投稿類別:英文寫作類

篇名: A Card Make You “Easy” to “PASS” Comparison between EasyCard and iPASS

作者: 官書儀。市立台中家商。應用外語科三年二班。 張家瑜。市立台中家商。應用外語科三年二班。 蕭亦婷。市立台中家商。應用外語科三年二班。

指導老師: 李偉綾 老師

A Card Make You “Easy” to “PASS” Comparison between EasyCard and iPASS I. Introduction

I.1 Motivation

Along with the time and the progress of science and technology, people are reluctant to carry money to go outside, Electronic Stored Value Cards such as EasyCard and iPASS become the best choice for the public. In addition to saving space on paper money and coins, it can also be widely used in various fields. For example, we can use it to get on the bus or the train so that we don’t have to buy tickets. When we buy goods in convenience stores, we can use it to save the time when we pick up coins and bills from the wallet and put the change back into the wallet, not only solving the problem of a long line of customers, but cutting down on the trouble of collecting lots of currency.

As technology and the system get advanced, the frequency of using EasyCard and iPASS has greatly increased(Chen, 2019), but why should we distinguish it between Easy Card and iPASS? What are the differences between them? What makes people choose to use EasyCard and iPASS?

The purpose of our brief paper today is to compare the differences between these two and discuss the reasons for success and future development.

I.2 Purpose of the Research

1. Introduce the history and features of EasyCard and iPASS 2. Explore EasyCard and iPASS marketing practices and product structure 3. Analyze pros and cons by SWOT analysis 4. Investigate consumer preferences and make recommendations

I.3 Method and Procedure

To find the differences between EasyCard or iPASS, we designed a questionnaire with Google form. After collecting the data, we will use SWOT analysis to probe the pros and cons of EasyCard a iPASS.

Figure1:Study Process Figure (Source Consolidate by team members.)

1 A Card Make You “Easy” to “PASS” Comparison between EasyCard and iPASS

II. Body

II.1 The Background

EasyCard was issued by the company of EasyCard in 2002. At first, it was used in ​TRTC ( Corporation)​, just now has been issued eighty million and expended to the range of TRA(​ Railways Administration), THSR(), KRT(), Taoyuan Airport MRT, bus and the other transportation.

iPASS was published by the company of ​KRT ​in 2007, after the expansion of the scope of use to railways and buses. To increased business efficiency, the company of iPASS was founded ​and officially operated in 2013.

Both ​EasyCard and iPASS adopted to technology of RFID; besides transportation, also supported micropayment, single add value ​no moral compass, single highest add value is 10 thousand dollar.

​II.2 Historical Development of EasyCard and iPASS

Table 1 ​Historical Development of EasyCard and iPASS

EasyCard Year iPASS

EasyCard was ​on the market​. 2002

The card circulation has been ​sold over 4 2004 millions​.

“Easy MO”and “Swatch Access” made a 2005 debut. (iPASS had not established.)

EasyCard co-branded credit card was on 2006 the market.

The card circulation has been sold over 10 2007 million dollars.

2 A Card Make You “Easy” to “PASS” Comparison between EasyCard and iPASS Taipei Smart Card Corporation was 2008 iPASS was on the market. renamed EasyCard Corporation.

EasyCard Corporation cooperated with President Chain Store Corporation and 2009 iPASS co-branded card was on the market. circulated iCASH EasyCard.

Micropayment was put into formal use. 2010 C-bike iPASS was on the market.

Co-branded credit card could use in THSR The company of KRT integrated with 2011 non-reserved seat. CityBike​.

The card circulation has been sold over 30 The company of KRT cooperated KCG and 2012 million dollars. circulated digital student ID card.

The card circulation has been sold over 40 The company of KRT circulated NFC 2013 million dollars. iPASS.

People could ​add value by coins​. 2014 iPASS co-branded card was on the market.

President Chain Store Corporation allowed 2015 Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung store use.

The card circulation has been sold over 10 People could ​use EasyCard at KRT​. 2016 million dollars.

2017 People could use iPASS at KRT.

The company of KRT ​cooperated with People could take KLRT by EasyCard. 2018 LINE​ and developing ​LINE Pay​.

EasyCard was allowed to be used in iPASS was allowed to be used in 2019 McDonald’s. McDonald’s. (Sources: Compiled by team members)

II.3​ SWOT Analysis

EasyCard (Chart 1) S W

1. It is supported by the government. 1. These cards are seldom registered, so it's 2. It is cooperated with many stored. difficult to find back if they are lost. 3. It combines many functions in a card. 2. Payment amount is limited. 3. It can only be used in the designated stores.

O T

3 A Card Make You “Easy” to “PASS” Comparison between EasyCard and iPASS 1. If weather is not good, the willingness 1. It is less popular in the southern Taiwan of taking the mass transportation will like Kaohsiung city. increase. 2. The emergence of iPASS may replace 2. As popularization of electronic tickets is Easy Card. expanding, more people will have at least one in the future. (Source Consolidate by team members.)

iPASS (Chart 2) S W

1. If there is not enough money in your 1. There are fewer stores which cooperated card, it will become negative and you with iPASS. should add the money next time. 2. It's less supported by the government. 2. Transaction record is easily observed. 3. Adding value is limited.

O T

1. It's much popular in the south area. 1. It's less popular in the northern area. 2. The company of EasyCard developed 2. It's similar to Easy Card so it is easily LINE Pay by cooperating with LINE. replaced 3. The company of EasyCard cooperated 3. Usage is restricted when comparing with with KRTC(高雄捷運) and LRT(輕軌) Easy Card. (Source Consolidate by team members.)

II.3 Questionnaire Methods

For the research questions, we designed Google form and put it on the social websites (Instagram, Facebook and Line) for two days from August 30 to 31, 2019. we collected 160 questionnaires. All of the 160 questionnaires are valid questionnaires. After collecting all of the valid questionnaires, we summarized the information and reached our conclusion.

People chose EasyCard live in. People chose iPASS live in.

4 A Card Make You “Easy” to “PASS” Comparison between EasyCard and iPASS From this pie chart, we can see that ​most of the people who use the Easy Cards are the Central habitants and the Northern habitants, while the people who use the iPASS Cards mostly live in the Central and Southern Taiwan. It is known that most of the Northern habitants use the Easy Cards, while most of the Southern habitants use the iPASS cards. People who live in the central part of Taiwan are likely to use both cards. (Figure1. The area people live in) Frequency of using Easy Card. Frequency of using iPASS.

According to the statistics, it can be observed that​ most people use the Easy card and the iPASS card with high frequency, and nearly 30% of the people use them every day. This shows that the EasyCards and the iPASS cards have become an integral part of our lives. (Figure2. The frequency of people using Easy Card and iPASS.)

Usage of EasyCard. Usage of iPASS.

The statistics reveal that most people who use electronic-tickets use the card for transportation, and then for paying bills. Compared with the people who use the Easy cards, the iPASS cards are less used for paying bills. It can be speculated that it perhaps is because the appointed stores of the

5 A Card Make You “Easy” to “PASS” Comparison between EasyCard and iPASS iPASS card are fewer than those of the Easy card. (Figure3. The usage of East Card and iPASS.)

Reasons of choosing EasyCard. Reasons of choosing iPASS.

The chart shows that most people think the advantages of the Easy card and the iPASS lie in its versatile function, and the second is the convenience of payment. The biggest difference between the two is that people who choose the Easy cards tend to combine the Easy card with the credit cards. And the people who choose iPASS card will give priority to the joint cartoon characters. This implies that Easy cards emphasize the practical multiple function, while iPass emphasizes the appealing appearance of the card. (Figure4. Why people chose Easy Card or iPASS.)

Room of improvement(Easy Card) Room of improvement(iPASS)

6 A Card Make You “Easy” to “PASS” Comparison between EasyCard and iPASS

From this chart, it is known that the most desirable part of improvement for both consumers is to expand the scope of use, which means the convenience of the two ranks the top. The importance of practicality and convenience cannot be ignored. The second and third of two cards are appearance and surface can be more diverse and reduce the price of cards, which shows people not only want a beautiful card but also want to buy it at a lower price. (Figure5. Room of improvement of Easy Card and iPASS.)

Overall satisfaction(Easy Card) Overall satisfaction (iPASS)

From this chart we can see more than half of people who use Easy card and iPASS are satisfied with the overall functions. Over one quarter of the public choose unsatisfactory. Most of the public is satisfied with the results of using the Electronic Stored Value Cards. A few people think that the reason for the omission of the electronic ticket are the following: 1. It has limited of card usage and the appearance is lack of styling.

7 A Card Make You “Easy” to “PASS” Comparison between EasyCard and iPASS 2. The two pie charts reveal that both companies have room for improvement. If the two companies can improve the above shortcomings, we believe that consumer satisfaction will improve. (Figure6. Overall satisfied of Easy Card and iPASS.)

III. Conclusion

In conclusion, through the literature review, discussion and research of this topic, it is discovered that when most people have both ​EasyCard​ and ​iPASS​, most people will choose to use the​ EasyCards​. The first is because the EasyCards were released earlier than ​iPASS​, so ​EasyCard’s brand image is more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people than ​iPASS.​ Second, the ​iPASS ​has more restrictions in both geographically or real consumption, so if the ​iPASS​ can cooperate with more designated stores and combine the ​preferential treatment ​so as to create a more distinctive brand image, they will greatly expand the untapped new market. ​The data analysis also reveals that the usage range of iPASS is comparably smaller than EasyCard. Besides, we also collect what people hope the two companies can improve: Below are our suggestions for the two companies:

1. Increasing the number of appointed stores:

With the rapid growth and the popularity of Electronic Stored Value Cards, the willingness to use currency to trade will be lower and lower. And by using the Electronic Stored Value Cards, consumers need not collect the printed invoice. All the deals and invoices can be saved inside the card. Consequently, if they can increase the chance of cooperation with appointed stores, Electronic Stored Value Cards will be able to expand the relevant market and got the overwhelming advantage in the market share just like in China or many other countries. While increasing the use of Electronic Stored Value Cards in appointed stores, it can also increase the discount on the use of Electronic Stored Value Cards payment, etc. The boots save the trouble of using cash payment.

2. Increasing the preferential treatment of Public transportation:

They can follow the example of Taichung city to formulate relevant preferential measures with the county governments to increase the public's willingness to take public transportation so as to achieve the purpose of energy saving and carbon footprint reduction.

3. Promoting the registration function:

The registration function of the EasyCard and the iPASS has not been popularized. Therefore, if the registration function can be promoted widely, it will not only make the people more willing to top up the value, but also reduce the waste of repeated purchase of the card.

4. Improving the sensing technology:

The sensing or recognition technology fails from time to time, so if the company can improve the sensing technology, the use of cards will be much smoother.

8 A Card Make You “Easy” to “PASS” Comparison between EasyCard and iPASS

IV. References

​A. Books

1.陳耀宗(2016)。電子票證服務品質、顧客滿意度與顧客忠誠度關聯性之研究以 一卡通及悠遊卡為例。樹德科技大學:碩士論文 2.江淑真、朱珍珍、鄭美蘭(2019)。商業概論易點通總複習。臺北市:啟芳。

B. The Internet

1.Wikipedia. ​EasyCard. ​(2019, August 31). Retrieved September 10, 2019 from https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%82%A0%E9%81%8A%E5%8D%A1 2.iPASS official website. (2013, December 7). Retrieved September 11, 2019 from https://www.i-pass.com.tw/cht 3.​韓化宇(2019)。​麥當勞宣布 悠遊卡、一卡通正式開刷。​經濟日報​。​Retrieved September 17, 2019 from https://udn.com/news/story/7239/3732422 3.​陳美君(2019)。​電子支付盛行 硬幣供給數量快速下滑。​聯合新聞網​。​Retrieved October 28, 2019 from https://udn.com/news/story/7239/4127870

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