AXS launches AXS Drive app, a new motoring app that aims to resolve parking pains for motorists, such as stored-value card errors, getting stuck at the car park gantry due to insufficient funds, and also the hassle of searching around desperately fro a top-up machine.
How does AXS Drive works?
AXS Drive connects your credit card to your car plate license number and your car In-Vehicle Unit (IU) number to enable automatic deductions when the vehicle exits the car park. They uses License Plate Recognition (LPR) to record the entry and exit times of a vehicle, and processes payments after the drive leaves the car park.
The AXS Drive is integrated with Electronic Parking Systems (EPS) which detects the IU, making it easy for car park solutions providers and car park operators to implement island-wide, without the need for additional hardware.
Singapore motorists frustrations with car parks
Drivers often experience frustrations when car par gantries remain shut as they attempt to exit car parks. This usually occurs when the EPS encounters problems trying to process the payment of car park fees. As an account-based payment processing system, AXS Drive aims to ease these frustrations that come from IU reading errors or cashcard errors. Drivers would no longer have to worry about being stuck at the exit gantries with a line of vehicles behind them.
Where can I use AXS Drive?
At the launch of AXS Drive on 17th July 2024, they can be used at 12 car parks, including car parks at Downtown East, Far East Plaza, The Heeren, Wisma Atria and more. Currently, there are 55 commercial car parks that are already on-board and will progressively come on live with AXS Drive.
AXS has a target to enable the AXS Drive app at 100 car parks at the end of 2024, garnering an estimated 12% market share of the commercial car park segment.
Group Chief Executive Officer of AXS, Mr Jeffery Goh, said, “AXS Drive is our first foray into the cardless payments space. This also marks the first new app AXS has launched in over a decade. It is a solution that we have built after identifying a strong need in the commercial parking segment for innovations that are similar to Parking.sg. AXS Drive, thus, brings similar auto-deduction features to commercial parking spaces.”
Benefits for car park operators
The AXS Drive app is more than just a parking app, it’s an All-In-One app, an ecosystem that benefits car park operators in many practical ways such as reducing congestion, minimising debit errors, and enabling digitalised tickets and coupons.
AXS system allows for greater accuracy in recording vehicle details at exit. This helps to reduce congestion at exit gantries, as vehicles can exit as soon as the system has captured their vehicle license plates. At the same time, the account-based payment method that AXS Drive uses, deducts the car park fee at the backend. As such, debit errors can be significantly reduced, thus increasing revenue for car park operators. This also hampers drivers who tailgate other cars to avoid paying.
AXS Drive can be easily integrated with existing parking privilege programs, facilitating digitalised coupons like parking tickets and passes, streamlining processes and reducing administrative burdens and paper waste. In automating parking management, AXS Drive improves productivity by allowing facilities management staff to focus on more critical tasks.
AXS Drive can further support car park operators with value-added features that operators can make use of. These include real-time advertising of available parking spaces, which operators can use effectively to boost occupancy rates and increase revenue potential. This innovative feature is available at launch time.
Free to use | Easy to use | User-friendly
The AXS Drive app is now available on iOS and Android. This app is free to use, it’s easy to use and user-friendly. All you need is to download the app, input your car plate number and IU number, and connect a credit card or debit card for payments.
For the first year, AXS Drive is partnering Mastercard exclusively to offer a seamless and secure payment experience, supported by Mastercard Gateway. AXS will expand to include other payment networks.
Once registered, users can instantly use the app at all participating car parks. Multiple vehicles can be linked to one single credit card, thus simplifying car park payments for the family or the office. Users can also conveniently renew for season parking in-app.
Mr Quah Chun Han, CEO of AXS Payments, said, “Our aim at AXS is always to provide solutions to ease the pain points of everyday life. AXS Drive is a transformative solution that aims to eliminate common frustrations drivers face daily. By fully supporting current EPS and LPR infrastructures, we offer drivers and car park operators a new standard for seamless, cardless experience for faster, fuss-free parking.”
Deborah Heng, Country Manager, Singapore, Mastercard, said, “Mastercard is dedicated to collaborating with innovative payment solution providers like AXS to introduce new-to-market payment solutions. Mastercard Gateway offers a single, secured connection to enable AXS and its merchants including car park operators in accepting card payments and facilitates seamless transactions to provide cardholders greater convenience.”
Other features of AXS Drive
AXS Drive also offers complimentary features to enhance a motorist’s driving experiences at launch. Users can check parking space availability through the app to minimise searching for parking lots and receive real-time updates on traffic conditions through integrated traffic camera updates.
On common motoring service payments such as road tax renewals and fine payments, AXS Drive app has a convenient way for motorists to manage those payments. This app also maintain a detailed, per-transaction log of online receipts, making it easy for users to track expenses and file reimbursement claims.
Future growth and expansion of AXS Drive
On the subject of future growth and expansion of AXS Drive, on top of expanding to cover more car parks islandwide, AXS is also exploring opportunities to work with malls to enhance the shopping and parking experience b allowing users to earn and redeem rewards points directly through the app.
This paperless system reduces clutter and is more environmentally friendly.
Launch referral campaign
At the launch of the AXS Drive, there will also be a referral campaign where users can get a $1 voucher towards their next parking payment for every referral that makes at least one parking payment through the app. Vouchers earned can be tracked under the Parking Privileges section and will automatically be utilised to deduct the parking charges. Any remaining balance parking fees will be deducted from the linked Mastercard cards.
From my personal motorist’s perspective
Putting my own motorist writer mode, I wrote about my own motorist experiences with parking and motoring related thoughts/views on my TGH Photography and Travel website – AXS Drive – Drive and Park Smarter in Singapore.
AXS Drive is more than just a parking app, they are an ecosystem for motorists, an All-In-One motoring app, they also have value-added features and integration of services for car park operators that would eventually benefit us motorists. While AXS Drive is starting off in the parking for commercial spaces, shopping malls and offices, I am looking forward to their expansion into HDB car parks down the road.
With AXS Drive, now only you can now drive and park smarter, this app future growth and development is of great potential to transform into an All-In-One super app for everything motoring related in Singapore. As a motorist (that currently doesn’t own a car), AXS Drive has the technological and payments capabilities, and as a platform to bring different organisations in the motoring sector to come together on one common platform for motorists in Singapore.
* Information courtesy of AXS and Gloo *