I have seven EZ-Link cards.

I put one in every wallet, key pouch and bag to accommodate my habit of switching bags to match different outfits and my inability to remember to move the card from bag to bag.

For better or worse, it is the only plastic I still can't leave home without today, although, for me, its use hardly extends beyond public transport payment.

Even then, my relationship with the card is far from a happy one.

I have a persistent fear of draining its stored value and be flashed with the "insufficient value" sign when tapping on card readers on buses and at train stations. And topping-up the card is far from a painless experience.

So, while I was cheered that the EZ-Link company is pushing to expand the use of the card, I was disappointed it didn't solve the topping-up issue.

Over the last two weeks, it renewed its retail push by forging unprecedented ties with e-payment giant Nets and NTUC Link, the social enterprise managing the Plus! consumer loyalty rewards programme.

These moves signal EZ-Link can't go it alone in the increasingly competitive e-payment scene here, with more new players such as GrabPay and AliPay eyeing its lunch.

Specifically, EZ-Link's tie-up with Nets allows holders of ez-link cards, including concession cards, to pay for food and drinks at about 1,000 hawker stalls from April.

Using the ez-link card to pay for food, goods and taxi rides will also earn users NTUC LinkPoints, which can be used to offset purchases at FairPrice supermarkets or Caltex petrol kiosks, among other partners.

Yet, it is changing nothing about how the card can be topped up.

Currently, people can top up their cards without incurring extra charges at:

• Transit Link Add Value Machines, and General Ticketing Machines located at MRT stations and selected bus interchanges, and

• EZ-Link Top-up Machines at People's Association Community Clubs.

Top-up locations must widen beyond these. To be sure, EZ-Link cards can also be topped up at the 1,500 plus ATMs of major banks - DBS Bank, POSB and OCBC Bank - across the island, including in retail locations and at 7-Eleven and Cheers convenience stores. But these options attract a 20 cents convenience fee.

For the ez-link card to gain more traction in the retail sector, the topping up of its stored value has to involve less work and certainly not attract a convenience fee.

The most convenient top-up option to most working adults is the EZ-Reload, launched in July 2009, that allows users to automatically reload their cards when the stored value falls below a threshold by charging to their credit or debit cards. Until today, consumers still need to pay a 25 cents convenience fee - unless they use a MasterCard or Visa card issued by DBS Bank or Citibank.

In the new economy, these fees need to be reviewed. They should be borne by the service provider and considered as a cost of doing business. There are no such fees levied on consumers in Hong Kong for topping up their Octopus cards.

Also need to be relooked is an area where policy-making and commercial interest collide.

First, the EZ-Reload feature cannot be used to top up the concession cards of children and the elderly, as concession cards are issued by the Land Transport Authority and not EZ-Link.

Also, since Sept 1 last year, cash top-ups have not been available at passenger service centres in 11 MRT stations. By 2020, self-service ticketing machines in stations and bus interchanges will accept only cashless top-ups.

From the policy-maker's perspective, the move will boost productivity as it will force the 69 per cent of Singaporeans who use cash as their preferred top-up method to go cashless.

But this move will have an effect downstream. It will be more of a hassle to top up the EZ-Link card.

And like me, people may try not to drain its value unnecessarily.