To encourage more people to use their FlashPay-enabled cards on public transport rides, Nets is giving consumers a 10 percent rebate with every $10 that is loaded on a card, from yesterday until Jan 31st next year, reported The Straits Times.
The rebate is capped at $3 a month and can be used for MRT, LRT and public bus fares. No activation is needed, and consumers simply need to top up their FlashPay-enabled cards.
Nets is kicking off a major three month campaign to raise awareness of such cards. There are 3.1 million cards by the various banks with the contactless FlashPay function, but less than 10 percent of the cards are used for transit. According to Nets Chief Executive Jeffrey Goh, "If the campaign is successful, we are looking to see if we can get at least 600,000 to 700,000 - or 20 to 25 percent - of the cards active."
The idea was to create an all-in-one card that could be used by the customer to not only pay for everyday items and withdraw cash, but also to pay for transport in the bid to promote a cashless society. Mr. Goh added that it is not his goal to be the first or dominant player in the market, "but to highlight the valuable asset the cardholders have, and to reward them". The payment network has already introduced contactless payment to hawker centres where stalls use Nets terminals to accept payment, and other retail concepts such as vending machines.
