Mastercard announced the launch of a global alliance to upgrade mass transit systems for contactless payment adoption, rolling out a partnership with France's Meridiam SAS, which will work with the card company to finance digital ticketing infrastructure projects in North America. 

The agreement combines Mastercard's expertise in digital technology with Meridiam's expertise in financing and developing public infrastructure projects and will help implement smart payment systems. The two companies will work together over the next few months to identify cities looking to enhance their urban mobility systems. 

Mastercard said the partnership marks the first initiative under the City Possible partnership announced in 2018 that will help major cities make enhancements to their transit systems. 

"Collaboration is the lifeblood of City Possible," Miguel Gamino, executive vice president, enterprise partnerships and head of global cities at Mastercard, said in the press release. "Today's announcement represents such a collaborative approach that matches cities' needs with financing resources, our technology and expertise."

Mastercard has previously helped implement digital payment systems in public transit projects in New York, London, Singapore, Dubai, U.A.E., Sydney, Australia and Bogota Columbia.

Meridiam previously helped back the ION Light Rail in Waterloo, Canada, a $910 million highway project in North Texas and a 600 million euro ($664 million) deal to to help develop Sofia Airport in Bulgaria. 

Cover image: Mastercard.

 

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