Mastercard’s City Possible™ network now serves more than 500 communities in more than 50 nations throughout the globe, according to a Tuesday (Nov. 10) announcement.
Its collaboration blueprint is geared toward developing more inclusive and sustainable municipalities by providing better access to city services, building out urban mobility offerings and supporting an inclusive recovery by data-fueled analysis.
City Possible added New York City; Los Angeles; Hamilton, Canada; and London, Mastercard said in the announcement. The program now includes 220 city members and candidate cities, and a further 320 cities harnessing transit solutions, according to the announcement.
Furthermore, the network welcomed Digital Main Street, which teams with more than 500 cities throughout Canada to assist Main Street small businesses with digital transformation.
In terms of city insights, the network will showcase a revamped online marketplace that offers access to various tools and partner offerings. One new function is “specific sentiment analysis data” from ZenCity, which is a City Possible partner and Mastercard Start Path program alum.
For transportation, Mastercard has brought transit solutions to more than 330 cities throughout the globe by harnessing the Transit Partner Program, according to the announcement.
Mastercard recently unveiled its work with Transport for New South Wales to test a digitized Opal Card, allowing for an easy payment experience through different types of transportation.
And, in terms of expanding access to city services, Mastercard City Key™ is live in more than 25 communities. The offering, which was initially rolled out last year, lets each municipality bring together identification, access to city services and payments into a single tool.
Mastercard City Key™ has been recently deployed in Los Angeles; Honolulu; and Kolin, Czech Republic.
The news comes as cities are tapping into the power of data collection and analytics to bolster infrastructure and services in the drive to modernize, grow and handle flourishing populations.
As Mastercard Executive Vice President of Enterprise Partnerships and Head of Global Cities Miguel Gamiño told PYMNTS in an interview, it’s an effort that requires a long-horizon view and teamwork.
Gamiño noted that the first Mastercard debut of the initiative saw 16 cities and a couple of partners sign on. As of that time, he said, “what has stayed constant has been the approach and the philosophy. Everything else seems to have changed (in a very positive direction), and it has grown substantially in terms of the number of cities and partners.”