In our industry, people often say paying for transit should be as easy as buying a cup of coffee. At first, that sounds right. Buying coffee feels effortless. You tap your card and walk away with caffeine. In reality, ordering coffee still means making choices: size, roast, type of milk, extras. Even that quick purchase takes time before you pay.
In public transit, riders want something even more straightforward. They do not want to study fare charts, compare passes, or worry about choosing the wrong option. They want to travel quickly and confidently without having to think about payment at all.
That is what Open Payments delivers. Riders tap a contactless card or digital wallet, and the system handles the rest. It records trips, calculates what is owed, and automatically applies the best fare.
Paying for transit with Open Payments is not as easy as buying a cup of coffee. It's easier. You do not need to choose or decide. You simply tap and go.
That simplicity is exactly what agencies across the United States are delivering through Open Payments. In 2025, adoption has accelerated and has moved beyond pilot programs and early adopters. Today, it is becoming a practical and proven model for agencies of all sizes, helping them simplify operations, improve accessibility, and meet the expectations of riders.
The recent wave of Open Payments launches is not about chasing the latest technology trend. It is about solving real operational and policy challenges.
Operational efficiency has been one of the biggest motivators. Agencies see faster boarding times, reduced cash handling, and streamlined reconciliation once contactless payments are introduced.
Equally important is rider experience. In a world where people tap to pay for nearly everything, transit is catching up to that same standard of simplicity. Riders don't need to download an app or carry a smart card if they don't have one; they can just tap and go.
And increasingly, equity and accessibility are central. Open Payments removes barriers for occasional riders, visitors, and those without smartphones, creating a more accessible way to access public transportation.
These factors together are why Open Payments has shifted from asking if, to asking how fast.
At Masabi, we are proud to be powering a growing share of this acceleration. In 2025, several U.S. agencies launched Open Payments systems built on our SaaS platform, Justride.
Together, these deployments illustrate how Open Payments is scaling across a wide range of environments, from large city networks to smaller communities and key mobility hubs.
In large city networks, Open Payments is making it easier for riders to move through complex systems:
In medium and smaller systems, Open Payments is extending modern fare collection to all communities:
The momentum is not slowing. Several additional U.S. city and regional networks are preparing to launch before the end of the year and into early 2026, signaling that this wave of modernization is far from over.
At Masabi, Account Linking is a built-in feature of Open Payments, ensuring that riders using contactless bank cards or mobile wallets have access to the same benefits and options as all other riders. The card simply becomes another way to access the system, still benefiting from fare capping, concessions, or rewards.
Through Account Linking, agencies can connect a rider’s payment method with their transit account so that:
This approach ensures every rider enjoys the same advantages and flexibility, regardless of how they choose to pay, making contactless payments a fully integrated part of a unified fare experience.
Open Payments is also expanding benefits to cash riders by supporting digital wallet options such as Cash App. This gives riders who typically rely on cash an easier way to pay electronically, helping them access the same convenience and fare benefits while allowing agencies to reduce cash handling and improve operational efficiency.
With more deployments on the horizon, 2025 has been a clear turning point for Open Payments in U.S. transit. What began as a vision for convenience is now becoming the foundation for smarter, fairer, and more connected fare systems.
For agencies ready to take the next step, Masabi offers an Open Payments packaged solution that makes implementation straightforward. Open Payments is built into Masabi’s back-office platform, which manages fare calculation, fare capping, integration with existing systems, and crucially, can be expanded to other fare media as required using the same back-office. This approach minimizes disruption and shortens deployment timelines, allowing agencies to deliver contactless payments to riders faster.
Masabi also provides the essential technical and regulatory foundations that make Open Payments secure and compliant. Whether you select our Level 3 EMV-certified solution or need to run through the certification process for your configuration, including supporting PCI chain of custody rules, Masabi will support you every step of the way.
Whether your agency is planning a full system upgrade or adding Open Payments to your existing fare system, our team can help identify the right approach for your needs. We collaborate closely with every agency to ensure each deployment is practical, efficient, and built to last.
If your agency is ready to explore Open Payments, our experts are here to help you get started Get in touch with our team to discuss how we can support your next step toward simpler, more innovative fare payments.