Hey New York! Tap to ride is here
Tapping to pay is an easy alternative to transit cards
New York MTA riders can now pay at select stations along the 4/5/6 subway lines between Grand Central and Atlantic Avenue stations, as well as on Staten Island MTA buses, with the single, simple tap of a Visa contactless card or payment-enabled device such as a mobile phone or smart watch. The technology is built on the same secure EMV® Chip technology which has already helped reduce counterfeit fraud at U.S. chip-enabled merchants by 75 percent since 2015.
A recent Visa-led survey of 1,000 New Yorkers indicates they may be receptive to faster, easier payment experiences in the city’s transit system.
- 67 percent of respondents indicated that they definitely have or probably have missed their train because they needed to load their fare card.
- 83 percent of respondents indicated that they have had trouble getting their public transportation fare card to work.
- The majority of New Yorkers currently using tap to pay in other situations (76 percent) cite speed as the primary benefit to using the technology.
Building buzz in the Big Apple
Visa recently talked up tap to pay at a special interactive event: the Visa Tap Room presented with Chase. Attendees experienced various demos including tapping at a subway turnstile to see how contactless payments can save valuable time. While contactless technology is rolling out fast in the U.S., it’s in wide use around the world, where nearly half of all in store Visa transactions occur with a tap outside the U.S.
Visa expects more than 100 million contactless Visa cards to be in market by the end of this year and 300 million by the end of 2020. Tap to pay will continue to expand in the New York MTA system. Stay tuned to the Visa Blog and visit Visa.com/contactless and TapToRideNYC.com to learn more.