At today’s launch of the Touch n Go RFID (radio-frequency identification) Tag, the company talked up the benefits of RFID usage, the milestones it has achieved since the public pilot programme started in September 2018, and the future of the technology in Malaysia.
CEO of Touch n Go Syahrunizam Samsudin revealed that since September 2018, the company has invested in one million TnG RFID Tags, which has been installed for free. The tags have been used to make 55 million toll payment transactions worth RM104.5 million, and the successful transaction rate is 99%.
He said that TnG RFID is an important component of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) and propels Malaysia to the level of countries such as Singapore, Taiwan and China in tech terms. Globally, 70.5 million vehicles are connected through RFID tech and the RFID tag market expecting a 7% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2017 and 2022. Asia Pacific is seen as the driving force behind this growth.
“We want Malaysians to be part of a global RFID community. RFID tech will be a key enabler to access daily use cases more conveniently, improve traffic enforcement and management capabilities, and support the government in providing better mobility services to Malaysians,” Syahrunizam said, adding that RFID introduction is aligned with the government’s efforts towards multi-lane free flow and improving the highway experience for Malaysians.
RFID acceptance at toll plazas aren’t an issue. Virtually all city highways have RFID lanes, including the AKLEH, Besraya, BKE, BORR, DUKE, Guthrie Corridor, Grand Saga, Grand Sepadu, Penang Bridge, Penang second bridge, KESAS, KL-Karak, Latar, LDP, LEKAS (Ampangan plaza only), Second Link, LKSA, MEX, NPE, SILK, Smart Tunnel and Sprint.
Previously a hold out, PLUS announced late last year that it will start offering toll collection via RFID at 10 of its open-toll highways from January 1 2020. The toll plazas at Mambau, Lukut, Kempas, Lima Kedai, Perling, Tanjung Kupang, Bangunan Sultan Iskandar and Jitra already have RFID lanes. Today, Touch n Go said that from April 1, all 83 closed highway system toll plazas by PLUS will be RFID enabled.
Moving forward, TnG is working towards allowing bank accounts, credit cards and debit cards to be linked to the RFID system – at present, toll payment is deducted from the user’s TnG eWallet balance.
The company is also trying to expand the usage of TnG RFID beyond toll payment. “Now it is the time for us to move forward and continue to expand the use of RFID technology together with our partners across the mobility ecosystem. This includes fuelling, parking and retail drive-thrus,” Syahrunizam said.
According to TnG, we can look forward to paying for parking with RFID in the third quarter of this year, while petrol pumps will start accepting RFID in Q4. The first quarter of 2021 will see drive-thru retail payment (think fast food joints and coffee) with RFID kick off. TnG is already working with popular malls and buildings on RFID parking payment and we’re sure to get updates on this in due time.
To recap, today was the launch of the TnG RFID system, which also marks the end of the public pilot programme. From February 15, RFID tags will no longer be free of charge, but will cost RM35. The price includes one-time free replacement (on the same vehicle) should there be damage from whatever cause. In conjunction with the launch, TnG is having a lucky draw of sorts where 40 winners will win RM2,500 in TnG eWallet credits. The promotion is from Feb 15 to April 15, and there will be five weekly winners.
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Touch n Go, you still need to upgrade your toll booth readers to capture the tags quicker. At some tolls I literally had to stop my vehicle before my tag gets detected by your reader. I hope you keep your promise to enable tag detections without needing the vehicle to come to a full stop.
Sure would be nice if TnG allows RFID chip to be grafted into our bodies so we can use it for our own purchases in shops and such.
“in the future, users could potentially paste an RFID sticker on their forehead and ease payment and identification wherever they may go “
Tag bought in quantity from China costs probabaly less than Rm3 per piece.
RFID is a waste of time because half the time, the lane is jammed by some bodoh who cannot go through. This basic thing also Touch n Go cannot sort out, they want to venture into other things.
I don’t know why these people are so stupid. If scanner cannot scan your car, just use your Touch and Go card and scan it like before.
The RFID lanes have long lines compared to the normal Touch and Go lanes. So, obviously, the RFID has failed.
And why are so many cars having problems in the RFID in the first place?
It s Stop, Touch n Go
Why is it still not linked to a regular TnG card? I drive and use train I don’t need two accounts!
The CEO forgot to mention about the tens of thousands of people who got their cards blacklisted for no apparent reason.
This has been happening for years. Suddenly your card cannot be used and when you ask the toll booth, they say your touch and go card has been blacklisted.
This is the No 1 cause of jams in the tolls. And then you cannot fix this problem in any Touch and Go offices in the toll area, you need to go to KL Sentral HQ to fix this problem.
Most owners have no time to go to KL Sentral and just biar kan this issue and throw their cards away despite having credit inside.
In a year, Touch and Go earn millions from all those users who are lazy to sort this issue out.
I myself had RM50 inside but I got no time to go to KL Sentral to fix this issue. Parking in KL Sentral is RM5 per hour and it would take hours to fix this problem as the offices are jam packed.
So instead of losing money on parking, I rather ignore it and buy a new card.
Pls fix your problems first.
2020 also and Touch and Go still charge surcharge for parking.
How long is this going to go on when the Government wants the rakyat to be cashless?
Touch and Go earn so much of money with this method.
No wonder we are still third world and struggling to achieve Vision 2020
So many also complaining that sometimes credit is deducted from card, sometimes credit is deducted from e wallet
This is despite card having RM100 inside and wallet having RM100 inside.
Looks like so many internal problems but Touch and Go want to new new things.
Singapore had Gantry system 25 years ago. No need cards, no need to scan, no need to wind down window etc etc. No jams at all. Can scan so fast. No escape also
But in Malaysia, 25 years later, we still have not caught up with Singapore.
This is why Singapore is a First World country, have the 3rd highest GDP Per Capita in the world and the SGD is 3X stronger than the ringgit. They have vision for the future
All Singapore Gantry have no man power like out toll booths.
They know how to save on manpower and yet so efficient. In Malaysia, thousands of worker manpower wasted on toll booths in Malaysia.
The number of RFID lanes is still very low. Along LDP in particular the 2 in Puchong area, only 1 lane. Using SMART-TAG is even faster. Excuses for the fact that it depends on the toll operator, I find that is lame.
Keep up the good work
Oh … fueling at petrol station using RFID … sound convenient. Hope it will be implemented successfully.
wtf point when u need to pay extra for the service?
I rather spend extra 2 mins to pay using ticket….. paying extra 50cents is fine for 1 day… imagine u need to pay daily for work, and during weekend to malls or other parking…. seriously.. how much they getting from those extra charges?
and… whereTF is the promised remove the charges by the minister?? seriously…. joke play play only aa he…
talking about rfid… u see singkie… u can just pass thru with speed of 50km/h.. no issue… here in awesomeland… u need to fully stop and sometime it wont detect, even the sticker is outside!!!!
The Smart Tag (white old model) is still the best gadget to use. It also uses RF system, like the new RFID. So, why implement the RFID when the existing Smart Tag is still efficient and using the same RFID system?? Of course, one cannot buy the Smart Tag card holder anymore, no more stock and forcing people to convert to purely RFID installation, and in the process making money unnecessarily out of the people or car owners. A way of squeezing from the people, creating new ways to make revenue. Pray that T n G corporation continue with the old system of Smart Tag, which is very efficient; not the black and crude Smart Tag which it was selling at one time and now no more. Even with Smart Tag gadget, many car owners are still using the T n G card in the non Smart Tag lanes. So, don’t change system unless the system is inefficient, just to create something new and make money out of car owners!!!
I only use highway… maybe once every 2-3 months. Do I need this? I’m staying in kampung… Is this one of the corporate game to hold people money so they can use it for something else in advance….