Contactless Cards Replace Cash in Turkish City

If Mayor Yılmaz BüyükerÅŸen has his way, the “inefficient and germ-ridden” use of cash will be nonexistent over the next few years in his Turkish town of EskiÅŸehir Metropolitan Municipality. At the end of last year, the municipality partnered with Garanti Bank and MasterCard to launch the Eskisehir money card, or Esparacard — a leap forward from current payment technology. This card is the first transport card with M/Chip Advance, the new payment platform of MasterCard.

“Our vision was to create a valid money card to use all over Eskisehir,” BüyükerÅŸen wrote in an article for the payment solutions giant. “We wanted our city to become a cashless model for all other cities. This was achieved with the renovation of our mass transportation infrastructure and implementation of an electronic ticket system.”

Since the card’s integration with local commerce in December 2011, merchant and consumer adoption has increased. “The people of EskiÅŸehir have the opportunity to use their Esparacards not only on trams and buses, but also at cinemas, restaurants, and for shopping,” BüyükerÅŸen said. The Esparacard is integrated with the banking infrastructure to allow the use of credit cards from all banks. In addition, due to the M/Chip technology, unique and personal cardholder information is embedded on the Esparacard such as a student, or a teacher, or senior over 65-years of age discount.

“Turkey continues to pioneer innovation in payment industry,” said Mete Guney, General Manager of Mastercard, Turkey. “We have implemented several transit projects but this is the first city card project where MasterCard Mchip Advance technology was utilized. It will become a benchmark to all cities around the world.”

For more stories on payments innovations, visit MasterCard’s Cashless Conversations blog.