Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中國信託), the third-largest cash- card player with a 9 percent market share in terms of total credit, also vowed to continue placing commercials to secure its market presence despite stricter regulations.
"The big will become bigger and only the top five players will make profits," said Richard Yang (楊鎧榮), Chinatrust's vice president for consumer banking.
In accordance with this theory, Yang said the exit of the Bank of Overseas Chinese will not be an isolated case and other smaller late-comers are expected to fade out of the market.
Joy Tang (湯碧秋), general manager of the cash card department at Union Bank of Taiwan (聯邦銀行), echoed his view, saying that "smaller players will find it increasingly difficult to survive" especially when the implementation of new governance regulations will prolong the time before banks can secure profits.
Cautious attitude
In contrast to others' ambitious market positioning, several banks have decided to adopt a conservative and cautious attitude in exploring the market, which has been developed since 1999 when Cosmos Bank Taiwan (萬泰銀行) issued the nation's first cash card.
The Chinese Bank (中華商銀) will decrease its annual marketing budget and focus on analyzing its cardholders' consumption behavior before extending credit for good customers.
Ta Chong Bank (大眾銀行) plans to adjust its scoring system to better select first-time applicants, while First Commercial Bank (第一銀行) has repositioned its operation directions and the cash card segment is not listed as the key business any more.
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