A NEW card is muscling its way into the increasingly crowded multi-purpose card market.

Launched in late August, DBS' Live Fresh Visa payWave Platinum card can be used as an ez-link card and a contactless credit card.

It is touted to be the first credit card in Singapore that combines ez-link services, regular credit-card functions and Visa payWave, which is Visa's contactless-payment technology.

Other cards with Visa pay-Wave are Citibank's M1 Platinum card and United Overseas Bank's One Card.

DBS said it has received at least 8,500 applications for the Live Fresh card since August. However, the DBS card is not the first card from a bank here that allows cardholders to pay for public-transport rides and to make purchases on credit.

The first is Citibank's SMRT Platinum Visa Card, which has seen a 45 per cent rise in applications for the card in the past year.

Vendors have been rolling out more alternative payment options this year. In January, Ez-Link launched its contactless multi-purpose card, which can be used in retail outlets that have an ez-link payment terminal.

Last Friday, the Network For Electronic Transfers (Nets) introduced its own Contactless e-Purse Application-compliant multi-use card, the Nets Flash-Pay card. It is on sale and can be topped up at TransitLink ticket offices in train stations.

cheryll@sph.com.sg

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