As with more than 10,000 New York taxis already equipped with the Visa payWave system, New York City subway passengers will now be able to swipe their smartphones to pay the fare instead of digging around for their wallet, cash, cards, or tickets.
The pilot project includes 28 Lexington Avenue subway stops with payWave portals at the turnstiles, as well as most PATH railway stations. Passengers testing the system simply tap their smart phone to a reader and voila.
In Los Angeles, a prepaid ReadyCredit Visa card is accepted at LA Metro’s TAP, as well as most retailers, and can be reloaded as needed.
Participants in the smart phone payment project can use their smart phones at certain retailers in the Big Apple as well.