Written Reply by Minister for Transport Ong Ye Kung to Parliamentary Question on Expansion of Usage of EZ-Link Card to All Private and Public Car Parks

Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked the Minister for Transport 

a.     whether EZ-Link card payments at the Electronic Parking System (EPS) carparks or Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) gantries can be integrated with the older In-vehicle Units; 

b.     whether the usage of the EZ-Link card can be expanded to all private and public car parks; and 

c.     whether the maximum stored value in EZ-Link cards be raised to allow wider usage.

Reply by Minister for Transport Ong Ye Kung:

1.     In 2006, we launched the Contactless e-Purse Application Standard (CEPAS) technology for smart cards. CEPAS is an open standard, allowing any card issuer to participate, and both EZ-Link and NETS have been issuing CEPAS cards.

2.     In 2009, the in-vehicle unit (IUs) for Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) was also upgraded to be compatible with CEPAS cards. 85% of the vehicle population today use this IU. The remaining 15% either have no IUs or use the 1st generation IUs which can only use the NETS CashCard. For these motorists, they can continue to use the NETS CashCard, opt to upgrade their IUs, or sign up for electronic payment of ERP charges using their credit or debit cards.

3.     As for carpark acceptance, all publicly-owned carparks by URA and HDB that adopt the Electronic Parking System (EPS) can accept both EZ-Link and NETS issued CEPAS cards. As for the remaining carparks, the owners decide which payment modes to accept, taking into account factors such as cost of upgrading the carpark system and motorist experience. So there is a proportion of carparks that accepts only CEPAS cards issued by NETS. There are about 460 of them, out of 3,300 carparks that have implemented EPS.

4.     Today, the maximum stored value in EZ-Link cards is $500. The determination of this quantum is a business decision by EZ-Link. A high stored value can expose both the user and the issuer to high risks. On average, EZ-Link cardholders top up around $20 per transaction on their cards. Cardholders who make frequent transactions on their EZ-Link cards can register for EZ-Link’s free automatic top-up service using any Mastercard or Visa cards.