Visa and Mastercard are looking to public transit in their quest for world domination

The world’s credit card providers want people to be using contactless payment systems—and they’re hoping public transportation can help kickstart that switch. Over 150 cities in the world now have public transit systems where customers simply tap their card to travel. Many of these systems, first pioneered in London more than five years ago, have direct or indirect sponsorship from Visa’s so-called “Global Transit Solutions” or Mastercard’s rival ” Transit Solutions.” New York City is in the process of rolling out its own version, which will start with the 4, 5 and 6 Lexington Avenue lines between Grand Central Station and Brooklyn’s Atlantic Avenue station starting May 31, before eventually reaching every corner of the network.