EZ-Link Pte Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Land Transport Authority and also the largest Cepas card issuer in Singapore, is now using Wirecard Group's mobile top-up service via its NFC mobile application.
The application enables consumers to make NFC payments at the point-of-sale. Wirecard supports the process for consumers to conveniently add money to their EZ-Link purse on the go, simply using their NFC-enabled phone.
EZ-Link has been managing Singapore's single largest contact-free Stored Value Smart Card System for payments on public buses and Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) trains since 2002. Today, EZ-Link has issued more than 12 million CEPAS-compliant cards, which is a contact-free e-Purse application. In addition to public transport, the EZ-Link card is accepted at a rapidly expanding network of acceptance points across the country - from retail to private transport, even for Electronic Road Pricing and Electronic Payment System (EPS) in car parks.
EZ-Link's CEO Nicholas Lee says: "Offering the over-the-air top-up is a first for NFC solutions to be launched in Singapore. The top-up service supported by Wirecard makes mobile payment secure, fast and easy. Mobile purses can be loaded anytime, anywhere and on demand real time. The Wirecard TeleMoney feature in our application enriches the whole NFC user experience."
"We are proud that EZ-Link and their renowned partners have chosen Wirecard for the first public near-field-communication solution with OTA launched in Singapore", says Ng Fook Sun, Managing Director at Wirecard Asia, who continued: "As a truly international group for the latest payment technology, we provide a holistic infrastructure for mobile wallets including stored value payment services through NFC-enabled mobile phones, cash loading and issuing of open loop payment cards in plastic or virtual and on NFC chip."
How the EZ-Link NFC mobile app works
With the NFC mobile application and a smartphone with NFC SIM-card capabilities, consumers can store EZ-Link's prepaid card accounts on their phone; top-up their electronic purse in real-time and make payments. Today the service can be used at over more than 20,000 point-of-sales accepting EZ-Link payments including taxis, supermarkets and fast food chains. The convenient app gives an overview of the transaction history, balances and allows loading the electronic wallet with any debit or credit card. A complimentary program enables the electronic purse to be blocked and credit to be refunded if the mobile phone is lost or stolen.