Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) signed an agreement with top payment processing company Mastercard for the use of contactless credit and debit cards in mass transportation, from buses to metro services. The agreement will allow passengers to travel around the city of more than 15 million people without the hassle of topping up their electronic passes. It will be particularly convenient for tourists in the city as the scheme will also accept foreign credit cards. Credit cards will start being accepted in 2023.

The company said in the statement that it was the first stage of a larger project that will allow users of special bus passes bearing the company’s logo to shop anywhere in Türkiye, abroad and online. Nihat Narin, director of BELBİM, the municipality’s company overseeing electronic payment systems, said in a statement on Tuesday that they were looking for innovative solutions to make the lives of visitors and residents of the city easier and were taking steps in their mission to turn Istanbul into a "smart city."

The mass transportation pass called IstanbulKart currently has 22 million active users and can also be used as a means of payment in some supermarkets in the city.

The municipality has recently introduced new IstanbulKarts with special designs and options for tourists. Designed in six different types, the pass will facilitate transportation for foreign visitors and come with a "guide kit" and popular routes around Istanbul. The cards come in two types, with different pass options, including one providing unlimited daily passes for one to 15 days and access to sightseeing buses known as "hop-on, hop-off" buses. Cards will be available for sale across more than 30 locations, mainly those frequented by tourists, through electronic vending machines. IBB said more options would be added to this new "Istanbul City Card" soon, including access to museums operated by the municipality, ferry lines operating between two sides of the Bosporus and sightseeing ships operating on the Bosporus.

Using the Istanbulkart is the best way to avoid traffic in the city notorious for its traffic jams and overcharging taxi drivers, covering most mass transportation vehicles, including trams operating around Sultanahmet Square, one of the most visited places in the city by tourists as home to Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque and Yerebatan or the Basilica Cistern located near the Grand Bazaar. Yet, its fees are also high for locals. In July, IBB hiked the price for the first purchase of the pass by 100% while also raising the fees for "discount cards" allocated to students, teachers and senior citizens, as well as free passes for press members, disabled citizens, health care workers and police officers. The city imposed this year’s first increase in mass transportation fees in February, implementing hikes of up to 92% for card purchases. In April, the price to board mass transit vehicles was raised to TL 7.67 from TL 5.48. The municipality defended the hikes in a written statement on its website, citing rising costs of electronic cards "due to the global chip shortage, current economic circumstances and fluctuations in foreign currencies." Decreasing mass transit fees was one of the election pledges of Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu. In a speech before his election in 2019, the mayor said he would decrease the fees "to symbolic prices" and transportation would be "absolutely cheaper" in the city of more than 15 million people.

The Istanbulkart, which replaced the primitive electronic device Akbil in 2015, allows smooth travel through Istanbul's complex mass transit system. The municipality recently introduced a mobile app that allows users to add credit to their electronic passes.