SNAPPER HAS A RIVAL
23 June 2008
By TOM PULLAR-STRECKERDominant eftpos network operator ETSL is understood to be preparing a rival to Infratil's Snapper smartcard which it will pitch as a payment solution for an integrated ticketing system being designed by the Auckland Regional Transport Authority.
ETSL, which is jointly owned by ASB, BNZ, ANZ and Westpac, would not comment, citing confidentiality agreements.
The transport authority forbids bidders from discussing their proposals, but Snapper – which will be used on Wellington buses from next month – has put together a glossy brochure for the Auckland ticketing deal.
Despite being an equal shareholder in ETSL, ANZ runs its own independent eftpos network through subsidiary Eftpos New Zealand and is a key player in the Snapper scheme.
It is not known whether ETSL, like Snapper, would promote its pre-paid smartcard as a ubiquitous payment card for small purchases, whether it would offer a better deal to retailers than Snapper, or how advanced the initiative is.
Some Go Wellington bus ticket agents have expressed unease with the Snapper card, whose introduction will lose them a 3 per cent commission on the sale of 10-trip bus tickets. These will be withdrawn once the smartcard payment scheme is well established.
Snapper Services has meanwhile pushed back the launch of the Snapper smartcard by a fortnight to July 14.
Spokeswoman Heather Ware says the short delay is to ensure all buses are fitted with Snapper readers and is not related to retailers' concerns about the payment card's commission structure.
Ape Espresso in Tory St became the first retailer to accept Snapper on Thursday, and now takes cards issued to Eftpos NZ and ANZ bank staff as part of a trial.
ANL Freeman bookshop owner Tony Freeman added his voice to critics of the scheme, saying he fears retailers could lose money unless a $1.50 commission for selling a Snapper card and a 20 cent commission on each top-up is increased, and a 1 per cent charge for accepting Snapper as payment in shops is reduced.
Ms Ware says the number of retailers who have agreed to support Snapper is confidential, but Snapper Services is "confident it has got the footprint it needs" to launch the scheme.
Of 158 people who took part in a trial of the pre-paid payment card on the No 17 bus route, nine out of 10 said it was the most convenient way to pay for bus travel they had used.
Passengers will tap their card against a reader once when they get on a bus and once when they get off, and the readers will automatically calculate the correct fare and deduct it from the card.
Go Wellington spokeswoman Megan McSweeney says the trial showed that people could forget to tap their Snapper card against a reader when they got off a bus, in which case they were charged the full fare from the point they boarded the bus to the end of its line. Signage will be put on exits to remind people, she says.
Some passengers also found that readers could not always read Snapper cards if they had other chip cards in their wallet and they tapped their wallet, rather than just their Snapper card, against readers. Ms McSweeney says the problem is intermittent, but Go Wellington will not now claim that passengers can use the system without getting out their cards.
© 2008 Fairfax New Zealand Limited. All Rights Reserved.
The Dominion Post
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