EZ-Link


The EZ-Link card is a contactless smart card used for the payment of public transportation fares in Singapore.
Established in 2001, the first generation of the card was based on the Sony FeliCa smart card technology and was promoted as the means for speedier boarding times on the city-state's Mass Rapid Transit, Light Rail Transit and public bus services. It had a monopoly on public transportation fare payments in Singapore until September 2009, when the NETS FlashPay card, which had a monopoly over Electronic Road Pricing toll payments, entered the market for transportation payments. EZ-Link cards are sold, distributed and managed by EZ-Link Pte. Ltd., a subsidiary of Singapore's Land Transport Authority.
In September 2009, the new CEPAS EZ-Link card replaced the original EZ-Link card, expanding the card's usage to taxis, ERP gantries, car parks, convenience stores, supermarkets, and fast food restaurants. Compared to NETS FlashPay, EZ-Link has lesser acceptance at retail shops.

Development

The Land Transport Authority introduced its pilot testing of the card to 100,000 volunteers on 26 February 2000. Initially for commuters who made at least five trips on MRT/LRT per week, the card was branded as the "Super Rider". As an incentive, volunteers were given 10% rebate off their regular fare during the one-month period.
Two further tests were made, with the scheme extending to frequent bus users on selected routes, on an invitation basis. The S$134.6 million contract was awarded to the ERG Motorola Alliance to supply 5 million cards and readers.
In 2002, the Land Transport Authority launched the EZ-Link card for use in public transport.

Uses of the card

The card is commonly used in Singapore as a smartcard for paying transportation fees in the city-state's Mass Rapid Transit, Light Rail Transit and public bus services. The EZ-Link function is also used in cards for students in nationally recognised educational institutes, full-time national service personnel serving in the Singapore Armed Forces, Singapore Civil Defence Force and Singapore Police Force or senior citizens who are over 60 years old.
The system is similar to the Octopus card in Hong Kong and Touch 'n Go in Malaysia.
The system and the card's use have since been expanded to retail, private transport, government services, community services, educational institutes and vending machines.
From 2009, Singapore motorists can use ez-link cards in their new generation In-Vehicle Unit to pay for Electronic Road Pricing and Electronic Parking System payments. In August 2016, EZ-Link introduced a post-paid ERP payment service called EZ-Pay.
In April 2018, the card also gained acceptance on NETS terminals in hawker centres across Singapore.
In September 2018, the EZ-Link card became part of a unified cashless payment system rolled out at 500 hawker stalls across Singapore.
On 17 October 2007, StarHub and EZ-Link Pte Ltd declared the start of a 6-month trial on phones with an embedded EZ-Link card.
In March 2016, EZ-Link concluded a trial with the Land Transport Authority and the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore on the use of compatible mobile phones with Near-Field Communication technology to make public transport payments.
In April 2019, EZ-Link announced it was working with Touch 'N Go in Malaysia to create a dual currency cross-border card for public transport.

Card Variations

In 2007, the Land Transport Authority and the Singapore Tourism Board launched the produced by EZ-Link to offer tourists unlimited rides on Singapore's public transport system.
In 2015, EZ-Link introduced 'EZ-Charms', trinkets that have full EZ-Link functionalities, such as the Hello Kitty EZ-Charms, that received overwhelming response.
In 2017, EZ-Link launched EZ-Link Wearables, wearable devices that have full EZ-Link functionalities such as fitness trackers.

System for e-Payments (SeP)

A trial to test the system was held from 29 August to 28 October 2008. The trial, which involved some 5,000 commuters, generated 1.7 million transactions and has confirmed that the system is ready for revenue service. Developed in-house by the LTA, SeP is built on the Singapore Standard for Contactless ePurse Application which allows any smart card that complies with the standard to be used with the system and in a wide variety of payment applications.
With SeP, commuters were able to use cards issued by any card issuer for transit purposes as long as the card complied with the CEPAS standard and included the transit application. Commuters could eventually use CEPAS-compliant cards for Electronic Road Pricing payments in vehicles fitted with the new generation In-vehicle Unit, Electronic Parking System carparks and other electronic payment systems that supported the CEPAS standard.
During the free one-for-one exchange exercise, most of them replaced their cards during the direct card replacement exercise in 2009. Others seemed to replace new cards after the old cards were out of value and become collectors' value. The new EZ-Link cards also have a higher storage capacity of S$500.00 instead of the previous S$100.00 limit but most passengers keep to the $100 limit in case of loss of card.
When the old cards could not be used from 1 October 2009, faregates and EZ-Link card readers continue to support the old EZ-Link card function, but it would say "INVALID CARD - PLEASE USE CORRECT CARD". The old EZ-link card function is no longer supported on all MRT and LRT stations.

EZ-Link App

The EZ-Link App is a mobile application developed by EZ-Link that is available on the Google Play Store and App Store. It was first released as an Android-exclusive app in 2013 under the name ‘My EZ-Link Mobile App’, and is used for:
In early September 2019, an EZ-Link merchandise vending machine was introduced at Bugis Junction selling exclusive cards, charms, and other EZ-Link merchandise, such as the Hello Kitty Plush EZ-Charm and the Pusheen the Cat EZ-Link card. The initial introduction was met with very positive response from the public, resulting in long queues during the launch period.

EZ-Link Wallet

On 9 March 2020, EZ-Link launched the EZ-Link Wallet, an e-wallet for mobile phones. Compared to the EZ-Link card which is based on NFC, the EZ-Link Wallet is based on QR code, bypassing the need for payment terminals, relying on smartphones and a printed QR code. It is compliant with the SGQR code system.
An email address and local mobile number are required to register for an EZ-Link account. Users have to top-up the e-wallet with a debit/credit card, and make payments by scanning the QR code at a retail shop and entering the payment amount. Payment can be authorised with either a 6-digit PIN or the phone's fingerprint scanner. Up to 6 debit/credit cards can be saved in the EZ-Link app.
Users can earn EZ-Link Rewards points for each digital wallet transaction, which can be used to redeem vouchers. The EZ-Link Wallet can also be used overseas at an Alipay Connect-enabled merchant in Japan.

Technical data

The EZ-Link card operates on a radio frequency interface of 13.56 MHz at 212 kbit/s, with the potential for communication speeds in excess of 847 kbit/s. It employs the Manchester bit coding scheme for noise tolerance against distance fluctuation between the card and the contactless reader, and implements the Triple DES algorithm for security.

Pricing

An adult EZ-Link card costs S$12, inclusive of a S$5 non-refundable card cost and a $7 card value.
There was a problem with commuters attempting to evade paying the full fare, with the prior magnetic fare card system.
Under the EZ-Link system, when a person taps his card on the entry card reader, the system deducts the maximum fare payable from his bus stop to the end of the bus route. If he taps his card on the exit reader when he disembarks, the system will return an amount based on the remaining bus stages to the end of the bus route. If he fails to tap the card on the exit reader when he disembarks, the entry card reader would have already deducted the maximum fare payable to the end of the bus route.

Card top-up

EZ-Link card holders could top up their cards in several ways including General Ticketing Machines at all MRT stations, TransitLink Add Value Machine, TransitLink Ticket Offices, convenience stores, ATM machines, AXS Stations, People’s Association Community Clubs and Water Venture Outlets and EZ-Reload.
Card holders used to be able to top up using EZ-Online, an online service provided by EZ-Link. This service allowed commuters to view their past transaction records, download discount coupons onto their cards, pay for shopping using the EZ-Link card at selected online merchants, and top up their EZ-Link card online through any connected Sony Felica contactless smart card reader.
EZ-Online ceased operation on 6 September 2017.
In July 2009, EZ-Link launched EZ-Reload, an auto top-up service for the new CEPAS-compliant EZ-Link card.
In 2013, EZ-Link launched the world's first NFC Mobile Application for EZ-Link card top-ups.
From December 2017 onwards, card holders could top up their EZ-Link card using the EZ-Link App on NFC-enabled phones.
Since August 2018, card holders who link their Mastercard and Visa credit or debit cards to EZ-Reload no longer need to pay convenience fees for their top-ups.

Comparison of payment modes