A new motoring app rolled out by AXS on Wednesday (Jul. 17) will enable automatic credit card deductions for drivers when exiting car parks.

AXS Drive aims to address pain points for electronic parking, such as drivers being held up at the gantry due to insufficient funds in their In-Vehicle Unit (IU) cash card.

Integrated with the current Electronic Parking System (EPS), it will allow drivers to track parking transactions, generate digital receipts, and use complimentary tickets and coupons digitally.

The app can currently be used in 12 commercial car parks in Singapore, and AXS aims to expand it to 100 car parks by the end of the year.

How it works

On the AXS Drive app, one can link their credit card to their vehicle's license plate and IU number.

Once registered, the system detects the vehicle's IU or license plate when exiting a car park and deducts the parking payment from the registered user's credit card.

This is done automatically with no need to scan a QR code or load up the app upon exit.

The car park fee will be displayed on the EPS system as normal and sent as a push notification to the registered user.

AXS Payments CEO Quah Chun Han noted that if the app user registers a debit card with insufficient funds, the gantry would still open upon exit but the user will be notified of the outstanding fee.

If the user fails to pay the fee within the given timeframe, their account will be blocked until they do so.

Multiple vehicles can be linked to one credit card.

Drivers can also renew their season parking subscription and scan digital tickets, such as complimentary parking coupons, in the app.

This will allow the driver to exit the car park without having to wind down their window and insert the ticket into the machine.

The app also allows users to check parking space availability and receive real-time updates on traffic conditions.

Other features include a past transaction log, digital receipts, and services such as road tax renewals and fine payments.

AXS Drive is currently supported by Mastercard only.

As at the launch, these are the car parks that AXS Drive can be used at:

• The Heeren
• Singapore Shopping Centre
• Far East Plaza
• GB Building
• Frontier
• Wisma Atria
• E!Hub
• Begonia Carpark
• Aranda Country Club
• D'Resort
• Southside @ 80 Siloso Road
• ABI Plaza

Rolling out to 100 car parks by end-2024

AXS said that 55 of the about 800 commercial car parks in Singapore have already been onboarded onto the system and will progressively come online.

It aims to roll out AXS Drive to 100 car parks locally by the end of 2024.

AXS group chief executive officer Jeffery Goh said that the system aims to help drivers ease frustrations from the likes of IU reading errors, cashcard errors or having insufficient funds in one's cashcard.

And for operators, it can help reduce debit errors, gantry wait times, and also recoup parking fees from tailgating drivers, he added.

AXS has targeted 200,000 new motorist sign-ups on the app within the first year.

This would represent approximately a third of the 651,000 passenger car population in Singapore, based on Land Transport Authority (LTA) estimates.

To celebrate the launch, new users can get an S$1 voucher towards their next parking payment for every referral that makes at least one parking payment through the app.

The app can be downloaded at https://www.axs.com.sg/axs-drive/

Top image from AXS