contactless payments from cards. This offering on buses from EE is new specifically for the Cash on Tap service which allows mobile phones to make contactless payments.

READ: Ditch your Oyster, London Tubes to accept contactless payments from September