Tan Kin Lian - Perspectives Use of SimplyGo card for retail payment
The transport minister said that the eventual goal is to make SimplyGo as a universal card for motoring, public transport and retail payment. The other cards (Ez Link, NET Flashpay) will be phased out. 

I support this integration. It is easier for the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to manage one platform, instead of four separate platforms. 

I suggest that LTA appoint NETS to implement the retail payment with SimplyGo. NETS already has a network of merchants. They can change their system to accept the SimplyGo cards. 

The SimplyGo card is a NFC card. NETS needs to get its merchants to have a device similar to that used for bank card, to accept the payments from SimplyGo. These devices are inexpensive and commonly used. 

It is also possible to NETS to allow the retail outlets to download an app on the phone (that has a NFC scanner) to accept the SimplyGo card. Most recent phone models have NFC capability. The retail outlet has the choice to use a phone app or a separate payment device. 

I hope that the transport minister will adopt this approach to get more people to use the SimplyGo card for retail payments. It will encourage the users to migrate from Ez Link and FlashPay to SimplyGo cards. 

Tan Kin Lian 


 

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