Taiwan Nikomart Co (福客多), the nation's fifth-largest convenience store chain, will start accepting credit card payments at its 300 outlets nationwide tomorrow, the retailer announced yesterday.
Headed by the National Credit Card Center of the ROC (聯合信用卡處理中心), 17 local banks are participating in the first stage of the program, allowing their credit cardholders to enjoy speedy signature-free payments when the transaction value is under NT$500 (US$15).
no new card
"This brand-new service does not require consumers to apply for new cards or for credit cards that have an electronic wallet [e-wallet] feature," said Felix Ong (
"We believe it will encourage the public to engage in no-cash transactions," he said.
Monthly domestic credit card transaction value last year reached an average of NT$115 billion, accounting for 19.5 percent of overall consumer spending, statistics provided by the center showed.
Ong said the figures proved there was still a long way to go for the development of plastic currency transactions. The center aims to expand the low credit card transaction value program to about 2,400 terminals by including more convenience stores, taxis and fast-food restaurants by the end of the year with the participation of more than 20 member banks.
consumer loyalty
Other major convenience store chains have launched different payment programs to strengthen consumer loyalty.
The sector's leading player, 7-Eleven, which is run by President Chain Store Corp (
FamilyMart accepts MRT co-branded credit cards issued by Chinatrust Comemrcial Bank, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華 銀行), Taipei Fubon Bank (
Hi-Life (
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”