By Tan Weizhen

ONE card for all transactions - the holy grail of a cashless society - could finally be here.

From September, electronic payment company Nets will release a contactless debit card that is linked to your bank account. It can be used to pay for travel and shopping, and also serve as a bank card to withdraw cash and carry out other banking transactions.

It will be touch-and-go to pay for bus and train rides. Insert the same card into your vehicle's card reader to pay road tolls and carpark charges.

The stored value can also be used to pay for your shopping or meals at establishments which will be fitted with new contactless payment terminals.

When you run out of cash, key in your PIN code at the terminal and pay for your purchase directly from your bank account and top up the card at the same time.

At ATMs, it will work like a regular bank card.

The new card, which will be issued by the three local banks DBS, UOB and OCBC, marks Nets' first foray into the transit market.

This brings it into direct competition with EZ-Link, which first came up with a similar multi-purpose smart card in January.

To date, 2.4 million of these new-generation ez-link cards are in use for travel needs as well as in outlets of fast food chain McDonald's and convenience store 7-Eleven, and all 3,000 SMRT taxis.

Two other smart card operators are expected to enter the transit market, the Land Transport Authority had said previously.

Nets says its card will have an edge over the competition because it owns more than 35,000 terminals at merchants, and these will be converted over time to go contactless, starting with 3,000 by the time the card is out in September.

By the end of the year, this payment option will be 'widespread enough for everyday use', said Nets chairman Rajan Raju, who is also the managing director and head of DBS consumer banking group.

Nets expects to issue 1.5 million cards over 12 to 18 months, said Nets chief executive Poh Mui Hoon.

Nets claims it has also gone one up on smart cards used elsewhere, such as Hong Kong's Octopus card, by enabling card top-ups using funds from users' bank accounts.

At retail outlets, customers will be prompted to key in their PIN codes to top up their cards when the balance is low.

Customers can also sign up for automatic wireless top-ups to help get them out of a jam if the stored value runs low on buses and trains, at Electronic Road Pricing gantries and in carparks.

It is unclear at this time if these add-on services will cost more.

For those who want the basic debit payment mode, Nets will set up more than 100 top-up machines at HDB carparks and in some condominiums as well.

One drawback of the card is that if the user loses it, there is no way to stop someone else from using up the remaining stored value, as with the ez-link card.

Ms Jafizwaty Ishahak, a research manager in the smart-card area at research firm Frost & Sullivan, says the bank top-up function is certainly the first of its kind in Asia, although it has been used in Europe.

'We're now moving into a truly cashless space.'

The card will go on trial in May and July, involving up to a few thousand users, before its launch.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.