MasterCard has teamed with local transport agencies in New York and New Jersey on a six month contactless payments trial that will see participants able to pay for train and bus journeys by tapping their cards against specially-equipped readers.
The card giant is working with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PATH) and NJ Transit (NJT) on the pilot programme, which will begin on 1 June, covering select train and bus routes throughout New York and New Jersey.
The pilot - an extension of a 2006 trial launched in 2006 by MasterCard, MTA and Citi - sees MasterCard PayPass readers installed on select turnstiles and fare boxes along various routes.
Using their MasterCard PayPass or other contactless payment-enabled card or device, participants will be able to choose from a "Pre-Fund" or "Pay-As-You-Go" fare option. All fares purchased using a PayPass-enabled card or device will be automatically applied to customers' credit or debit accounts.
Jay Walder, chairman and CEO, MTA, says: "The technology that we're testing will make life easier for our customers and help reduce our cost of doing business at the same time. By using an open network we'll break down regional barriers and let people travel across the region with a card that's already sitting in their wallets."
Joshua Peirez, chief innovation officer, MasterCard Worldwide, adds: "Through innovative technology, this initiative enables MasterCard to support the regional transit agencies' goals of moving more customers faster and more easily, while adding efficiency to their back-end operations."