LTA (Land Transport Authority) introduces SimplyGo and Singapore has more ways to pay for trips on public transport now.
Techielobang.com April 2019
SimplyGo enables commuters to use their credit or debit cards with contactless function for fare payments.
What type of cards can be used for SimplyGo?
All Mastercard contactless bank cards, including foreign-issued cards, with the EMVCo Contactless Indicator, will be accepted in public transit.
Four types of mobile payment that can be used
- Apple Pay
- Fitbit Pay
- Google Pay
- Samsung Pay
SimplyGo by tapping your credit card or phone
Straitstimes April 2019
SimplyGo is not replacing existing payment methods such as EZ-link cards, but rather, providing commuters with another choice.
Senior Minister of State for Transport Janil Puthucheary first announced the scheme in Parliament last month, following a two-year trial which began in 2017.
Mastercard Singapore saw 26 million transactions from 100,000 users during the 2 years trial period began in 2017. It expects numbers to increase with SimplyGo’s official launch.
Does it really bring convenience to users?
What Card Community Sept 2019.
It was found that of the 80 people observed tapping in/out of the MRT station, only 15 of them were using a credit card for payment – less than 20% of the whole sample!
SimplyGo’s biggest advantage is that you can now earn credit card rewards with your public transport payments, something that was not readily available before – topping up your EZ-Link using your credit card at the ticketing machine, unfortunately, doesn’t give any rewards.
Benefits and drawback of EMV Contactless Account-based Ticketing
Technical Blog March 2020
Key benefits of EMV contactless-based ABT include the fact that card issuing and after-sales service are covered by third parties (banks), enrolment is automatic for bank customers and interoperability is mastered successfully.
The drawbacks of ABT schemes are network dependent, ticket inspection may face legal issues, concessionary ticketing is hard to implement, and finally that it removes some of the independence of transport authorities and operators.
SimplyGo, account-based ticketing, is a giveaway to Visa and Mastercard
Since 2002, EZ-Link has issued more than 40 million EZ-link cards. If on average of SG$500 usage per card per year, there are SG$ 20 billion processed every year.
Introducing account-based ticketing like SimplyGo simply giveaway the Singapore business to US-based Visa and Mastercard.
Conclusion
Singapore has overtaken the U.S. to become the most competitive nation in the world, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2019.
Singapore should remove the tradition as a follower of the West particularly the US.
Singapore government including LTA should spend the effort to make EZlink a Singaporean cashless payment from public transportation to different vertical markets.
Effort should be spent on technology innovation to make EZlink a true mobile payment system supporting all IOS and Android phones.
The author has over 19 years of experience in the automated fare collection industry. The latest development of mobile wallets is worth looking into. To learn more, please visit mobileafc.net