Since the New York MTA launched One Metro New York (OMNY) – its new contactless fare payment system – at select New York City subway stations and buses earlier this year, New Yorkers have tapped more than four million times on the system.
Today, the New York MTA, Visa and Chase announced that even more New Yorkers and visitors can benefit from this fast, easy and secure way to get around as the tap to pay system launches at Penn Station and will expand to other stations and buses throughout 2020.
Two out of three New Yorkers who responded to a Visa survey this summer said their trips were delayed or took longer because they needed to reload a fare card. Tapping to ride eliminates this challenge as riders can simply turn up to a station or bus and travel with a tap of a contactless card or digital wallet.
The MTA had reached one million taps within three months of its initial launch, with the number rapidly climbing toward the milestone of four million taps, and exponential growth expected to follow with tap to pay expanding across the MTA system.
Tap to pay adoption triples in New York in the last year
Visa and Chase have seen first-hand how New Yorkers tap to pay for the things they buy every day. Nearly 1 in 10 face-to-face Visa transactions in New York currently occur with a tap, growing significantly over the last year. Contactless cards primarily drove this growth as partners like Chase continue to deliver new cards to consumers. Contactless card adoption increased nearly 10 times in the last year and now nearly half of all Visa cards in the New York metropolitan area have the tap to pay feature. Beyond tapping to ride for an easier way to get around, consumers are tapping most at quick service restaurants, grocery and drug stores, and pharmacies across New York City[1].
Chase and Visa continue to help customers benefit from this improved way to checkout, with Visa anticipating 300 million Visa contactless cards in the U.S. in 2020. Chase Visa cardholders can visit Chasetaptopay.com to learn more and request a contactless credit or debit card.
Penn Station is a vital transit hub with more than 160,000 people using the MTA system daily. In addition to Penn Station, riders can soon tap to ride at 85 stations across the MTA system this month, with more to come in January. The MTA will bring the popular tap to pay system to all 472 stations as well as all MTA bus routes by the end of 2020.
Visa looks forward to continuing efforts with partners like Chase, the New York MTA, and other transit agency partners in the U.S. and around the world to help improve the daily routines of more consumers.
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[1] VisaNet, November 2018-2019