News

Everything About MyActiveSG+, Which Promises to be Fair to People Booking Sports Facilities

2024-05-04 , 2:39 pm

Scalpers are notorious for buying up tons of concert tickets and selling them at ridiculously high prices. While we’re familiar with those who buy and resell concert tickets, many of us probably didn’t know that scalping is even a problem faced by ActiveSG users.

Yeah, it’s really so bad that even if you want to book a badminton court, you might have to give in to resellers.

But don’t worry, because MyActiveSG+ will solve this problem this year.

MyActiveSG+

Sport Singapore (SportSG) has been piloting a beta version of its new booking system from 1 March, and will officially roll out MyActiveSG+ to its members from 15 June 2024.

In a media briefing at the ActiveSG Delta Sport Centre on 2 May, the national sports agency announced that the new web-based platform will replace its current ActiveSG Membership Management System that was launched in 2014.

MyActiveSG+ will contain features developed after feedback and observations from users over the years, and from the pilot, which had over 2,000 users.

Ballot Feature For Sports Facilities’ Peak Hour Slots To Deter Profiteering Resellers

The feature that will (hopefully) put an end to reselling is the ballot feature for peak hour slots for all sports facilities.

Under the current system, users have to secure their slots on a first come, first served basis when the booking window opens as early as 7am for some sports.

It was previously reported in 2021 that third parties were reselling sports facilities bookings for a profit. The resellers had mostly used scripting – which involves the use of computer programs or bots – to secure these slots.

SportSG had monitored the accounts of resellers and had blacklisted and suspended more than 200 accounts. Over 600 bookings were also cancelled due to “on-selling”.

Despite various measures, the booking of slots, especially for badminton courts, remains highly competitive.

SportSG chief executive Alan Goh is confident that the new ballot feature in MyActiveSG+ will strengthen the booking system and deter resellers profiteering from the sale of these bookings.

Goh, who fielded questions on the new system on 2 May alongside Roy Teo, SportSG’s chief of industry development, technology, and innovation group and ActiveSG chief Tan Hock Leong, said that planning began in 2022.

“SportSG is committed to ensuring that our users have access to facilities on an easy to use and secure platform. Over the years, the top two complaints have been about not being able to book courts at very popular peak hour slots and about scripting and bots. And I think this new application resolves that,” he said.

How The Balloting System Works

With the new system, the booking window will open 14 days in advance from the date of facility use or programme commencement and will remain open for 24 hours.

According to SportSG, this is to “allow everyone to have a fair chance of booking their preferred slot, with ample time for consideration, and without having to worry about missing a booking window.”

The balloting will only be for peak hour slots, which are from 6pm to 10pm on weekdays and from 7am to 10pm on weekends and public holidays.

A successful balloter will receive an SMS the following day and will have until 11:59pm to make payment.

Unassigned slots will then be released for booking on a first come, first served basis at 12pm the next day.

Bookings for non-peak hour slots will remain at status quo.

The new balloting feature stands to benefit a lot of recreational players who (hopefully) won’t be faced with resellers in the future.

Want to try the balloting system right now? You don’t have to wait for the launch of MyActiveSG+ as you can try the beta version right now here.

Other New Features

On top of the new balloting system, there are other user-centric features users can look forward to in MyActiveSG+.

To prevent people from holding multiple accounts for booking, members will have to use Singpass to sign up and login to MyActiveSG+.

As MyActiveSG+ will be a web-based platform, users will be able to access its updated version at all times on their devices without having to install and regularly update a mobile app.

MyActiveSG+ utilises a responsive design that adapts seamlessly to different devices, whether mobile or web, making it user interface easy to navigate.

Parents or guardians will also be able to link their children to their accounts through Singpass soon. “Family accounts” will be a feature that will be announced on the platform in time to come.

A new refunds and cancellations feature is also currently being developed in response to public feedback and will be introduced at a later stage.

MyActiveSG+ Launch

Members can start to login to MyActiveSG+ from 15 June and features will be rolled out progressively.

As part of ActiveSG’s 10th anniversary celebrations, those who do so between 15 June and 31 August will receive a one-time top up of $10 in credits.

From 15 July, all facilities and programmes will be available for booking.

From 15 August, seasonal and day passes to swimming pools and gyms will also be available for purchase.

As the key features will be rolled out progressively, the current ActiveSG platform will remain accessible till 1 October.

ActiveSG Credits And Active Wallet

ActiveSG Credits

All existing ActiveSG credits will be migrated to MyActiveSG+ between 15 and 30 June, so don’t be alarmed if you don’t immediately see your credits being transferred on 15 June.

During this period, users of the existing system may continue to pay for bookings and purchases using credit or debit cards.

Members will be able to start using their ActiveSG credits on MyActiveSG+ by 1 July.

Users of MyActiveSG+ will be able to use credit or debit cards, as well as PayNow, to pay for bookings and purchases.

The $10 ActiveSG anniversary credits can also be used to offset bookings on MyActiveSG+.

All ActiveSG credits will also be extended to 31 December 2025.

Active Wallet – MyCash

Active Wallet – MyCash will be decommissioned in mid-August and top-ups will cease on 15 May.

ActiveSG members will be able to use the balance in their Active Wallet till 14 August, after which any remaining funds will be refunded via their Paynow-NRIC-linked bank account by the end of the month.