London, Los Angeles, New York City and Hamilton (Canada) have joined as members of Mastercard’s City Possible co-creation framework.

The network, which aims to help cities build more inclusive and sustainable communities, has also announced a ‘reimagined’ digital marketplace that provides access to different tools and partner solutions in a “new store-like experience”.

Growing membership

After launching in November 2018 with 16 founding members, City Possible’s network and capabilities expand to more than 500 cities in 50 countries. It now has 220 city members and candidate cities with an additional 320 cities making use of its transit solutions.

“In a society that increasingly relies on technology, we need to keep an eye on the broader social and economic impacts – and make sure we’re building and deploying new tools in ways that shrink gaps, rather than expand them," said John Paul Farmer, chief technology officer, City of New York.

He added: “Co-creation networks, like City Possible, make it easier for us to share, to learn from one another, and to build on top of what has already been accomplished.

“Co-creation networks, like City Possible, make it easier for us to share, to learn from one another, and to build on top of what has already been accomplished”

“New York City can share what has worked for us and can access insights, resources, and technologies to ultimately make the city more livable for more people.”

The network also welcomed Digital Main Street, a Canadian organisation that partners with more than 500 cities across Canada to help main street small businesses in those communities achieve digital transformation with a “bricks and clicks” approach.

Digital marketplace

The digital marketplace offers data-driven insights tools that were designed for cities with input from partners and Mastercard data scientists as well as cities themselves. A new feature is specific sentiment analysis data provided by ZenCity, a City Possible partner and graduate of Mastercard’s Start Path programme. The company uses artificial intelligence (AI) to analyse citizen feedback and deliver actionable insights that help governments prioritise resources.

“Covid-19 has accelerated the demand for an enhanced digital experience that would provide network members access to multiple data sources, insights services, and tools,” added Miguel Gamiño, executive vice president and head of global cities at Mastercard. “As we continue to grow our network, we will continue to scale our capabilities, leveraging the insights from city leaders to build solutions that enable them to better serve their communities in an inclusive way.”

Among City Possible services is Mastercard City Key, which is live in over 25 communities and allows each municipality to combine identification, access to city services and payment functionalities into one tool. As a result, residents can have one digital solution to pay bills, access city services and pay for public transit.

Recent Mastercard City Key deployments include:

• Honolulu: Mastercard is helping the City disburse Covid-19 financial relief to 13,000 residents in need and will collaborate to increase functionality over the coming months in partnership with Mobility Capital Finance (MoCaFi), a digital banking platform that aims to bridge the economic mobility gap
• Los Angeles: Mastercard also partnered with MoCaFi to expand the functionalities of the Angeleno Card, a programme which leverages City Key and which has initially distributed more than $36m to help 100,000 LA residents hardest hit by the pandemic. The platform will evolve to eventually be used to streamline utility payments, build credit, and digitise additional city services
• Kolin (Czech Republic): a partnership between the city government and a local school helped students access services such as public transportation, library services, and other resources with one card that increased convenience, safety and efficiency to the school’s ecosystem. In 2020, the programme has expanded to all schools in Kolin city.

“Covid-19 has accelerated the demand for an enhanced digital experience that would provide network members access to multiple data sources, insights services, and tools”

“We are thrilled to be partnering with City Possible and city leaders in the network to expand the functionalities of City Key,” said Wole Coaxum, founder and chief executive officer of Mobility Capital Finance. “It’s an innovative way of turning financial services into infrastructure for cities.”

He continued: “City Key makes financial services a part of the ‘plumbing’ that drives efficiency, drives safety, drives security, and drives inclusion.”

Mastercard plans to further evolve the initiative beyond the City Possible network by providing “converged card” solutions to state departments of motor vehicles in the US in partnership with augmented identity special, Idemia. Idemia’s Converged Card solution combines a state-issued driver’s license or ID with a payment card and drives financial inclusion for unbanked and underbanked communities.

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