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Taiwan Cards & Payments Market Report
- Published Date: February 2021
TAIWAN CARDS & PAYMENTS REPORT
An expert and comprehensive overview of Taiwan's cards, payments and consumer banking market, with expert commentary on in-depth cards market data.
There has been a notable and sudden uptick in mobile payments: the market entrance of Pay apps from Apple, LINE and others led to the authorities setting up Taiwan Pay, which met with popular approval once widespread acceptance was assured.
Cash use is falling markedly in Taiwan as penetration rates soar for digital wallets and mobile payment apps. Amended e-payment legislation has been designed to allow for greater digital payment market growth for third-party providers.
Over half of card payments in Taiwan were contactless in 2020, with usage propelled by the pandemic.
Takeaways from the Taiwan report
How consumers respond to a competitive payments environment.
Why debit card usage at the POS has risen.
Which online payment tools are finding favour.
What Taiwan credit card issuers are focusing on.
How fintech and regulators have yet to combine effectively.
TAIWAN COUNTRY REPORT | KEY FACTS
- Taiwan's banking industry is highly competitive and fragmented, with profit margins among the lowest in world banking.
- Despite high banking penetration, cash remains the preferred payment method. Debit cards are primarily used for cash withdrawals.
- With the average credit cardholder carrying four cards, there is intense competition among banks to attract customers.
- More issuers are switching focus to the Premium cards segment with its greater purchasing power and higher credit quality.
- Network-branded debit cards are becoming more popular among tech-savvy, cosmopolitan and debt-conscious consumers in Taiwan.
- Digital wallet and mobile payment apps are rising in popularity due to their ease of use when conducting m-commerce.
- Together, the big three digital wallet services – LINE Pay, Apple Pay and JKOPay – hold approximately 60% of the market.
- Major international networks support the standardised QR Code to boost cross-border export payments.
- Taiwan's merchant acquiring business remains highly consolidated, with the leading player being owned by 28 member banks.
Taiwan Payments Research | Report Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Demographics and the economy
Payments environment
Cards market
Mobile payments
Profit pool
The networks
Key retail banks and issuers
Acquiring and processing
Online acquiring
Regulatory and other cards market information
Taiwan Country Report Data Tables
(All 2014-23F unless otherwise stated)
1: Demographic and economic indicators.
2: Ownership of key consumer devices.
3: Internet usage by population.
4: Access points: 2014-21F.
5: Account penetration.
6: Consumer payment trends: 2014-21F.
7: B2C e-commerce payment methods: 2014-21F.
8: Total card payment metrics.
9: Contactless card metrics.
10: Credit card numbers.
11: Total credit cards metrics.
12: Credit card profitability indicators.
13: Debit card numbers.
14: Debit card metrics.
15: Prepaid/e-money cards metrics.
16: Mobile proximity payment metrics: 2014-23F
17 Mobile P2P payments: 2016-23F
18: Profit pool: credit card numbers, billed volumes, outstandings, interest incomes, net interest revenues, merchant revenues, card fee revenues, other non-interest incomes, total revenues, net credit losses, operating expenses, total expenses, pre-tax profits, merchant service charges, rollover rates, APR, net credit losses to outstandings, operating costs to revenues, ROA (pre-tax profits to outstandings).
(All below 2014-21F unless otherwise stated)
19: Networks' credit card market shares.
20: Networks' credit card data numbers.
21: Networks' credit card billed volume.
22: Networks' number of credit card transactions.
23: Networks' average credit card transaction value.
24: Credit card interchange fees by network.
25: Networks' debit card market shares.
26: Networks' debit card data numbers.
27: Networks' debit card billed volume.
28: Networks' number of debit card transactions.
29: Networks' average debit card transaction value.
30: Debit card interchange fees by network.
31: Key credit card issuers market shares by credit card numbers: 2016-21F.
32: Key issuers market shares in credit card outstandings: 2016-21F.
33: Key debit card issuers market shares by debit card numbers: 2016-21F.
34: Merchant acquirer credit card market share: 2020E.
35: Credit card merchant service charges: 2014-23F.
36: Merchant acquirer debit card market share: 2020E.
37: Debit card merchant service charges: 2014-23F.
38: Credit card issuer/issuing processor relationships: -
39: Credit card acquirer/acquiring processor relationships: -
40: Credit card issuing processor market shares by card numbers: 2020E.
41: Credit card acquiring processor market shares by the number of POS transactions: 2020E.
42: Online merchant acquirer market share: 2020E.
Taiwan Country Report | Selected Extracts
Demographics and Economy
Taiwan has a dynamic economy, with an estimated GDP per capita of $24,231 in 2020. The economy rebounded strongly from the recession ... with an average growth rate of 2.5% between 2014 and 2020.
Payments Environment
Although the country has an advanced payments infrastructure, the market has been notoriously sticky when it comes to notes and coins. In 2020, cash accounted for an estimated 53% of private household expenditure; however, that is down from 68% in 2014.
Cards Market
Taiwan's consumer credit market is dominated by large financial institutions. Large private commercial banks play a dominant role in personal and card lending.
Mobile Payments
The Taiwanese government has set out an ambitious target to reach a 90% mobile payment penetration rate by 2025 – compared to a penetration rate of 70% in 2020.
Profit Pool
Taiwan has a high credit card penetration and the industry has maintained a healthy profit pool since 2009 (although profitability dipped slightly in 2020 due to the effects of the pandemic).
Card Networks
Visa remains the market leader in terms of the number of credit cards and billed volume and is followed by Mastercard. Taiwan's debit cards market is dominated by the domestic scheme, but its debit cards are used in the main for withdrawing cash, whereas international networks are used more for making purchase transactions.
Key Retail Banks and Issuers:
Although Taiwan's credit cards market is competitive and fragmented, with 37 financial institutions issuing credit cards, the leading banks continue to dominate through economies of scale.
Acquiring and Processing
Despite the freedom to act as one's own acquirer, the merchant acquiring business here remains highly consolidated, with five institutions accounting for almost 100% market share of acquired credit card purchase volume in 2020.
Online Acquiring
The B2C e-commerce market in Taiwan was worth an estimated $31.5 billion in 2020, growing at an average annual rate of 8% between 2014 and 2019.
Regulatory and Markets Information
While fintech developments in Taiwan have been moving slowly when compared with East Asian counterparts such as China and South Korea, Taiwan is now working harder to encourage growth.
Taiwan Payments Report | Entities Referenced
2Checkout
7-Eleven
Adyen
Alipay
Amazon
American Express
AnyPay
ANZ
Apple
Apple Pay
Bank SinoPac
Banker's Association
Banking Bureau
BAROC
BitPay
BlueSnap
Carrefour Pay
Cathay United Bank
Cathay Bank
CBRC
Central Bank of the Republic of China – Taiwan
Central Government Securities Settlement System
CGSS
Cherry Pay
Chiayi Forth Credit Cooperation
Chinatrust Commercial Bank
Chu Nan Credit Cooperative Association
Chunghwa Post
Chunghwa Telecom
CIFS
Cirrus
Citibank
CPC
CTBC
Danhai Light Rail
DBS Bank
DGBAS
Diners Club
Dogin Card
E.Sun Bank
eBay
ECCT
European Chamber Of Commerce Taiwan
FamilyMart
FamiPay
Far Eastern International Bank
Farmers' & Fishermen's Association
FFA
Financial Information Service Company
Financial Ombudsman Institution
Financial Supervisory Commission
FinTechBase
First Commercial Bank
FISC
Fitbit Pay
FOI
FSC
Fubon Bank
Fubon Financial
Garmin Pay
Global Media Online
GMO
Google
Google Pay
GoShare
HAPPYGO Pay
HiTRUST
Hokkaido Bank
HSBC
Hua Nan Commercial Bank
Intellectual Property Office
Interbank Funds- Transfer System
International Telecommunication Union
ITU
JCB
JKOPay
Kaohsiung Business Bank
Kaohsiung MRT
KEB Hana Bank
KGI Bank
Land Bank of Taiwan
LINE
LINE Pay
Maestro
Mass Rapid Transit
Mastercard
Mega International Commercial Bank
Ministry of Economic Affairs
Ministry of Finance
Momo
MRT
My FamiPay
National Credit Card Centre
National Debit Card Centre
National Palace Museum
NCCC
Next Bank
NMI
NTTD
OPEN wallet
PayDollar
Paymetric
PayPal
PChome
Pi Mobile Technology
Pi Wallet
Postpay
PX Pay
PXMart
Rakuten
Richart
Samsung
Shopee
Ta Chong Bank
Taipei Exchange
Taipei Fubon Bank
Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation
Taipeibank
Taishin Omni-Payment Platform
Taishin Financial Holding
Taishin International Bank
Taiwan Business Bank
Taiwan Clearing House
Taiwan Cooperative Bank
Taiwan Depository and Clearing Corporation
Taiwan Mobile Payment Company
Taiwan Pay
Taiwan Railway
Taiwan Shin Kong
Taiwan Shin Kong Commercial Bank
Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation
Taobao
Taoyuan Airport MRT
Taoyuan MRT
TapPay
TCH
TDCC
TOPP
TPEx
TRTC
TWMP
TWSE
Union Bank of Taiwan
Union Commercial Bank
UnionPay
Uni-President Group
United World Chinese Commercial Bank
Visa
Watsons
Watsons Pay
WeChat Pay
World Bank
Worldpay
YouYou Wallet
Yuanta Commercial Bank
Yushan Wallet
MORE ASIA-PACIFIC CARDS & PAYMENTS REPORTS
Reports include detailed market and competitor intelligence on payments cards, e-money, acquiring, retail banking, and consumer credit in the Asia Pacific region. Analysts use primary and secondary source data and conduct in-depth interviews with senior industry executives and finance experts.
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