Getting around London is not cheap — a few Tube hops a day can quietly add £8-10 to your daily spend before you've bought a single coffee. So any scheme that claws a bit of that back is worth knowing about, and the latest one doing the rounds on Secret London involves Chase's debit card and Transport for London journeys.
The idea is simple: pay for your TfL travel by contactless with a Chase debit card, and a percentage of what you spend comes back to you as cashback, credited to your account. That covers the Underground, buses, trams, the DLR, Overground and the Elizabeth line — in other words, essentially every way a visitor actually moves around the city. Because it works through contactless, there's nothing extra to set up on your end beyond having the card in your wallet and using it at the gates as you normally would.
Why does this matter more in London than elsewhere? London is one of the few major cities where contactless bank cards are fully integrated into the fare system, capping your daily spend automatically at the equivalent price of a travelcard. That means most visitors don't need an Oyster card at all — they just tap in and out with a card. If the card you're tapping is one that pays cashback, you're effectively getting a small discount on a cost you couldn't avoid anyway. Over a long weekend of sightseeing, with two or three journeys a day for a couple of travellers, the savings add up to the price of a decent lunch.
A few caveats worth keeping in mind. Cashback promotions like this typically apply for a limited introductory period, and only to the card issued by Chase's UK arm — it's not something you can replicate with any contactless card. There are also usually caps on how much cashback you can earn. And one practical wrinkle for overseas visitors: Chase's UK current account is generally aimed at UK residents, so this is most useful for Brits and anyone who already holds the card. If you're visiting from abroad, check the foreign transaction fees on your own bank card before relying on contactless in London — those fees can easily wipe out any reward.
Who should care? Londoners and frequent visitors who haven't got round to switching bank accounts, mainly. For tourists, the takeaway is broader but still useful: London's contactless fare system means one less thing to organise before you arrive, and it's always worth checking whether the card in your pocket earns something on your commute before you tap.
Whether it changes where you bank or just shaves a few pounds off your next city break, it's a neat example of how travel spend can quietly work a bit harder for you.
