- First interoperable payments system between NETS and EZ-Link
- All EZ-Link holders, senior citizens and students using concession cards will be able to make e-payments at hawker centres
- Hawkers only need one terminal for NETS card or EZ-Link card payments
Singapore, 24 January 2018 — NETS and EZ-Link today announced that they have joined forces to propagate e-payments with the acceptance of all EZ-Link and Concession cards on all NETS terminals at hawker centres.
This is the first time that the two companies have come together to provide a holistic and interoperable payments system and is testament to the commitment by both NETS and EZ-Link towards building a cashless ecosystem at hawker centres and advancing Singapore’s Smart Nation vision.
The partnership will cater to the needs of senior citizens and students, a large majority of whom may not have bank accounts, to use their concession cards for payments at NETS terminals in hawker centres as part of the collective Singapore journey towards becoming an e-payments society.
NETS CEO Jeffrey Goh said, “NETS is committed to helping Singapore become a cashless society and we want to work with likeminded partners to convert cash transactions into cashless payments. This partnership is a significant milestone in our efforts to build a cashless ecosystem at hawker centres because we are now able to offer all Singaporeans, young and old, a ‘single interface’ payments experience at hawker centres. They can choose to pay via mobile phone (QR code) or cards.”
EZ-Link CEO Nicholas Lee said, “EZ-Link’s goal is to make it easy, attractive and beneficial for all consumers and merchants in Singapore to go cashless in various aspects of their daily lives. This collaboration opens up many opportunities for EZ-Link and concession card holders to make cashless transactions across the island with a single interface, starting with hawker centres. We hope to continue to establish similar partnerships to increase our acceptance points across Singapore and empower Singaporeans of all ages in the nation’s cashless journey.”
From April 2018, EZ-Link and Concession cardholders will be able to make payments for their food and drinks at all NETS-enabled hawker centres by tapping their cards on the existing NETS terminal. Both companies view this initiative as a start of a growing relationship and will extend the partnership beyond hawker centres.
There are currently more than 1,000 stalls across more than 30 hawker centres which accept NETS (QR code and card payments), including those at Beo Crescent, Tanjong Pagar, Yishun Park and Zion Road, as well as food courts and canteens at Singapore Polytechnic, Republic Polytechnic, Nanyang Polytechnic, Temasek Polytechnic and the National Technological University.
About NETS
The NETS Group is a leading payments services group, enabling digital payments for merchants, consumers and banks across the entire payments value chain.
The Group operates Singapore’s national debit scheme enabling customers of DBS Bank/POSB, HSBC, Maybank, OCBC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and UOB to make payments using their ATM cards or mobile devices at more than 102,000 acceptance points in the country as well as online payments. The NETS network also accepts NETSPay, UnionPay and BCA cards, and includes 40,000 Unified POS terminals and 51,000 QR acceptance points.NETS is also the issuer of CashCard and Flashpay cards.
The NETS Group manages and operates the clearing and payment infrastructure for the Singapore Clearing House Association and core electronic transfer services FAST, Inter-bank GIRO and PayNow.
It is the market leader for payment and clearing solutions (Real-Time Gross Settlement system and Cheque Truncation System) in the region with some S$1 trillion in transaction value processed through its systems every year.
NETS is a member of the Asian Payment Network and a council member of UnionPay International.
For more information on the NETS Group, please visit www.nets.com.sg.
About EZ-Link Pte Ltd
EZ-Link’s core business is in the sale, distribution and management of ez-link cards, as well as the clearing and settlement of all ez-link card transactions generated in transit and non-transit (retail/merchant) sectors. To date, more than 17 million new CEPAS-compliant ez-link cards have been issued. In 2015, EZ-Link unveiled two new innovations in Singapore, EZ-Charms, the first non-card form factor, as well as the “EZ-Link Rewards with Perx” to reward commuters for using public transport with the ez-link card. EZ-Link continues to set new cashless trends with the “My EZ-Link Mobile” application, the world’s first Near Field Communication (NFC) mobile application for contactless card top-ups; “EZ-Link NFC SIM”, the first NFC payment service on Singapore’s public transit; and “EZ-Pay”, Singapore’s first free card-less ERP payment service. In December 2017, EZ-Link launched the new EZ-Link app to enable users to access EZ-Link’s functionalities and services with ease.