NETS cash cards or motoring cards are most commonly used by drivers to pay for parking and electronic road pricing (ERP) fees.
If you use one, you’ll know that topping it up with cash can be quite a pain.
Not only do you need first to locate a top-up machine, but you may also need to wait in line before using it and fumble around with your cash card and debit card.
As much of a hassle as it might be, using a NETS cash card is a necessity if you ever plan to drive in Singapore.
Thankfully, with the NETS app, you’ll never have to face these problems again.
What Is The NETS App?
The NETS app is a mobile app that you can download on your smartphone.
With this app, you can manage your NETS Prepaid card, FlashPay card, and Motoring card.
You can check your card balance and historical transactions, add funds, and set up automatic top-ups for your cards.
This means that instead of going to a top-up machine to top up your NETS cash cards, you can do so directly with the app from wherever you are!
This makes the top-up process much more convenient, and today, I’ll show you how to top up your NETS cash cards with the NETS app.
Getting Started
Before you can begin, you’ll need the following:
- NETS cash card (Prepaid, FlashPay, or Motoring)
- NETS bank card / Debit card / Credit card
- NETS mobile app
- NETS account
Obviously, you’ll need the NETS cash card that you wish to top up.
You’ll also need to provide a payment method for the source of funds, which can either be a NETS bank card, a debit card, or a credit card.
Note that only Visa, MasterCard, and AMEX are accepted for debit and credit cards, and top-up fees may apply.
Download the NETS mobile app which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores.
Then, you’ll need to create a NETS account to start using the app.
How To Top Up NETS Prepaid Card
Step 1: Add NETS Prepaid Card
On the homepage of the NETS app, after signing in to your account, select “Add card” under “NETS Prepaid Card“.
Agree to the terms & conditions and enter the details of your NETS prepaid card to link the card to your NETS account.
Step 2: Top Up Prepaid Card
After linking your NETS prepaid card to your account, it should be displayed under the section “NETS Prepaid Card“.
Select “Top-up“, enter the top-up amount, then enter your card payment details to complete the top-up.
Step 3: Check New Value
After the top-up is complete, you should be able to see the new value of your NETS prepaid card on the app.
How To Top Up NETS FlashPay / Motoring Card
Unlike with NETS prepaid cards, there’s no need to link a FlashPay/Motoring card to your NETS account.
Step 1: Detect NETS FlashPay Card
On the homepage of the NETS app, after signing in to your account, select “Top-up” under “NETS FlashPay, Motoring Card“.
Place your NETS FlashPay card against the back of your device as shown on the screen.
The NETS FlashPay card details will be read by your device.
Note that your device must be NFC-enabled (near-field communication) for this to work, which shouldn’t be an issue for most modern devices.
Step 2: Top Up NETS FlashPay Card
After your NETS FlashPay card is detected, enter the top-up amount and enter your card payment details to complete the top-up.
Step 3: Check New Value
Once the top-up is completed, under “NETS FlashPay, Motoring Card“, you will now see the details of your NETS FlashPay card, and the new value of your card should be reflected accordingly.
Card Top-Up Fees
For topping up your NETS cash cards via bank cards, the following fees apply accordingly:
- DBS, POSB, UOB (Visa/MasterCard): waived
- OCBC (Visa/MasterCard): $0.25
- Other bank cards (AMEX/Visa/MasterCard): $0.50
Best Cards To Use For Top-Ups
NETS-related transactions are a commonly excluded category of transactions from credit and debit card rewards programs, so there isn’t really any way to earn rewards on such transactions.
Instead, the best cards to use would be any card that minimises top-up fees, which would be any Visa or MasterCard issued by DBS/POSB/UOB.
To summarise,
Being able to top up your NETS cash card from the NETS app makes things a lot more convenient.
When I first learned about this at the start of the year, I was pretty mind blown, and I’ve not been to a physical top-up machine since.
The only gripe I have with the app so far is that even after adding my debit card to my saved payment methods, I’m prompted to enter my card details from scratch when I try to top up my NETS cash card.
I’m not sure if the feature isn’t working properly or if saved payment methods are only for automatic top-ups, but it still beats going to a physical top-up machine.
Do you use the NETS app to top up your NETS cash cards? Let me know in the comments below!