This story was printed from TODAYonline 
Nets says complaints have gone up in line with growth of ERP gantries
Tuesday • May 13, 2008
Letter from Suman Balani
Assistant Chief Executive,
Nets Singapore
WE REFER to "ERP woes: What's to blame — CashCard, IU or gantry" (May 7), and to recent media coverage relating to the use of the Nets CashCard for Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) payments.
Nets would like to take this opportunity to shed insight into the evolution of the CashCard in Singapore. We hope this additional information would bolster the confidence of Singaporeans in the quality of the CashCard.
In the early 1990s, Singapore embarked on a major effort to drive cashless payments. Several Government organisations, global card suppliers, Nets and its stakeholder banks were involved in the conceptualisation of this effort. These organisations were instrumental in setting the standard for the stored value card.
Driven by efforts from the Land Transport Authority (the then-Registry of Vehicles), the CashCard became the stored value card of choice for the ERP system. With additional trials and field tests between 1995 and 1998, the base standards for the use of the CashCard were set.
The CashCard was the ideal tool for ERP payments because of its unique characteristics as a micro payment instrument. These are: Risk Free — it is a prepaid card; Security — it is secure because it is chip-based and uses strong cryptography; Speed — it is fast as it is an off-line transaction; Anonymity — it ensures data privacy of individuals; and Cost-Effective — there is no need for statements and billings.
In short, the reason why the CashCard was chosen was because it offered each of these single attributes and till today, is the most compelling solution. One of the challenges of the stored value card is the ability to top it up. To address this, Nets, together with shareholder banks, made concerted efforts over the years to build a comprehensive network of top-up points. There are more than 3,300 top-up points at various locations. The CashCard can also be topped up via the Internet.
Over the 12 years since its introduction, Nets has gradually extended the use of the CashCard from ERP payments to cover wide-ranging applications like payments at car parks, food and beverage outlets, as well as retail points.
Today, the CashCard generates in excess of 20 million transactions a month, making it the one card for all motoring needs. About 60 per cent of these transactions are generated from the 800 car park systems and at 35,000 non-motoring related applications like food and beverage and retail outlets. Feedback on the use of the CashCard in these areas has been positive. The remaining 40 per cent of CashCard transactions are generated from ERP payments.
Based on our records of calls coming through to our Customer Service Centre as well as other feedback channels, we tracked that the calls pertain mainly to ERP payments. We also discovered that the number of complaints have risen in tandem with the growth in the ERP gantries and extended hours of ERP operations.
On our part, Nets makes every effort to ensure that it delivers good quality cards for widespread use today. If customers feel that they have a problem with their CashCards, they are most welcome to visit our Customer Service centre for a test on our reference IUs. If the card is found to have a problem, the customer will be entitled to a one-for-one replacement.
Nets prides itself in being a reliable payment partner to our customers and will strive to achieve continuous excellence. We take public feedback on CashCards seriously. Please call our Customer Service hotline at 6274 1212 or email us at motoristcare@nets.com.sg. We will be glad to offer assistance.