Issued By: Transit Link Pte Ltd
Commuters can now GIRO-Link their ez-link Cards to enjoy the convenience of automatic top-up on their cards. Unlike the GIRO Farecard, GIRO ez-link Cards need not be applied for.
To GIRO-Link an ez-link Card, one just need to bring along a DBS/POSB ATM card and the ez-link Card to any General Ticketing Machine to apply online. Step-by-step instructions will be displayed on-screen on the GTM to guide commuters along. Once approved, GIRO-Link will be activated on-the-spot. As it was with the GIRO Farecard system, up to 7 ez-link Cards can be activated under each bank account.
A GIRO-Linked ez-link Card will top-up itself with the pre-selected stored value amount when its value falls to zero or below when it is used on buses, the MRT or LRT. This GIRO-Link feature effectively removes any need to visit a Ticket Office (TO), Add Value Machine (AVM) or General Ticketing Machine (GTM) to revalue the ez-link Card’s stored value.
All ez-link cards types, such as that for Adult, Senior Citizen, Tertiary Student, NS men, personalised Adult ez-link Cards or the School Smartcard, can be GIRO-Linked.
Every GIRO-Linked ez-link Card also enjoys an added security feature. When a GIRO-Linked ez-link Card is lost, the commuter is able to report the loss via phone at 1800-LOST RPT (1800 5678 778). The card will be invalidated within 48 hours of the lodged report and the remaining value and deposit in the lost card will be refunded directly back into the user’s bank account within 2 weeks.
About 90,000 GIRO Farecard holders have been invited to GIRO-Link their ez-link Cards before this public launch. As of 20 November 2002, more than 38,000 have already activated the GIRO-Link feature in their ez-link Cards.
Amongst them is Mr Chua Sien Kian, 41, an engineer. He has been a GIRO Farecard user since its inception in 1994 and he was also a trialist for the GIRO-Link system. " GIRO-Link is a very useful and convenient function for working folks like me, who do not have the time to visit a Ticket Office or machine to top-up my ez-link card." With the public launch of the GIRO-Link function, Mr Chua will be GIRO-Linking his mother’s Senior Citizen ez-link Card as well as his niece’s and nephew’s School Smartcards to his bank account.