PAYG and MK Move FAQ

PAYG and MK Move FAQs

What’s the difference between Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) and MK Move?

Your PAYG purse works like cash, allowing you to buy single operator products on board without worrying about having change. Just tell the driver what you want before presenting your card and use your card to pay.

MK MOVE is a multi-operator product you can buy for periods of 1, 7 or 28 days. You prepay and load the product you want, it starts the first time you board the bus and allows you to travel as many times as you want on any bus operator in the scheme during the period (1, 7 or 28 days) until midnight on the final day. You just tap the card on boarding, wait until you hear the beep and take your seat.

MK Move and PAYG purse top ups are not available on bus.

What if my Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) card runs out of credit during my journey?

As long as you have some credit on your card you will be able to make a further single journey, even if this last journey takes you into negative balance your card will work for that journey. If you do go into negative balance, you must top up your card before you can use it again. Any top up you add to your card will cancel the negative balance first and the remaining balance will be available for you to use for travel.

How long will my card take to arrive?

Cards should be printed on the next working day and posted second class. They may take a few days to arrive, but the products don’t start until you use them on bus.

What if I lose my card?

As long as your card is registered you can contact the Milton Keynes Customer Services on 01908 691691 or contact us at Passenger Transport Contact Us – MyCouncil (milton-keynes.gov.uk) and request a replacement. This will take a few days to arrive, but any remaining PAYG credit or complete unused products (such as 7 day pass you haven’t started yet) will be included on your replacement card and we will block your lost card from further use.

A £3 charge may be applied for replacing lost cards.

Unfortunately if you have not registered an account we are unable to block or replace your lost card, so please make sure you register your card. If you order your card online it is already registered when it arrives.

What if I don’t want my card anymore?

If you have a card that you don’t want anymore and it has PAYG balance remaining, you can get a refund by returning your card to the MKC Community Transport Team. We will refund the balance remaining less a £10 administration fee.

Unused season products will be refunded less a £10 administration fee. However once a product has been activated it can no longer be refunded. This means if you have travelled using your 1, 7 or 28 day pass it will not be refunded.

Refunds are not available unless you have registered your card with us. Your card must be registered at least 24 hours before you report it lost or stolen to qualify for a refund.

Administration fees will be waived where a crime number is provided.

Only the person who registered the card can get the refund.

Do all buses accept Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) cards?

The following Operators are part of the scheme;

Arriva, Redline, Uno, Red Rose, Z&S and Stagecoach.

MK Move PAYG cards have been temporary suspended as a payment option on MK Connect service due to the technical issues. Our aim is to resolve it as soon as possible.

Why is a Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) card a better option than cash?

You can pre-load the card with up to £100 to use as and when you need to travel. This means no more looking for the correct change. Additionally as a result of COVID-19 a number of operators are no longer taking cash or giving change. The PAYG purse offers an alternative for users who do not have or prefer not to use contactless bank cards.

How do I know how much money or how many days are left on my card?

You can check your card balance on a Ticket Vending Machine (these will be appearing on street in key locations) or by using the Swift app on a smart phone.

Search ‘Swift Collecotr’ in the Play or Apple stores.

The app works on most NFC enabled Android devices (running Ice KitKat V4.4.x or later). Simply open the app, place your Swift card to the back of the device and follow the on-screen instructions

How do you use your card on trains?

The MK MOVE card is not presently in use on trains.

My card has stopped working on the bus, what do I do?

It is worth checking whether your card reads on the Swift app or a TVM and still shows a valid balance or period product before taking further action.

If your card has been blocked, or ‘hotlisted’, then it has been reported lost or stolen and will no longer work. The driver should inform you if the card is ‘hotlisted’.

If your card shows no valid product or credit then you simply need to top it up.

If your card seems to be okay you can call the MK Council’s customer services or contact us at Passenger Transport Contact Us – MyCouncil (milton-keynes.gov.uk) and your issue will be passed to the bus operator as it may be an issue with the ticket machine. Please provide as much information as possible about which bus you were travelling on.

If your card doesn’t read at all on a TVM or the app or gives an error message it is probably faulty, contact Passenger Transport Contact Us – MyCouncil (milton-keynes.gov.uk) who will arrange a replacement card to be sent out with your remaining credit.

How much can I top-up?

You can top up to a total of £100, in increments of £10, £20, £30 and £50 on PAYG

You can add more than one period pass to your card but there is a limit of 30 one day passes, 10 seven day passes and 6 twenty eight day passes.

We advise against adding two types of period pass at the same time (eg day and week) as we cannot control which one the ticket machine will activate first, however multiples of one (6 day tickets) are not an issue. The Ticket machine will activate one at a time.

Is auto top-up available, is it coming soon?

Auto top up is not presently available and is not presently planned.

How can I top up my card

You can top up through our online portal.

Once you have completed this top up you can collect the credit/products via the Swift app on your phone or using one of our on street collection devices.

You can also top up at the Ticket Vending Machines on street. There is a machine near the bus stops at Milton Keynes Station and further machines are being installed. These will be listed once installed and live.

When using the on-street ticket machine to top up my card, it seems that my payment failed what do I do?

Contact the MK Move Team and they can check whether the payment has been taken and if so resend the product out to you to collect. Occasionally payments fail, in which case you will not be charged.

If the payment was requested but not taken your bank may ‘reserve’ the funds for a few days before releasing them. This is a banking policy and the scheme has no control over this.

When using the on-street ticket machine, it seems that my top-up didn’t load, what do I do now?

Contact the MK Move Team and they can check whether the payment has been taken and the product sent and advise on whether to retry a different collection device or whether they will resend the product.

Network area

The MK Move card can be used anywhere within the Milton Keynes area.

A boundary can be viewed on the interactive bus map.