ABSTRACT
Available for industry use, CEPAS paves the way for a nationwide interoperable micropayment platform, bridging multiple sectors especially the transit and retail e-payment space.
CEPAS is spearheaded by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), and is one of the key next generation e-Payment initiatives under Singapore’s iN2015 infocomm master plan led by IDA. The vision of CEPAS is for Singaporeans to have a single MPSV card for use all around Singapore for micro-payments. These include transit (bus, MRT, LRT), taxi, motoring (ERP, parking), retail and other services.
CEPAS is a result of close collaboration by IDA with different industry players and the Land Transport Authority (LTA). The other key collaborators are the Cards & Personal Identification Technical Committee (CPITC) under the Singapore IT Standards Committee (ITSC), Network for Electronic Transfers (NETS) and EZ-Link. CEPAS was published by SPRING Singapore as SS 518 and was officially launched during the CEPAS Launch & Next Generation e-Payment seminar on June 27, 2006, held at Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre. [2]
With the implementation of CEPAS, consumers enjoy the ease and convenience of a single card for seamless and speedy contactless electronic payment of goods and services around Singapore. In addition to the convenience for the consumers, merchants and public service providers also benefit from CEPAS by deploying a single reader for transaction processing as opposed to having multiple readers. CEPAS also levels and opens the market allowing more industry players, such as banks and financial institutions to participate in the micropayment landscape creating an all-win situation for consumers, card issuers, merchants and system operators.
Keywords: CEPAS, Contactless payment, All-in-one card.
