A Touch ‘n Go card is required to pay road tolls when driving into Malaysia.
Drivers in Singapore were previously available at 7-Eleven convenience stores. However, they have been out of stock since the Singapore-Malaysia border opened to private vehicles on April 1.
One alternative is the ez-link x Touch ‘n Go Motoring card. Some 7-Eleven and Cheers stores are still selling it. However, when I checked these 10 of his stores on Wednesday (September 7th), I found that this card was also out of stock.
EZ-Link cannot provide information on card inventory levels at retailers, so consumers should contact the merchants directly.
The digital payment provider stopped offering it online on its official Shopee store after making it available on March 29. No reason was given for the change.
Getting a new toll card is only half the battle.
Cards are sold without Touch ‘n Go value. EZ-Link said this complies with Singapore’s regulatory requirements. It also cannot provide top ups, so cardholders can only top up at certain petrol stations in Malaysia and some toll plazas along highways.
As a workaround, link the card to the Touch ‘n Go smartphone app and enable the “eWallet” feature. Tolls are withdrawn from the in-app digital wallet, not from the card itself.
Even in Malaysia, toll cards are hard to find and consumers are turning to online scalpers.
The company behind the toll card has announced that it will roll out an updated version in April that can be topped up with a smartphone via Near Field Communication (NFC) technology.
However, Malaysian media reported that the supply of such NFC-enabled cards has been disrupted by a global semiconductor shortage. The supply of non-NFC-enabled cards also appears to be dwindling, if not completely cut off.
Touch ‘n Go had a limited supply of new NFC-enabled toll cards for sale in the app. On August 25th, the app went down just before the 10:00 am sale was scheduled to begin. By the time I got responsive again around noon, the cards had sold out.
