Ez Reader Popular Books

Ez Reader Biography & Facts

The EZ-Link card is a rechargeable contactless smart card and electronic money system that is primarily used as a payment method for public transport such as bus and rail lines in Singapore. 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 (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, SMRT Buses, Tower Transit Singapore and Go-Ahead Singapore, as well as the Sentosa Express. 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 bus and rail 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 (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 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 NETS FlashPay 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. Account-based CEPAS EZ-Link card was launched in January 2021. In March 2023, the Land Transport Authority announced plans to merge their subsidiaries TransitLink and EZ-Link into a single entity SimplyGo. History 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. Card usage The card is commonly used in Singapore as a smartcard for paying transportation fees in the city-state's Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), Light Rail Transit (LRT) and public bus services. The EZ-Link function is also used in concession 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 Pasmo and ICOCA 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 and EZ-Link Pte Ltd declared the start of a 6-month trial on phones with an embedded EZ-Link card. Since 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 on the use of compatible mobile phones with Near-Field Communication (NFC) technology to make public transport payments. In February 2018, EZ-Link and NTUC Social Enterprises launched a partnership to promote cashless payments. This allowed EZ-Link card holders with a linked NTUC Plus card to earn LinkPoints with EZ-Link purchases, spare change could also be used to top-up EZ-Link cards when customers make cash payments at Cheers convenience stores, and EZ-Link acceptance was extended to NTUC FairPrice supermarkets and NTUC Unity pharmacies. However, EZ-Link payments at FairPrice and Unity stores were ceased on 3 May 2023 until further notice. 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. In April 2019, EZ-Link announced it was working with Touch 'N Go to create a dual currency cross-border card for public transport. The card was launched on 17 August 2020. Variations In 2007, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and the Singapore Tourism Board launched the 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 (CEPAS) 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 (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 .... Discover the Ez Reader popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Ez Reader books.