Oyster card
OY-ster /ˈɔɪstə/
Neutral Neutral
What it really means
A blue plastic smartcard for paying on London transport. You load money onto it and tap it on the yellow readers. A contactless bank card now does the same job for most people.
Chinese explanation
伦敦交通的蓝色充值卡。先充值，进出站时在黄色读卡器上刷一下。现在大多数人直接用非接触式银行卡，效果一样。
Example conversation
A: Do I need an Oyster card for the Tube?
B: Not really. You can just tap a contactless bank card or your phone. Oyster is handy if your card charges foreign fees, though.
A：坐地铁需要办Oyster卡吗？
B：不一定，直接刷非接触式银行卡或手机就行。不过如果你的卡有境外手续费，用Oyster卡更划算。
Official sources
Rules and amounts change — confirm important details with the official source.
All Transport
Reviewed by the UK Decoded editorial team
· Last checked 24 July 2026 · Report a mistake