This is not about the relative merits of NETS FlashPay compared to the EZ Link cards. That is widely discussed in the various popular forums locally already.
I am just sharing an experience I had. I was using a regular bank service over the counter and handed over my well-worn old ATM card. The Bank Teller was nice enough to ask if I would like to have a new card, and some NETS FlashPay gobbledigook which I did not pay attention to. I said sure, and spent a couple of minutes waiting for it to be made.
It all went well till I got on a bus, tapped my wallet on the card reader and had no response. Thankfully I was quick enough to realize that NETS FlashPay was a wireless payment system and that might be interferring with my EZ Link card. Apparently it did. I did some tests, and sure enough, the NETS FlashPay always overruled the EZ Link card when it was in the same wallet. I wonder if there are any cases where both NETS FlashPay and EZ Link cards were debited when they are in the same bag/wallet, etc.
I had recently gone back to the bank to get a new card without NETS FlashPay. I do not expect the bank to be forthcoming with information that NETS FlashPay will overrule the EZ Link card. The banks are shareholders of NETS and as a result need to protect their own interest.
While the idea of integrating the services of an ATM card and a public transport contact-less payment card together is a sound one, it is my person preference to keep them seperate, despite the relative merits of the two cards. For one, I do not mind lending a friend my EZ Link card for a few days to take the public transport, I would not do so with my ATM/Credit card integrated with NETS FlashPay.
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