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| Super Brand |
Overview |
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The Market |
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Founded by Singapore’s
leading banks in 1985 to operate payment networks
and drive adoption of electronic payments, Network
for Electronic Transfers Singapore (NETS) has been
at the forefront of Singapore’s cashless revolution
for twenty years.
NETS pioneered the concept of convenient cashless
payments in Singapore. Today NETS services are available
at more than 12,500 merchants and across 30,000
points of access, including retail outlets, educational
institutions, government establishments and car
parks.
While there have been new entrants into the Singapore
electronic payments market, NETS has maintained
its lead through the variety of products and services
it offers, its pervasive presence and its ongoing
deployment of products and services that best fit
the needs of the market. |
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Achievements |
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- NETS celebrates its 20th Anniversary as Singapore’s
cashless payments leader on January 11, 2005.
- NETS has issued 6 million CashCards to date
with 4.5 million active CashCards in circulation.
- There are more than 5 million NETS ATM cards
in circulation.
- Total annual transactions for all NETS services
(including NETS EFTPOS, eNETS and CashCard)
rose from 189 million in 2000 to more than 252
million in 2003. This represents almost 700,000
transactions per day.
- NETS is also Singapore’s leading card
processing and personalisation services provider.
CashCard retail transactions alone have grown
from 3.8 million in 2001 to more than 8 million
in 2003.
NETS has become an intrinsic part of the Singapore
landscape, an achievement that has been realised
through the delivery of trusted and reliable products
and services over nearly two decades. |
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History |
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NETS was founded
as a result of a need for a centralised ePayment
operator by Singapore’s local banks: DBS,
Keppel Bank, OCBC, OUB, POSB, Tat Lee Bank and UOB.
NETS is now owned by DBS, OCBC and UOB. The first
product launched was the NETS EFTPOS (electronic
fund transfers at point-of-sale) service. This
allowed Singaporeans to use a card and a PIN number
to automatically withdraw funds from their bank
accounts at points-of-sale.
NETS then introduced the shared ATM network in
1988. DBS, Keppel Bank, OCBC, OUB, POSB, Tat Lee
Bank and UOB cardholders could use the ATM facilities
of any of these banks.
In 1996, NETS introduced CashCards – a
stored value smart card for use in retail purchases.
In 1997, all vehicles in Singapore were fitted
with special readers when the CashCard was adopted
as the sole payment mode for Singapore’s
road toll payment system. By simply driving under
an electronic gantry, toll charges are automatically
deducted from the driver’s CashCard - a
fast, unobtrusive payment mechanism that allowed
traffic to keep flowing.
CashCards, which can also be used in every NETS
EFTPOS-enabled payment location, then proved to
be the perfect solution for car park payments.
Today, 60 per cent of commercial car parks in
Singapore accept payment by CashCard.
NETS continues to develop new applications where
it can make payments faster and convenient.
With an eye to the future, NETS launched the
eNETS product range in 2001, allowing users to
make payments online using a virtual bank account,
debit or credit card. To give e-shoppers greater
freedom and flexibility, NETS has also developed
solutions that allow consumers to make payments
using their mobile wireless devices such as mobile
phones and PDAs.
NETS is continually developing products that
lead the way in electronic payment technology,
and provide more choice for consumers and new
opportunities for merchants and partners. |
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The Product |
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NETS offers a range
of payment solutions suited to different lifestyles
and transactions. NETS products give consumers the
freedom to choose the best payment method that suits
their lifestyle, to be in control of their expenses,
the freedom to make payments from different devices
and locations with a guarantee of security and reliability. |
NETS produces
seven main categories of products:
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NETS EFTPOS |
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A nationwide infrastructure
that enables consumers to make purchases at retail
counters using their ATM cards. This service has
recently been expanded with the Wireless NETS EFTPOS
service where the terminal moves the point of payment
right to consumer’s doorstep – or table.
Through NETS EFTPOS, NETS is pioneering the way
towards a more convenient, cash-free society. Just
three years ago, 55% of all transactions were cash;
today it is down to 40%. |
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NETS CashCard |
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With some 4.5 million
active NETS CashCards in circulation, this is one
of the most commonly accepted prepaid stored value
card in Singapore used extensively for retail purchases,
traffic tolls for the Electronic Road Pricing System
(ERP), and car parks. NETS CashCard serves as a
convenient payment method for transactions ranging
from as little as S$0.01 to S$500, eliminating the
need to carry cash. The stored value card can also
be developed into a gift card or a personalised
card at www.nets.com.sg with a photo or name. It
allows consumers the convenience and flexibility
to make their own cards or choose their own gifts
and provide merchants with an opportunity to enter
an entirely new market for gifting.
NETS works directly with various partners to
investigate new avenues where electronic payment
services can be used. Moving forward, NETS is
working towards strengthening the existing product
features by tying the NETS CashCard to a bank
account or credit card, initiating auto top-up
facility for our cardholders and kids or consumers
who do not own a bank account. We are also introducing
contactless card for quick service merchants and
private label cards that are customised with a
specific loyalty programme, e-purse and secure
settlement service as well as working with specific
organisations that need to disburse cash. |
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NETS CashBack |
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Consumers can easily
withdraw cash at a retail counter via the NETS CashBack
service. Bank card holders from DBS/POSB, OCBC and
UOB no longer need to look for an ATM to withdraw
funds from their bank account. All they need to
do is to visit any participating retail outlet and
ask for NETS CashBack while doing their shopping.
NETS CashBack was introduced to more than 200 merchant
outlets this year and cash withdrawal has increased
by 69% year-on-year to more than 187,000 transactions
in 2003. |
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eNETS |
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The eNETS product
line is part of NETS' continuous efforts in innovation
and product development, resulting in the introduction
of a variety of electronic payment services known
as eNETS services, for the Internet and mobile arenas.
The eNETS suite of products include payments via
credit cards, direct debit from Singapore and overseas
bank account, eNETS Virtual Accounts, mobile payment
(SMS, Java), i2U (payment by e-mail). In April 2004,
eNETS worked with Universal iPayment (Hong Kong)
Limited to connect more than 360 million customers
from 21 major Chinese banks to Singapore merchants,
accepting eNETS China Payment.
Today, eNETS is expanding beyond Singapore to
become Asia’s premier electronic payment
partner. |
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Shared ATM Service |
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NETS is the switching
operator behind the Shared ATM Service, which facilitates
network exchanges between banks where consumers
from different banks can get access to their accounts
from a wider network of ATMs. OCBC and UOB offer
the Shared ATM Service. With 20 years of experience
backing us, NETS has the capability to facilitate
switching operations for ATM network for other banks. |
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NETS Privilege Programme |
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A loyalty programme
that rewards all NETS users with chances to participate
in its monthly and annual lucky draws whenever they
use NETS payment services. Card holders can also
flash their ATM cards or CashCards at participating
outlets to enjoy discounts. To date, more than 230,000
people have registered and benefited from NETS Privilege
Programme. |
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Financial Transaction Processing |
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Established recently
to provide business processing outsourcing services
to the financial industry, such as card production
services, financial transaction switching services
and backroom processing services. In a little over
a year, NETS has become Singapore’s leading
card personalisation services provider.
Having achieved ubiquity and a strong base in
Singapore, NETS is now expanding beyond Singapore
and building a reputation as Asia’s premier
electronic payment partner. NETS has partnered
with companies in Asia, including China, Hongkong
and South East Asia to create new business opportunities,
deploy and operate electronic payment systems
and link existing payment systems across borders.
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Promotions |
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NETS promotes its
business through marketing initiatives at various
levels including advertising, direct marketing,
promotions, industry partnerships and pilot projects
with local and international organisations.
In November 2003, NETS launched the “NETS
it!” marketing campaign, which ran in print,
television, radio and outdoor media over two months.
The NETS it! campaign initiated NETS’ plans
of working more closely with partners and merchants
as well as consumers. As a result, NETS has started
a broad promotional effort to increase acceptance
of NETS payment services in various platforms.
The CashCard Design Competition held in March
this year created hype and consumer affinity to
the cards. During the one-month campaign, more
than 300 entries were received. Out of which only
4 designs were eventually printed on the new CashCards
disseminated in August.
Another innovative avenue through which NETS
is publicising its products to help raise awareness
of the different NETS payment services and how
they can suit various lifestyles is through a
television game show on one of the local Singapore
channels. Called All in NETS, contestants use
various modes of NETS payment services to pay
for their purchases in three hours. Contestants
exhibit the speed and convenience of the various
products and services and also demonstrate how
these products can be used in places most consumers
would not have imagined. |
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Brand Values |
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NETS is so deeply
entrenched in Singapore society that the word NETS
has become a generic term for electronic payment
services such as NETS EFTPOS. The company name has
become part of the local vernacular – to “NETS
it!” means to use a debit card or CashCard
to pay for purchases.
NETS is also synonymous with trusted reliability
in Singapore. NETS is known among Singaporeans
as a payment solution that they can trust.
NETS celebrated its 19th anniversary in January
2004 and as part of the celebrations, a new NETS
corporate logo was unveiled. The new logo, together
with the product logos that were introduced in
November 2003, signifies a new chapter in NETS'
history and showcases its new image as a vibrant,
innovative, reliable, progressive and customer-focused
organisation. |
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