OMNY Bulk Sales for Agencies & Non-Profits
Learn more about upcoming changes to bulk ordering of transit cards and how to prepare for the transition to tap and ride
The transition at a glance
- MTA is transitioning bulk sales of MetroCard to bulk sales of OMNY cards. You will soon receive access to the new self-service OMNY Programs portal for ordering large quantities of OMNY cards. The final day to place bulk MetroCard orders will be on December 31, 2025. You should order enough MetroCard supplies to support your clients through January and February 2026.
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What you need to know
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Choose from two types of OMNY products
You have more options with OMNY. Compare the two contactless media offerings below to understand which is right for your organization.
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Type 1 |
Type 2 |
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Plastic reloadable OMNY cards |
Durable paper OMNY tickets |
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Hold up to $315 in stored value. |
Available as 1-Trip, 2-Trip, and 12-Trip tickets. |
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Agencies can add value to cards when ordering and electronically reload value. Riders can also reload their OMNY cards online or at in-station vending machines. |
Non-reloadable. |
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Have a printed expiration date with a lifespan of years. |
Six-month validity. |
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$1 fee per plastic reloadable card and fare value. |
$0.18 fee applies to each durable paper ticket, plus the fare. |
Ordering through the OMNY Programs portal
Step 1: Wait for your registration email from the MTA and create your agency account.
You’ll soon receive instructions to set up an OMNY Programs account You will receive an email notification when your program will be approved. You will also see the status of your program in your account dashboard.
Step 2: Add your ACH payment information to your account.
All purchases through the OMNY Programs portal must be made through ACH Pull. You will no longer be able to pay with check, debit/credit card, purchase order, or Net 30 payment methods. Please work with your funding body now to ensure you have the processes in place to meet this requirement.
Step 3: Place and manage your orders.
To place bulk orders, you will need to select your card or ticket types, select the quantity you require, and confirm your address and payment method. Once your payment is received, order fulfillment can take up to 1-2 weeks.
To place orders for value loads to reloadable cards, you will need to upload members, elect value, and confirm your payment method. Once your payment is received, value loads can take up to 4 days to load.
Step 4: Receive and distribute your OMNY cards or tickets.
Once your bulk order is fulfilled, you will be able to download your order card manifest (CSV format) from the order details in your account. The card manifest contains the card numbers, transit account numbers, and expiration dates for your order.
FAQs
Phasing out MetroCards
Q: When will MetroCard be phased out?
A: For existing MetroCard agency merchants, the final day to place bulk MetroCard orders will be December 31, 2025. MetroCard swipes will still be accepted into 2026, with the last day of MetroCard acceptance to be announced at a later date.
Q: Can we expect the expiration dates on the current MetroCards to hold true?
A: The last day MTA accepts MetroCard swipes may precede the MetroCard’s expiration date. However, agencies will still have two years from the MetroCard’s expiration date to request a refund.
Transitioning to an OMNY card
Q: Will OMNY fare products be available for bulk purchase, similar to how MetroCards are ordered?
A: Yes, bulk purchases of OMNY fare products will be offered through the self-service OMNY Programs portal, once your agency has created an account. You’ll receive instructions to set up an OMNY Programs portal account, which MTA will review for approval.
Q: When will the bulk ordering system for organizations go live?
A: In the coming weeks, you will receive a notification inviting your organization to open an account through the OMNY Programs portal.
Q: Does OMNY Programs accept purchase orders?
A: Your agency can continue creating purchase orders for internal use, but you will not be able to upload them to the OMNY Programs portal. The OMNY Programs portal is a self-service portal and will not integrate with agency-specific procurement portals (e.g., Polaris). You should not send your purchase orders to MTA for processing.
Q: Will our current MetroCard payment method carry over to the OMNY Programs portal?
A: Check, debit/credit card, purchase order, and Net 30 payment options will no longer be accepted. ACH Pull will be the required method of payment. Funds will be pulled from your agency’s bank account via a secure transaction on the OMNY Programs portal. The bank account must have sufficient funds to cover the full cost at the time of order.
Q: What types of OMNY fare products will be available to agencies?
A: Agencies will have the ability to purchase plastic reloadable OMNY cards and durable paper tickets. Plastic reloadable OMNY cards can hold up to $315 in stored value. Paper tickets are available as 1-Trip, 2-Trip, and 12-Trip tickets. The paper tickets are non-reloadable.
Q: What are the costs for OMNY fare products?
A: Plastic reloadable OMNY cards are currently offered at a $1 promotional price, but this may increase in the future. This media option is more durable and has increased reload management functionality and therefore costs more to produce. Paper 1-Trip, 2-Trip, and 12-Trip OMNY tickets cost $0.18 each. For example, a 100-count batch of 1-trip OMNY tickets will cost $290 (to cover the $2.90 cost of fare for your customers) plus $18 in card fees.
Q: Do OMNY fare products have expiration dates?
A: Yes, plastic reloadable OMNY cards have a printed expiration date. They have a lifespan of several years. Fare productions on paper OMNY tickets have a six-month validity period. You should not order paper OMNY tickets many months in advance – please only distribute OMNY tickets to your clients for use within 1 to 3 months of ordering.
Q: How do you add value to an OMNY card? Does it work the same as MetroCards?
A: With an OMNY Programs account, agency merchants can add value directly to plastic reloadable OMNY cards by uploading a spreadsheet of members, their transit accounts and selected values and then placing their benefits order through the OMNY Programs portal. Riders can also reload their OMNY cards online and at in-station vending machines or retail providers (omny.info/retail). Paper 1-Trip, 2-Trip, and 12-Trip OMNY tickets are not reloadable.
Q: Can the value on OMNY fare products be spent for purposes other than travel?
A: No, the value on OMNY fare products is for travel purposes only where OMNY fare products are accepted.
Q: Does OMNY have a weekly or monthly unlimited card?
A: OMNY does not have time-restricted passes. Instead, for OMNY card users, OMNY’s fare capping feature offers unlimited rides automatically, without the need to pay upfront. When a customer pays for 12 rides in 7 days, any additional rides are free – they’ll never pay more than $34 for one person. Customers can keep any rides remaining on the card at the end of the 7 days. For paper tickets, customers will need to use the remaining value before the six-month validity period expires. Paper tickets are not reloadable.
Q: Do the pay-as-you-go weekly fare cap options apply to express buses as well?
A: Starting in January 2026, Express Bus riders will also have their Express Bus trips count towards an automatic fare cap – they’ll never pay more than $67 for rides on subway, local, and express bus in 7 days. Reloadable OMNY cards can be used on Express Bus, but usage may lead to your client’s OMNY card balance being spent down faster than expected. OMNY paper tickets are pre-loaded with specified trip counts based on subway and local buses only. 12-trip tickets can achieve the local fare cap and fare capped trips if only local trips are taken. Otherwise, use on Express Bus or AirTrain, which both have higher fares than local service, will lead to tickets being eligible for fewer trips than printed. Please be aware of this when messaging to your clients.
Other FAQs
Q: When will the Westchester Bee-Line and NICE Bus accept OMNY?
A: Westchester Bee-Line and NICE Bus are expected to begin accepting OMNY in January 2026. Please check Westchester Bee-Line and Nassau County websites and social media for updates.
Q: How does OMNY work for pre-tax benefits?
A: Customers enrolled in pre-tax programs can use a debit card issued by their pre-tax benefit provider to either tap directly at OMNY readers or buy an OMNY card and load value online, at retailers or at vending machines. Please contact your pre-tax benefit provider for more information.
Q: What happens when an OMNY card with a balance is lost? Is there a process to stop usage and recover the balance somehow?
A: Customers with reloadable plastic OMNY cards can create a customer account (https://omny.info/register) to suspend lost cards, protect their balance, transfer funds from one card to another, and more. If a customer loses an OMNY card, MTA cannot provide a refund to the issuing agency. Contact OMNY customer service (877-789-6669) or visit a Customer Service Center (https://www.mta.info/contact-us/customer-service-centers) for more information.
Q: How do I transfer the balance of a MetroCard onto an OMNY card?
A: Value remaining on Pay-Per-Ride MetroCards can be transferred to OMNY cards at our Customer Service Centers in select subway stations (https://www.mta.info/contact-us/customer-service-centers), at 3 Stone Street, or at Mobile Sales vehicles (https://www.mta.info/fares-tolls/subway-bus/mobile-sales).
