Singapore pilots account-based ticketing for public transport

Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) and Mastercard have together launched a pilot of a new Account-Based Ticketing (ABT) System for public transport in the city.

Singapore is the first in Asia and one of the few cities in the world to enable the usage of contactless credit cards and contactless debit cards for fare payments.

Commuters holding a Singapore-issued Mastercard contactless credit or debit cards can register their interest on the TransitLink ABT Portal. At least 100,000 commuters are expected to participate in the pilot.

Cardholders who are accepted onto the pilot will no longer have to carry and constantly top up a separate fare card, and instead will be charged for their public transport rides in their credit or debit card.

Through the TransitLink ABT Portal or Mobile Services app, they will also be able to track their journey and fare payment history.

For LTA, the partnership follows an earlier initiative to enable Account-Based payment of electronic road pricing (ERP) charges, where motorists are able to pay for their ERP charges using their credit/debit cards or via their bank account without a need for a physical stored-value card.

“LTA is committed to leveraging technology advancements to provide more convenience to Account-Based Ticketing using contactless credit or debit cards will add another option to how commuters can pay for their public transport rides,” said Ngien Hoon Ping, Chief Executive of LTA.

Deborah Heng, Country Manager of Mastercard Singapore, added that apart from use on public transport, Mastercard contactless payments are already available in many popular retail and F&B merchants, as well as a large number of taxis.

“In the near future, we expect to broaden contactless access by enabling mobile and wearable devices for cashless use,” she said.