Closing the gap: Pleo now automatically generates TfL receipts

Londoners know that the Tube is what makes this fantastic city tick.

And we also fully accept that it’s really, really stressful.

But now Pleo is taking some of that stress away, with our automatically-generated receipts for journeys on Transport for London.

Can we get you onto the westbound Central Line at 8am? No, we can not.

But can we make it really simple for you to travel around the UK capital for work? Yes, we can.

Minor delays: The way it used to work

On my first day in this job, I had to hop on the Northern Line to grab some of those new starter essentials.

I tapped my Pleo card at the turnstiles and realised with horror that there was no receipt to scan.

What was I supposed to do?

Until now, the answer was like switching lines at Bank: less than ideal.

You could do what I did. Fill out a missing receipt form in the Pleo app, all a bit time-consuming for something so simple.

You could go without a receipt – never a good idea.

Or, maybe the most intense (but sort of admirable!) option: you could log onto the TfL website, input all the relevant details, download your receipt and then upload it to Pleo.

All change, please: The way it works now

The Pleo team knew that there had to be an answer to this.

We’re growing fast in the UK. Hundreds of Transport for London transactions are being recorded simultaneously at some moments.

So, our amazing developers got to work on a hack that we’ve been so chuffed to roll out this week.

Pleo now auto-generates a ticket for your TfL journey, the second you tap on your card on the reader.

When you tap out your Pleo card at the other end, we’ll fill out the price too, ensuring everything is in order.

Here’s mine from the other day:

This covers every type of TfL transport: the Underground, Overground, buses, DLR and Crossrail (it will be finished one day, have faith).

By the way, don’t worry if there’s a slight delay between tapping your card and the expense showing up in Pleo. TfL handles so many transactions that there can be a bit of a wait involved.

It will also combine all of your trips in one day into the ticket – so you can see just how much time you clocked up underground.

Safe travels –  and please ensure you have all your belongings with you when you leave the train. Especially your Pleo card.