Motorists will soon be able to avoid the hassle of leaving their vehicles to top up their Nets CashCards at terminals when faced with insufficient funds to pay their parking fees at carparks.
Nets yesterday announced that it is working with carpark payment-solution providers to enable Nets EFTPOS payment at the point of exit.
EFTPOS stands for Electronic Funds Transfer at Point-of- Sale.
Nets EFTPOS will allow motorists to top up their Nets CashCards using their Nets ATM cards directly at the exit, to pay parking fees.
A motorist will have to insert his Nets ATM card into the fee machine and key in his PIN number, in order to do so.
However, the new payment option will be made available only when there are insufficient funds in a motorist's CashCard to pay the parking fee.
Mr Ang Sok Hong, vice-president of sales and partnership at Nets, said: "What we're doing is giving them (motorists) greater convenience so that they have other (payment) options.
"Carpark operators also benefit from implementing the Nets EFTPOS payment system as it allows them to reduce the resources needed to man carparks."
Don't be surprised to hear of talks on fengshui, or even a tea party, being held at a POSB or DBS Bank branch near you.
Under a new operating model, managers at all POSB and DBS branches have been given the autonomy to organise and tailor activities to cater to the interests of their customers.
This was revealed at a media briefing held yesterday at DBS Building. Piloted at 12 POSB branches last year, the initiative was rolled out to all 67 POSB and DBS branches in January.
For instance, Ms Joycelyn Tan, POSB business manager at the Compass Point branch, organised a fengshui talk in January to complement the Chinese New Year festivities.
But such activities are not solely for fun and games, as they allow the branch's staff to interact with customers, and gain a better understanding of their banking needs, said Ms Tan.
Each POSB branch spans about 2,600 sq ft and serves some 120,000 regular customers. POSB said it has enhanced its centres which are smaller versions of its branches that do not provide financial-planning services.
Two service staff members have been assigned to each centre to provide basic banking services, such as ATM-card replacement and account opening.
At the briefing, POSB and DBS also revealed that their automated teller machines (ATMs) are being upgraded to read the EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) smart chips that are being installed progressively in all their ATM cards.
Football enthusiasts can now play futsal, or indoor soccer, under the Thomson Flyover.
This is the first time a vacant land parcel under a flyover has been made available for commercial use.
The new Offside Futsal Park sits on the former site of Whitley Hawker Centre.
It is a pilot project by the Singapore Land Authority to see how more of such land can be put to better use.
The park cost about half a million dollars and took four weeks to build.
Each of the four futsal courts can be rented by the hour at the rate S$60 to S$90.
Peak-hour rate is S$90.
Developers of the park said they are hoping to build refreshment and shower facilities on-site.
They also said they believe the park's street-feel and location will appeal to football enthusiasts.
Derek Cheong, director, Business Development, Offside Futsal Pak, said: "Singapore is a land-scarce location, so it's good to increase the land utility under flyovers. So we chanced upon this, and since demand is really huge in Singapore for futsal, for soccer basically, so we thought it's a good chance for us to go into the business and meet these demands."
Thomas Jacques, footballer, Singapore Soccer Academy, said: "I like that it's underneath a bridge. I'll probably come back with my team, or I'll come back to have a kick around."