SINGAPORE - Holders of older adult ez-link cards that are not on SimplyGo, an account-based ticketing system, will no longer have to update their cards by June 1 to pay for public transport.

Nets FlashPay cards will also continue to be accepted for adult fare payments, and there is no need to exchange them for Nets Prepaid cards to pay for bus and train rides by June 1.

The authorities said on Jan 22 that they are pulling the plug on the planned transition in the wake of public feedback.

Announcing the update in a Facebook post on Jan 22, Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat said the authorities will spend an extra $40 million to allow commuters to continue using ez-link and Nets FlashPay cards. These cards operate on a card-based ticketing system that stores transaction data on the cards. The money will be spent on maintaining and replacing the ageing hardware of the card-based system.

Unlike the card-based system, SimplyGo processes fare payments at the back end.

“We have decided to extend the use of the current card-based ticketing system for adult commuters, and not to sunset the system in 2024 as originally planned,” Mr Chee wrote. The authorities did not state when an eventual transition to SimplyGo might happen.

The decision, Mr Chee added, was made after considering commuters’ concerns since the Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) announcement about the transition on Jan 9. A key concern was that passengers would no longer see fare deductions and card balances at fare gates and bus card readers with the switch to SimplyGo.

LTA told The Straits Times that since Jan 9, nearly 140,000 adult commuters and concession card users have switched to SimplyGo, and over 100,000 passengers have downloaded the SimplyGo app.

Mr Chee apologised for the delays experienced by commuters who tried to convert their older ez-link cards since Jan 9.

ST reported a day after the news broke that passengers faced difficulties in updating their ez-link cards to SimplyGo at ticketing offices and machines at MRT stations and bus interchanges, with the problem persisting into Jan 11. The SimplyGo app was also overwhelmed, with people unable to use some of its features.

“This could have been avoided with better preparation,” Mr Chee acknowledged, adding that LTA has dealt with these issues by updating the app and speeding up the card-conversion process.

LTA said the SimplyGo system’s rising popularity – with two in three adult fare payments being made with it – was a factor behind the earlier decision to retire the card-based system, which was near the end of its operational lifespan.

In December 2023, there were 2.6 million daily adult fare payments on SimplyGo, compared with 1.5 million made with the card-based system.

Giving a breakdown on Jan 22, Mr Chee said 41 per cent of adult transport cards used in December were SimplyGo bank cards, followed by existing ez-link and Nets FlashPay cards (36 per cent), and SimplyGo-compatible ez-link cards (23 per cent).

Those who updated their ez-link cards to SimplyGo between Jan 9 and 22, or bought SimplyGo-compatible ez-link cards in that period, will be able to exchange their cards for those that rely on the older ticketing system for free, if they prefer. Cards that have been updated cannot be switched back to the previous system. LTA said details about the exchange will be made public by the end of February, citing the need for preparation time to minimise inconvenience to passengers.

Concession card holders, such as students and seniors, can also revert to cards that are not on SimplyGo as part of this exchange.

Following the latest development, Nets said it would resume the sale of its FlashPay cards at ticket offices and places such as convenience stores.

Mr Chee said he has given LTA the task of studying ways to improve account-based ticketing cards. In particular, he has asked it to look into possible solutions for these newer cards to display fare deductions and card balances at fare gates and bus card readers.

He noted, however, that for the moment, there is no technical solution to this problem, and Singapore is not alone in facing this issue.

Like SimplyGo, account-based transit cards used in London and Hong Kong do not display fare deductions and card balances at fare gates too, he said.

Earlier, LTA told reporters that while it was technically possible for fare and card balance information to be shown at fare gates and bus card readers with SimplyGo, it would take a few seconds to retrieve this information from the back-end system, which will slow the entry and exit of passengers. This would result in longer queues.

With SimplyGo, a user can view fare deductions and balances on a smartphone app, which can notify the user when he or she taps out from a bus or MRT stop. Alternatively, users can obtain fare information at ticketing machines at MRT stations and bus interchanges.

Other touted benefits of SimplyGo include enabling users to block transactions through the app if they lose the cards and to top up their cards on the move.

Many who still use older ez-link and Nets FlashPay cards were frustrated by the reduced functionality after switching to SimplyGo. For instance, after the transition, the updated ez-link cards could no longer be used to pay for motoring expenses such as parking and Electronic Road Pricing charges.

After drawing flak from the public, a sign that the authorities had changed their minds came on Jan 19, when a free exchange of Nets FlashPay cards for Nets Prepaid cards that was planned to start that day was postponed “until further notice”.