Imagine a credit card with no preset spending limit that allows you to buy a car, a yacht or even an estate. You can probably get one provided you earn NT$3 million a year and are willing to fork over a NT$20,000 annual fee.
Taishin International Bank's (台新銀行) new Visa Infinite card (無限卡) "will be by invitation only," said Eric Wu (吳東亮), chairman of Taishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控), at a launching ceremony for the card yesterday afternoon.
Wu said that the first targeted pool of potential cardholders will be from the bank's wealth management clients, who have an annual income of over NT$3 million.
Four Infinite cards were given to yesterday's honorary guests including Rosemary Ho (
Visa Infinite cardholders will enjoy benefits such as travel insurance coverage as high as NT$50 million, free parking in some 50 parking lots, free entry to some cultural activities and 24-hour concierge services that can help to arrange parties and banquets free of charge, Daniel Tsai (蔡孟峰), general manager of the holding company's retail banking group, said at the same ceremony.
The bank charges an annual fee of NT$20,000 for the card, Tsai said.
The cards are a prestige issue, giving users big face as only 20,000 Infinite cards have been issued globally. Taishin is the first bank in Asia to issue the cards.
Visa International's Clark said that the Infinite card caters to the needs of the top 1 percent of the highest spending consumers worldwide. The bank estimates the number of potential cardholders in Taiwan at around 100,000.
Visa International's research showed that the typical Infinite cardholder is a professional or entrepreneur between the ages of 35 and 54, earning at least US$100,000 a year.
William Fong (
"The card will help boost the bank's transaction income," Fong said.
"Even though other banks provide similar wealth-management products, there's still a lot of room for growth," he said.
The card launch coincides with Taishin opening its newly renovated flagship wealth-management center in Taipei.
KEEPING UP: The acquisition of a cleanroom in Taiwan would enable Micron to increase production in a market where demand continues to outpace supply, a Micron official said Micron Technology Inc has signed a letter of intent to buy a fabrication site in Taiwan from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion to expand its production of memory chips. Micron would take control of the P5 site in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼) and plans to ramp up DRAM production in phases after the transaction closes in the second quarter, the company said in a statement on Saturday. The acquisition includes an existing 12 inch fab cleanroom of 27,871m2 and would further position Micron to address growing global demand for memory solutions, the company said. Micron expects the transaction to
Vincent Wei led fellow Singaporean farmers around an empty Malaysian plot, laying out plans for a greenhouse and rows of leafy vegetables. What he pitched was not just space for crops, but a lifeline for growers struggling to make ends meet in a city-state with high prices and little vacant land. The future agriculture hub is part of a joint special economic zone launched last year by the two neighbors, expected to cost US$123 million and produce 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce annually. It is attracting Singaporean farmers with promises of cheaper land, labor and energy just over the border.
US actor Matthew McConaughey has filed recordings of his image and voice with US patent authorities to protect them from unauthorized usage by artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, a representative said earlier this week. Several video clips and audio recordings were registered by the commercial arm of the Just Keep Livin’ Foundation, a non-profit created by the Oscar-winning actor and his wife, Camila, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office database. Many artists are increasingly concerned about the uncontrolled use of their image via generative AI since the rollout of ChatGPT and other AI-powered tools. Several US states have adopted
A proposed billionaires’ tax in California has ignited a political uproar in Silicon Valley, with tech titans threatening to leave the state while California Governor Gavin Newsom of the Democratic Party maneuvers to defeat a levy that he fears would lead to an exodus of wealth. A technology mecca, California has more billionaires than any other US state — a few hundred, by some estimates. About half its personal income tax revenue, a financial backbone in the nearly US$350 billion budget, comes from the top 1 percent of earners. A large healthcare union is attempting to place a proposal before
RSS