New mobile app by AXS allows cardless payment at commercial carparks

SINGAPORE – A new mobile app allows drivers to pay for parking at commercial carparks, such as those at shopping malls or office buildings, without using stored-value cards.

Launched on July 17, AXS Drive is an accounts-based payment system similar to the Parking.sg app, which was introduced in 2017 as an alternative to paper parking coupons used at Housing Board and Urban Redevelopment Authority carparks.

The app, by payments platform AXS, can currently be used at 12 commercial carparks here, including those at Downtown East, The Heeren and Southside on Sentosa.

AXS aims to have the app available for use at 100 carparks islandwide by the end of 2024, with the ones at Raffles Hotel, Shaw Centre and the Singapore Discovery Centre among those in the works.

There are about 3,200 carparks in Singapore, of which about 800 are commercial carparks.  

AXS Drive links a driver’s credit or debit card to his vehicle’s in-vehicle unit and licence plates, allowing for automatic deductions when exiting a carpark.

It can also recognise licence plates of vehicles in carparks using the technology to record the entry and exit times of a vehicle, and subsequently process payments.

AXS Drive can be integrated with existing electronic parking systems, allowing carpark operators to implement it without the need for additional hardware.

Users can register multiple vehicles and scan complimentary parking coupons, and the app has features for road tax renewals and fine payments. 

Previous cardless payment options introduced for vehicles here include vCashCard by Nets and EZ-Link’s EZ-Pay (now called EZ-Link Motoring Service), which were rolled out in 2015 and 2016, respectively.

Accessible via the Nets and EZ-Link apps, these options had limited popularity – the systems can be used to pay for electronic road pricing (ERP) charges, but they can be used at only a few carparks.

Currently, AXS Drive does not allow for payment of ERP or HDB carpark fees. But AXS payments chief executive Quah Chun Han said these are features the company would consider in future updates of the app. He added that the company’s main aim with AXS Drive is to “cover all the pain points and predicaments”.

If a registered debit card account has insufficient funds, Mr Quah said its user will be allowed to exit the carpark and will then be sent reminders to settle the outstanding payment.

The user’s account will be blocked if he fails to pay the amount owed within a specified timeframe.

If an AXS Drive user also has a stored-value card in his in-vehicle or on-board unit when he exits an eligible carpark, the AXS Drive account will take precedence, Mr Quah said.

Despite other parking app options on the market, Mr Quah believes AXS Drive stands out as its software can work with all carpark systems here.

Motorists said they welcomed the cardless payment option.

“I am all for reducing the amount of cards I need to bring with me,” said commercial artist Mohamad Shahrizal, 42.