I have heard something like this from colleagues, and I can confirm that staff Oyster cards are very fast. But I've always felt that regular Oyster cards are ve

I have heard something like this from colleagues, and I can confirm that staff Oyster cards are very fast. But I've always felt that regular Oyster cards are very fast too, so I don't notice much difference. When the validator detects a staff Oyster card, it does check if the card is hotlisted (in case it was lost/stolen). But otherwise there's very little logic required.