Google Pay / Apple Pay vs. Oyster Card

If you are using either Google or Apple to pay, chip is irrelevant. As far as American Express and transit, TfL (the London transit system) claims American Express works better through the phones than any other cards. Using AmEx elsewhere can be difficult as the acceptance level is much less than in the US. You must use the exact same card for each touch in and out to get similar price capping as on an actual Oyster card.

I used my Capital One contactless Visa card on a recent visit, replacing my 12 year old Oyster. I have had no issues and price capping worked as expected.

I've tried using Apple Pay on the London transport system. It works but its a pain in the butt since you need to authorize your phone before going through the barriers. Especially true when exiting a station when you have to often wait in crowded conditions to get to the barriers; the phone's authorization can time-out in the wait, causing backups for people behind you waiting for you get the phone going again.
I now stick with the Oyster card as its much faster to use. Simply leave it in your wallet and slap the wallet on the reader, or a side pocket of a bag and hold the bag up to the reader. Much faster all-round.
If you happen to have an RFID contactless credit/debit card (most banks in the US don't offer them), they will work just as easily as the Oyster card.

Mark: I have accounts at Capital One too, and I have a couple of their cards. I'll contact them and see if they can send me two new "contact-less" cards. Thank you for your comments.

Michael Schneider : I was concerned regarding the speed with which my spouse and I could navigate the payment process. I've looked at (too) many YouTube videos of the underground and I would not enjoy being the person slowing down the flow. Point well taken. Thank you for your comments.

Emma: We'll either get a contact-less credit card, or buy the Oyster Cards. Thank you for your comments.

Google Pay is more convenient than Apple in this context as it is a small payment and therefore only needs the phone to be close to the reader, not needing any authorisation step.

Thank you. As it turns out, Capital One will reissue me the Venture One card in a contact-less version. The bank's CSR said that the contact-less card is provided when it's time to reissue the card before it's expiration, or upon request.

Update: Just got off the phone with Capital One. They will re-issue my Venture One cards in a contact-less form factor. Although billed to a single account, each card has a unique number on it, so it ought to satisfy the cautionary advice mentioned by Mark.

I appreciate all of your replies and comments.

Thank you.

Thanks for the info. I hadn't realized US banks were issuing contactless yet. I'll replace my "old" chip card ASAP.

I only learned this information from this group (credit to Mark above). Oddly, I have a Barclaycard which originated in England, and a contact-less card is unavailable through its US subsidiary. So, it seems that only select credit cards will make contact-less cards available.

UPDATE: I sent a message on from the Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/londonunderground/ to "@londonunderground" regarding this question, and below is a copy / paste of the reply I received.

Hi Richard,
Just to clarify, if you are using the same credit card account this isn't possible I'm afraid.
When using Contactless, the money needs to come from different accounts.
Thanks, Kevin.