The U.S. is finally embracing contactless payments, which will likely accelerate the move away from cash in favor of credit, debit and mobile wallets. And it’s largely thanks to hurried commuters.
As soon as this spring, New York City subways and buses will enable riders to tap a contactless bank card or their mobile wallet at turnstiles, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or MTA, which runs America’s largest urban transportation network.
“The ability to tap through the turnstile is going to be great,“ said Chris Reid, an executive vice president of cyber, intelligence and data services at Mastercard. “It drives a huge amount of efficiencies for the transit system.”
“This could further the transition from cash to plastic,” said Ted Rossman, an industry analyst at Creditcards.com.
In fact, fewer and fewer adults are using printed or minted U.S. currency at all any more. About 3 in 10 Americans said they make no purchases with cash in a typical week, up from a quarter in 2015, according to the Pew Research Center.
For now, paper currency still remains the most frequent method of payment in the country overall, representing roughly 31 percent of all consumer transactions, more than electronic, credit, debit or checks.
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