Mastercard continues to advance support for inclusive and sustainable urban development and grow City Possible network

• City Possible network expands to over 300 members around the world
• New City Possible Advisory Board formed to guide a sustainable and inclusive future for cities
• Second annual City Possible Summit taking place in hybrid format, in partnership with Smart City Expo World Congress 

Mastercard has continued to expand its support for addressing urban challenges and inequalities, working with city leaders and partners around the world, through the City Possible™ network and capabilities. The unique solutions now reach over 600 communities in more than 50 countries across six continents, helping to foster collaboration and co-creation, drive inclusive economic development, and build resilient communities. 

City Possible, a partnership model pioneered by Mastercard, has grown from 16 founding members at launch three years ago to 310 city members and candidate cities. As well as welcoming new city members – such as Bogota, Colombia; the High Line in New York City; Nur-Sultan in Kazakhstan; the San Diego Cyber Center of Excellence; and The Smart City Association Italy formed of 38 cities across Italy – a number of industry and multilateral partners have also joined the network including the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Citi. 

Alongside this, 390 cities are leveraging Mastercard’s transit solutions, as the company takes an integrated approach to mobility to accelerate contactless payments on all forms of public transport. Mastercard is working with a range of partners across the ecosystem to deliver a consistent and seamless way to pay, whether it be buses, trains or micro-mobility such as bikes and scooters. 

The newly launched City Possible Advisory Board are representatives from some of the world’s most innovative cities to provide guidance to the City Possible network and drive solution-oriented initiatives to solve the biggest challenges facing cities today. Founding Advisory Board members comprise representatives from City Possible members globally – including Curitiba and Novo Hamburgo in Brazil; Dublin City Council, Ireland; City of Hamilton, Canada; the North Texas Innovation Alliance; and The Smart City Association Italy - with the first meeting to be held later this year. 

“Technology innovation has a vital role to play in solving big urban problems, in particular by bringing together the scale, expertise and reach of public and private organizations,” commented Carlos Menendez, President, Enterprise Partnerships at Mastercard. “Through City Possible, we’re focused on delivering innovation, flexibility and trust and, as the network continues to expand, we see increasing opportunities to support each other’s work to make our cities more sustainable and inclusive.”

City Insights: Data-driven insights, tools and solutions

Since launch in November 2020, the City Insights digital marketplace has rapidly expanded with over 20 data-driven tools and solutions, including data insights, cybersecurity solutions, and small business resources that are designed specifically for the public sector, contributed by Mastercard and technology partners. More than 50 state and city governments are leveraging the applications from contributors such as Bright Cities, the Cyber Readiness Institute, the Global Cyber Alliance, Marketplace.city, Venture Forward by GoDaddy, UrbanFootprint, and Zencity. 

City Key: Integrated access to services 

Mastercard City Key™ is a digital-first payment and ID solution that enables residents and small businesses to access the economic, social, and cultural services they need, while at the same time making city operations more efficient. Today, over 2.7 million people in more than sixty locations worldwide have used Mastercard City Key cards to access financial aid and services, with 35 new city partnerships signed so far in 2021, including São Paulo, New Orleans and Egypt’s New Administrative Capital. 

During this year, Mastercard has worked closely with cities and partners around the world to draw on the collective expertise and resources of all stakeholders to build innovative solutions which support the vulnerable communities that have been most impacted by the pandemic.

For example, in Los Angeles, Mastercard worked with the Mayor’s Office and Mobility Capital Finance, Inc (MoCaFi) on the launch of Angeleno Connect debit card and mobile app, which is being used to disburse financial assistance directly, connect residents to city services and offer free financial services to unbanked Angelenos. 

City Possible Summit: Hybrid community engagement

At this year’s Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona, City Possible is showcasing how city leaders, private sector companies and many others are coming together to combine strengths and find solutions to enable innovation, accelerate digital access and foster an inclusive economic recovery.

Through a hybrid format, the City Possible Summit will engage the community in-person and virtually. Ten engaging live sessions, featuring a world-class speaker line-up and focused on near-term challenges as well as longer-term planning, will cover topics such as ensuring an inclusive economic recovery, enabling small businesses, future-proofing social infrastructure, and managing priorities such cybersecurity, environmental sustainability and urban mobility.

For those participating in the Smart City Expo World Congress in person, the City Possible Plaza will act as a meeting point for city leaders and partners from around the world as well as bringing to life the work being done by Mastercard and City Possible network participants.