Visa’s recent Future of Urban Mobility Survey found that 91 percent of riders expect public transit to offer contactless payments, and nearly a third cited contactless payments as a top feature that would entice them to use public transit.

Tap-to-ride technology, which allows riders to tap their existing card or mobile wallet to pay for their fare, is far more convenient than having to carry exact change or worry about keeping a metro card topped up.

CIS Visa Office press service reports that Visa supported more than 550 urban mobility initiatives since launching tap-to-pay technology on transit in 2011.  

For the first time ever, Visa’s network has processed over one billion tap-to-ride transactions on global transit systems in just ten months.

Europe accounts for the largest share of those transactions, including over four million a day on Transport for London’s (TfL) system alone, but every single region is growing; with North America already accounting for approximately one in five contactless taps on transit.

The same underlying contactless technology also supports Visa Prepaid and Private Label cards, which extend digital ticketing to all transit users, regardless of their financial standing or whether they have access to a bank account, playing an important role in driving financial inclusion around the world.

“For the past 60 years, Visa has partnered with government agencies to transform the way people transact, commute, and grow to advance economies and uplift communities everywhere. Revolutionizing the way everyone, everywhere can pay their transit fares every day is the latest way to help get it done,” the news release reads.

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