From April 2018, EZ-Link and Concession cardholders will be able to make payments for their food and drinks at all NETS-enabled hawker centres. They simply have to tap their cards on the existing NETS terminal.
This is the first time that NETS and EZ-Link have come together to provide a holistic and interoperable payments system, according to a joint press statement released on Jan 24, 2018.
The partnership will cater to the needs of senior citizens and students, most of whom may not have bank accounts. With this initiative, they will be able to use their concession cards for payments at NETS terminals in hawker centres.
“NETS is committed to helping Singapore become a cashless society and we want to work with like-minded partners to convert cash transactions into cashless payments," said NETS CEO Jeffrey Goh. "This partnership is a significant milestone in our efforts to build a cashless ecosystem at hawker centres because we are now able to offer all Singaporeans, young and old, a ‘single interface’ payments experience at hawker centres. They can choose to pay via mobile phone (QR code) or cards.”
“This collaboration opens up many opportunities for EZ-Link and concession card holders to make cashless transactions across the island with a single interface, starting with hawker centres," said EZ-Link CEO Nicholas Lee. "We hope to continue to establish similar partnerships to increase our acceptance points across Singapore and empower Singaporeans of all ages in the nation’s cashless journey.”
Both companies view this initiative as a start of a growing relationship and will extend the partnership beyond hawker centres.
There are currently more than 1,000 stalls across more than 30 hawker centres which accept NETS (QR code and card payments). These include those at Beo Crescent, Tanjong Pagar, Yishun Park and Zion Road, as well as food courts and canteens at Singapore Polytechnic, Republic Polytechnic, Nanyang Polytechnic, Temasek Polytechnic and the National Technological University.