Paying for transit with a mobile phone isn’t a new concept — London has been doing it for years, and New York City’s transit authority just announced they’ll be replacing their MetroCard system with cell phone and credit card payments at turnstiles and fare boxes.

It turns out Presto also has plans to do the same eventually. Metrolinx has been working over the past few years on putting the infrastructure in place to accept cellphone and credit card payments by upgrading payment systems for transit systems in the GTA.

The first phases of the Presto project in Brampton, Toronto, and other cities saw the implementation of the Presto card, now that Metrolinx is well into phase 4, they’re starting to look at implementing cell phone payments.

Executive Vice President of Presto Robert Hollis — told CBC Radio last week that cell phone payments are coming sooner than we think. “In our plan for next year, our 5th phase of the rollout, we will be enabling credit cards and mobile phone [payments],” said Hollis.

City Council just approved a 10-year agreement with Presto which would include the replacement of presto devices to support credit card payments and other functionalities, s Brampton is well on its way.

No rollout strategy has been officially announced so it isn’t clear when we can expect the changes in Brampton and elsewhere but come 2018 you’ll be able to pay for the bus, train, and subway with your cell phone and credit cards.

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