Jeremy Tan, managing director, Card Alliance, said: "One value-added service EPINS will offer soon is cashback. Now with this, you can pay for your groceries and proceed to withdraw money at the same time from the cashier with your bank card."
Citibank and Maybank are the first two Qualifying Full Banks to offer this service, which uses a Personalised Identification Number verification system. Mr Tan said: "The foreign banks previously have not been able to offer a PIN-based debit service in Singapore, something that the local banks have been doing very, very well. So now they can. So from a consumer's standpoint, perhaps they should look in terms of the total offerings on the local and foreign banks, and you know there are a lot more choices now." So will consumers switch loyalty? "Yeah, because it's more convenient," one said.
"Unless there're other benefits that will attract me to sign up with these foreign banks, I don't see a reason why," another commented. "If I already have it, then I don't think it's necessary to have another one," a third added.
The new debit payment service is offered at some 360 locations islandwide. Participating merchants include Singapore Post and supermarket chains Cold Storage and Giant.
- CNA/al
Jun 21, 2010 - Straits Times
Epins for easier payment
LIKE consumers of local banks, customers of Citibank Singapore and Maybank Singapore can now make payments via their Atm and debit cards by keying in a Pin (personal identification number) at a payment terminal.
The two foreign banks are making use of a new service, called Epins, created by Credit Alliance - a company of the Korvac group which focuses a part of its business on transaction services.
An alternative to Nets, Epins offers a secure Pin-based debit payment service targeted at fully qualified foreign banks which, aside from Standard Chartered, cannot make use of the Nets platform.
Qualifying banks are those permitted to offer a full-range of services including retail banking. There are currently eight qualifying foreign banks in Singapore.
'Epins opens up a new channel of payment for customers... Using their existing Atm/Debit card and Pin,' said Mr Han Kwee Juan, managing director and head of credit payment products, Citibank Singapore. 'This will help further enrich their banking experience with us,' he said.
Citi and Maybank customers can use the service at Epin's 367 participating merchants' outlets or 1,200 payment terminals. The number of payment terminals is expected to increase to 10,000 in a year's time.
