Singapore and MasterCard jointly plan to launch contactless payment by car

According to media reports, the Minister of Land Transport of Singapore said at a meeting that it was planned that from April this year, it would be possible to use MasterCard contactless bank cards or mobile phones supporting contactless payments to take public transport and trains in Singapore, Visa is expected to introduce the feature “later this year.”

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Singapore’s land transport authority (lta) began working with mastercard in March 2017 on a pilot account based ticketing system to test payments using contactless bank CARDS on public transport, the minister said. The measure is “successful” and the Land Transport Authority is now ready to launch the service fully under the new brand SimplyGo.



“With SimplyGo, people will be able to choose to bring less than one bus card when they travel; if they pay with a mobile phone, then they don’t have to swipe. “The Transport authority minister said.

The land transport authority also said people could sign up for a SimplyGo account and then bind different contactless CARDS to the SimplyGo portal or app. For those who participated in the trial, the mastercard they used during the trial period can still be used. In addition, users who use stored-value CARDS such as loyalty CARDS, easypass CARDS or easyjet CARDS will be able to enjoy the same convenience after upgrading their existing CARDS at the end of the year.

Passengers can also connect MasterCard to a mobile phone with close range wireless communication (NFC) capabilities and pay directly on their mobile phones.

In a statement following the announcement, mastercard said it was “pleased” to be the first international payment brand to launch SimplyGo in partnership with the land transportation authority.