An adult EZ-Link card costs S$12, inclusive of a S$5 non-refundable card cost and a $7 card value.
The EZ-Link card is a contactless smart card based on the Sony FeliCa smart card technology and used for the payment of public transportation fares in Singapore, with limited use in the small payments retail sector. Established in 2001, it was promoted as the means for speedier boarding times on buses. 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 sold, distributed and managed by EZ-Link Pte. Ltd., a subsidiary of Singapore's Land Transport Authority. In September 2009, the new CEPAS EZ-Link card replaced the original EZ-Link card.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) 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.[1]
Two further tests were made, with the scheme extending to frequent bus users on selected routes, on an invitation basis.[2] The S$134.6 million contract was awarded to the ERG Motorola Alliance to supply 5 million cards and readers.
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 card also serves as a supplementary identification and concession card 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 sixty years old.
The system has since been expanded, with EZ-Link cards being used for payments in Singapore branches of McDonald's. Some schools in Singapore have also started to adopt the EZ-Link card as a way to mark the attendance of students and to pay for food served within the school campus.
The system is similar to the Octopus card in Hong Kong and Touch 'n Go in Malaysia.
On 3 December 2005, EZ-Link Pte Ltd announced that it was working with NETS to create a new hybrid card which will have the functions of both the EZ-Link card and the CashCard. This card would make it possible for one card to be used for payment on land transport in Singapore — ERP, bus, MRT, stalls and library. Work on this card was expected to be completed in 2008,[3] and it is to replace the existing Ez-Link cards in 2009 as the existing EZ-Link cards are being phased-out.
On 17 October 2007, StarHub and EZ-Link Pte Ltd declared the start of a 6-month trial on phones with an embedded EZ-Link card.
