The phase out of the old vinyl swipe cards comes after the MTA's rollout of its tap-to-pay fare system faced years of delays.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority will stop selling and refilling those formerly-ubiquitous MetroCards by the end of the year in favor of the OMNY system, MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber told Crain’s New York Business Wednesday.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Recently, the New York City Department of Social Services announced that the Fair Fares program would begin using the MTA’s OMNY fare payment system. This program, which offers eligible New Yorkers a 50% discount on subway, bus and para-transit fares, will soon switch from MetroCards to tap-to-pay OMNY cards.

Riders with existing MetroCards will be able to use them into 2026, the MTA says, and will have two years from the listed expiration date to transfer funds to an OMNY card or be reimbursed. Instead of a MetroCard swipe,

New applicants for Fair Fares, an initiative that offers eligible New Yorkers a 50% discount on subway, bus and para-transit fares, will soon switch from MetroCards to tap-to-pay OMNY cards.