The EZ-Link card is a rechargeable

contactless smart card A contactless smart card is a contactless credential whose dimensions are credit-card size. Its embedded integrated circuits can store (and sometimes process) data and communicate with a terminal via NFC. Commonplace uses include transit ticket ...

and

electronic money Digital currency (digital money, electronic money or electronic currency) is any currency, money, or money-like asset that is primarily managed, stored or exchanged on digital computer systems, especially over the internet. Types of digital cu ...

system that is primarily used as a payment method for

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...

such as bus and rail lines in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

. A standard EZ-Link card is a credit-card-sized stored-value contact-less smart-card that comes in a variety of colours, as well as limited edition designs. It is sold by TransitLink Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of the

Land Transport Authority The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Transport of the Government of Singapore. History Incorporation of Land Transport Authority Land Transport Authority (LTA) was established on 1 September 1995, f ...

(LTA), and can be used on travel modes across Singapore, including the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), the Light Rail Transit (LRT), public buses which are operated by

SBS Transit SBS Transit Limited (SBST or just SBS) () is a multi-modal public transport operator in Singapore operating bus and rail services. With a majority of its shares owned by Singaporean multinational transport conglomerate ComfortDelGro Corporation ...

SMRT Buses SMRT Buses is a bus operator in Singapore. A subsidiary of SMRT Corporation, it traded as Trans Island Bus Services until 10 May 2004. History Trans-Island Bus Services (1983–2004) In April 1981, Communications & Labour Minister Ong Teng Ch ...

Tower Transit Singapore Tower Transit Singapore is a contracted bus operator operating in Singapore. It commenced operations on 29 May 2016 and it is a subsidiary of Transit Systems. History In October 2014, the Land Transport Authority called for tenders to operate 2 ...

and Go-Ahead Singapore, as well as the

Sentosa Express The Sentosa Express is a monorail line connecting Sentosa island to HarbourFront on the Singapore mainland. It was built at a cost of S$140 million to replace the previous Sentosa Monorail. Development began in June 2003 and construction wo ...

. Established in 2001, the first generation of the card was based on the Sony

FeliCa FeliCa is a contactless Radio-frequency identification, RFID smart cards, smart card system from Sony in Japan, primarily used in electronic money cards. The name stands for ''Felicity Card''. First utilized in the Octopus card system in Hong Kong, ...

smart card technology and was promoted as the means for speedier boarding times on the city-state's bus and rail services. It had a monopoly on public transportation fare payments in Singapore until September 2009, when the

NETS FlashPay Network for Electronic Transfers, colloquially known as NETS, is a Singaporean electronic payment service provider. Founded in 1985, by a consortium of local banks, it aims to establish the debit network and drive the adoption of electronic paym ...

card, which had a monopoly over

Electronic Road Pricing The Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system is an electronic toll collection scheme adopted in Singapore to manage traffic by way of road pricing, and as a usage-based taxation mechanism to complement the purchase-based Certificate of Entitlem ...

(ERP) toll payments, entered the market for transportation payments (and vice versa). EZ-Link cards are distributed and managed by EZ-Link Pte. Ltd., also a subsidiary of Singapore's Land Transport Authority. In September 2009,

CEPAS CEPAS, the Specification for Contactless e-Purse Application, is a Singaporean specification for an electronic money smart card. CEPAS has been deployed island-wide, replacing the previous original EZ-Link card effective 1 October 2009. Fun ...

EZ-Link cards replaced the original EZ-Link card, expanding the card's usage to taxis, ERP gantries (with the dual-mode in-vehicle unit), car parks (which have been upgraded to accept CEPAS-compliant cards), convenience stores, supermarkets and fast food restaurants. Compared to

however, EZ-Link has lesser acceptance at retail shops. EZ-Link can also be used as a payment card at vending machines throughout the country.

Development

The

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.

Uses of the card

The card is commonly used in

as a smartcard for paying transportation fees in the

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...

's Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), Light Rail Transit (LRT) and public bus services. The EZ-Link function is also used i
concession
cards for students in nationally recognised educational institutes, full-time national service personnel serving in the

Singapore Armed Forces The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) are the military services of the Republic of Singapore, responsible for protecting and defending the security interests and the sovereignty of the country. A military component of the Ministry of Defence (MINDE ...

Singapore Civil Defence Force The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) is an uniformed organisation in Singapore under the Ministry of Home Affairs that provides emergency services such as firefighting, technical rescue, and emergency medical services, and coordinates nati ...

and

Singapore Police Force The Singapore Police Force (SPF) is the national and principal Police, law enforcement agency responsible for the prevention of crime and law enforcement in the Republic of Singapore. It is the country's lead agency against organised crime; huma ...

senior citizen Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human life cycle. Terms and euphemisms for people at this age include old people, the elderly (worldwide usage), OAPs (British usage ...

s who are over 60 years old. The system is similar to the

Pasmo is a rechargeable contactless smart card electronic money system. It is primarily used for public transport in Tokyo, Japan, where it was introduced on 18 March 2007. Pasmo can also be used as a payment card for vending machines and stores. ...

and

ICOCA The card is a rechargeable contactless smart card used on the JR West rail network in Japan. The card was launched on November 1, 2003 for usage on the Urban Network, which encompasses the major cities of Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe (Keihanshin). It ...

cards, and the card's use have since been expanded to retail, private transport, government services, community services, educational institutes and vending machines. On 17 October 2007, local telco

StarHub StarHub Limited, most commonly known as just Starhub, is a Singaporean multinational telecommunications conglomerate and one of the major telcos operating in the country. Founded in 1998, it is listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX). History ...

and EZ-Link Pte Ltd declared the start of a 6-month trial on phones with an embedded EZ-Link card. From 2009, Singapore motorists can use ez-link cards in their new generation In-Vehicle Unit to pay for Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) and Electronic Parking System (EPS) payments. In August 2016, EZ-Link introduced a post-paid ERP payment service called EZ-Pay. In March 2016, EZ-Link concluded a trial with the Land Transport Authority and the

Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) is a statutory board under the Singapore Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI). History Following the passing of the Info-communications Media Development Authority Bill in Parliame ...

on the use of compatible mobile phones with

Near-Field Communication Near-field communication (NFC) is a set of communication protocols that enables communication between two electronic devices over a distance of 4 cm (1 in) or less. NFC offers a low-speed connection through a simple setup that can be u ...

(NFC) technology to make public transport payments. In April 2018, the card also gained acceptance on NETS terminals in

hawker centre A hawker centre or cooked food centre is an open-air complex commonly found in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. They were built to provide a more sanitary alternative to mobile hawker carts and contain many stalls that sell different variet ...

s 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. In April 2019, EZ-Link announced it was working with Touch 'N Go to create a dual currency cross-border card for public transport.

Card Variations

In 2007, the

(LTA) and the

Singapore Tourism Board The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Government of Singapore, tasked to promote the country's tourism industry. History The board was first established on 1 January 1964 and w ...

launched th
Singapore Tourist Pass
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

standard and included the transit application. Commuters could eventually use

-compliant cards for Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) payments in vehicles fitted with the new generation In-vehicle Unit (IU), Electronic Parking System (EPS) 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.

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: * Topping up of EZ-Link cards and Concession Cards using NFC-enabled Android phones and with debit cards, credit cards and PayLah! as payment options. * Registering for EZ-Reload, an auto top -up service with Mastercard or Visa credit card. In August 2018, EZ-Link moved the application for EZ-Reload from web-based forms to the EZ-Link app, shortening the approval process to minutes. * Earning of points when paying with EZ-Link to redeem rewards. From February 2018, EZ-Link card users can get one LinkPoint by NTUC Link for every S$2 spent using EZ-Link at retail stalls. * Registering for EZ-Pay, a post-paid card-less service for ERP and EPS payments launched in 2016 that removes the hassle of topping up CashCard for motorists in Singapore. * On-the-go checking of transactions and balance of EZ-Link. * Blocking of EZ-Link when misplaced and recovering of remaining value. * QR code payments with EZ-Link Wallet.

EZ-Link Vending Machine

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 Radio frequency (RF) is the oscillation rate of an alternating electric current or voltage or of a magnetic, electric or electromagnetic field or mechanical system in the frequency range from around to around . This is roughly between the up ...

(RF) 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 In cryptography, Triple DES (3DES or TDES), officially the Triple Data Encryption Algorithm (TDEA or Triple DEA), is a symmetric-key block cipher, which applies the DES cipher algorithm three times to each data block. The Data Encryption Standa ...

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 users tap their card on the entry card reader, the system deducts the maximum fare payable from their bus stop to the end of the bus route. If they tap their card on the exit reader when they disembark, the system will return an amount based on the remaining bus stages to the end of the bus route. If they fail to tap the card on the exit reader when they disembark, 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 (up to S$100 per transaction), and top up their EZ-Link card online through any connected Sony Felica contactless smart card reader. 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

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:EZ-Link 2001 establishments in Singapore Contactless smart cards Fare collection systems Passenger rail transport in Singapore Road transport in Singapore Singaporean culture Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore) Singaporean brands