Showing posts with label Ez-link Giro. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ez-link Giro. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

EZ-Link Giro top-up - Part 11 (switching EZ-Link Cards, Where's the benefit?)

The Straits Times, October 5, 2009, Page A22
By Kwong Hui Hen


Picture is obtained from http://photo.blog.sina.com.cn/blogpic/4a1e52010100eszr/4a1e5201g70a34a376741
Switching EZ-Link Cards, Where's the benefit?

EZ-LINK has spared no effort to promote its new Cepas ez-link card, But I am not sure if convenience and lower cost to the consumer were what it had in mind.

Consider these:
Under the Contactless e-Purse Application Standard (Cepas) card - Which EZ-Link dubs EZ-Reload - the cardholder must send a written application, pay a one-off application fee (with a waiver thrown in until February) and wait 21 days for the application to be approved.



Worse, the Cepas cardholder incurs a fee each time the card is topped up (ironically dubbed as ("convenience fee'' by EZ-Link).

Compare these with the previous arrangement where the ez-link cardholder could apply for Giro at a general ticketing machine and get instant approval.



I cannot help but wonder why we are switching to something that seems technologically more primitive.

I am not sure the new features are worthwhile either. According to the EZ-Link website:
A Cepas card can be used for Electronic Road Pricing payment with the next-generation in-vehicle unit (IU). Does one expect a motorist to fish out the Cepas card from his IU so he can use it on the MRT?



It allows a maximum stored value of $500. Who would want to put in that much?

It can be used for non-transit payments. With most shops accepting credit cards and Nets, the benefit of an additional payment option is marginal.



It retains full value with no need to pay a deposit. My understanding is that one cannot take a ride if the stored value falls below $3, so what difference does it make?

Looking at all these features, I cannot help but conclude that the switch to the Cepas card is solely commercially driven.


Picture is obtained from http://members.optusnet.com.au/wing813/mashimaro_wp05.jpg

It is disappointing that EZ-Link charges a fee to reload. I understand EZ-Link incurs a bank charge in the process, but which business does not incur a charge for customers paying by Nets or credit card? Employers incur Giro fees to pay salaries into employees' accounts by direct debit, but does any firm recover the cost from its employees?

The new Cepas card seems to be a step backwards rather than forwards.

Kwong Hui Hen





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Friday, September 18, 2009

EZ-Link Giro top-up - Part 8 (EZ-Link top-up far from easy)


New scheme, called EZ-Reload By Giro, charges 25 cents a top-up
The Sunday Times SEPTEMBER 20, 2009, HOT, 3
By Akshita Nanda, akshitan@sph.com.sg


EZ-Link top-up far from easy
Giro scheme for new cards is not only more costly, but it is also less convenient, say frustrated commuters

It may be called ez-link, but the updated travel fare card that replaces the old one from next month has got commuters feeling decidedly "un-ez".

The "old" ez-link cards cease to be valid from Oct 1 and commuters have been able to exchange them for new ones since January.

However, several of the new card's features introduced in stages over that time have prompted complaints - particularly its Giro top-up system, which users say is more costly and less convenient.

Under the old system, Giro top-up was free. Users could apply ,for this service Instantly at general ticketing machines in any MRT station.

But the new scheme, called EZ-Reload By Giro, charges 25 cents a top-up. Applying for the scheme also involves filling in paperwork and a wait of up to three weeks for the request to be processed.

Frustrated commuters have written in to The Straits Times with their gripes.

Insurance adviser Albert Lim, 60, says: "I find it very unfair. No merchant has charged for Giro before.'' He has opted out of EZ-Reload and will now do his top-ups via machines or ticket offices at transport hubs.

Retired teacher Lim Pok Beng, 70, fears that charging for Giro top-ups will open the floodgates. He asks: ''Will others follow to charge for Giro also?"

He is eligible for a Senior Citizen Concession Card, and happily for him, the Giro top-up fees do not apply to his card. All concession cards, including those for students and children, are still being handled by TransitLink, the transport firm that managed the old Giro top-up system.

The EZ-Reload scheme is being managed by a different transport firm, EZLink.

Another irate commuter is 24-year-old Fiona Seah, who is used to automatic top-ups from her bank account costing her nothing. The marketing executive was a faithful user of TransitLink's Bank Giro Top-up Scheme, which topped up her card every time it was empty adding $20 each time. This would happen about four times a month for her. When EZ-Reload replaced the old system late last month, she queued at a ticketing office to switch over - and then quit the queue on discovering the new charges, which do not stop at the Giro gyration.

Apart from the 25-cent fee, a refundable deposit equal to the top-up value a commuter chooses will be deducted from his bank account under the Giro scheme. They also pay a $1.50 application charge, but EZLink is waiving this until February. No such fee was charged under the old system.

If Ms Seah were to opt for EZ-Reload now, she would have to pay an extra $12 a year for automatic top-ups, plus a one-time $20 deposit. She makes the point: ''Is it necessarv for tne refundable deposit to be equal to the reload value?"

EZLink told LifeStyle that it pays first when the top-up value is added to a fare card. Tha. amount is collected only a day later from the customer's account. The one-time deposlt of the reload value is required to manage the risk that it may not be able to get back the cash it paid out.

Automatic top-ups have become more important to users as the new card requires a minimum cash balance of $3 before it can be used to travel on the MRT. The old one did not, as it stored $3 deposit could be used for travel.

Ms Seah is now considering switching to Giro top-up via credit card. There is still a 25-cent fee for each transaction, but she says: "At least I'll get rebates."

Some credit cards give users points for ez-link top-ups that they can use for rebates, discounts or gifts. Commuters who use their credit card to top-up their fare card need not put down a deposit.

On the other hand, the new ez-link card does have some attractive features in that it is Cepas-compliant, which means it can be used as cashless payment for a range of services from bus and train rides to retail purchases and paying Electronic Road Pricing fees. Cepas stands for Contactless e-Purse Application Standard.

After reader's complaints, EZLink defended its charges, saying that the 25-cent fee is to recover the processing and operating costs of the Giro service. It told LifeStyle that 98.5 per cent of the commuters use "free top-up channels" such as ticketing machines to add value to their cards.

"The Giro top-up facility is thus a value-added service offered to commuters to give them more choices", its spokesman said.

However, Mr. Seah Seng Choon, executive director of consumer watchdog Case said: "The 25-cent charge is unnecessary as we believe EZLink should be able to cover this cost through returns generated from float which consumers top up, like TransitLink was able to do before."

He added that the 25-cent "convenience fee" is unfair because commuters need not pay the fee under the old system.
akshitan@sph.com.sg




Picture is obtained from http://cheryltay.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/bmw_z4_design_exterior.jpg


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Ez-link Card - Part 7 (Some 4mez-link cards not yet replaced)

MY PAPER TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 15, 2009, A6, MY NEWS, HOME http://myepaper.mypaper.sg/ebook/web_php/fvbrowserjs.php?urljs=http://myepaper.mypaper.sg/ecreator/sphopf/ep150909cnd_opf_files/ep150909cnd.js&ver=Gen
By CHERYL LIM, cheryll@sph.com.sg



Farm House in the sunset
Picture is obtained from http://sendingpostcards.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/house_sunset_small.jpg


Some 4mez-link cards not yet replaced

COMMUTERS here are still hanging on to half of the eight million ez-link cards slated to be replaced with a new smart card, despite being left with just two weeks to exchange them.

They risk having to pay $5 for their Contactless e-Purse Application Standard (Cepas)-compliant cards after Oct 1, when the old cards become invalid.

Only four million old cards have been replaced since the exchange exercise began on Jan 9 this year. They are making way for the new cards, which are designed to pay for more services on top of bus and MRT rides, including parking fees, Electronic Road Pricing fees and retail purchases.



Old Christmas Card

Some commuters who use TransitLink’s Bank Giro top-up scheme said that they have delayed replacing their old card because they will incur additional charges with the new one. They will have to pay a one-time application fee of $1.50 to sign up for the new card’s Giro scheme, called Ez-Reload by Giro, as well as a “convenience fee” of 25 cents for every auto top-up of the card.

Student Clarice Lim, 23, said: “Though the charges are small, I feel that they are unnecessary, so I have put off changing the card until the deadline is up.”

EZ-Link spokesman Gregory Danker clarified that the application fee has been waived, and will kick in only from Feb 26 next year. The “convenience fee” is levied to offset the processing costs incurred, he added.

Asked why TransitLink did not charge commuters for auto top-ups of the old card, he said that he was unable to comment on the pricing model of other organisations.


Mono lake sunset

Another reason for commuters dragging their feet over replacing their old cards: sheer laziness. Marketing executive Daryll Teo, 27, said: “I haven’t changed mine simply because I’ve been procrastinating. But I am keeping watch on how much time I have left to do so. No way will I pay $5 for a new card.”

Other commuters believe that replacing theirs at a later time allows them to beat the queues. Mrs Jamie Lim, 55, a housewife, said: “Everyone would have changed theirs before this month. I waited until now so that I won’t have to jostle with the crowds.”

Junior-college teacher Luke Lu, 28, who got his new card only last week, felt that it had been pointless to replace the card early, because commuters cannot enjoy any of its purported benefits yet.

He said: “None of the carparks have changed their systems to accept this new card, so we still can’t use it in place of our CashCard.”
cheryll@sph.com.sg



185 Million Year Old Sunset - The Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site Series
Picture is obtained from http://images-2.redbubble.net/img/art/size:large/view:main/2883895-2-185-million-year-old-sunset-the-jurassic-coast-world-heritage-site-series.jpg


Helpdesk: 我的字典
Wǒ de zì diǎn

Smart card: 智慧卡
zhì huì kǎ

Unnecessary: 不必要的
bù bì yào de

Procrastinating: 拖延
tuō yán

Jostle: 推推搡桑
tuī tuī sǎng sǎng



Beautiful fruit-shaped
Picture is obtained from http://images.google.com.sg/imgres?imgurl=http://www.tokyomango.com/.a/6a00d8341c5d3253ef011570add7e4970c-550wi&imgrefurl=http://www.tokyomango.com/tokyo_mango/food_and_drink/&usg=__FEBOYjQ_29s4ox90T4AyBZCetqI=&h=322&w=468&sz=36&hl=en&start=1&sig2=NsF2L6HbhAgj98woATFGSA&tbnid=ByGlF5XNGEEuuM:&tbnh=88&tbnw=128&prev=/images%3Fq%3D6a00d8341c5d3253ef011570add7e4970c%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG&ei=4t-0SpXGDJju7AO2sZ3WBQ


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