Ta Chong Bank (大眾銀行) yesterday launched Money Plus, a new credit card catering to average spenders, who will be rewarded with up to a 4 percent cash rebate for every NT$1,000 purchase overseas.
The bank’s new credit card allows cardholders to keep the odd amount, capped at NT$10, of every purchase worth at least NT$888 made via the Money Plus card, while rewarding another equivalent cash rebate in the balance.
If the purchase is made overseas, the total cash rebate will be doubled. For example, if a cardholder pays for a purchase of NT$888, he immediately receives an NT$8 cash rebate in his balance, while the bank will deposit another NT$8 in his account, which translates into a total cash rebate of 1.8 percent, or 3.6 percent if the purchase is made overseas.
The initial cash rebate is capped at NT$10 for every purchase of NT$1,000, which translates into a total cash rebate of 2 percent for every purchase worth NT$1,000 made locally, or a 4 percent rebate for each purchase made overseas.
The cash rebate for purchases worth NT$1,001, however, will be NT$1, even though the amount is larger.
In the local credit-card market, cardholders usually have to spend more than NT$20,000 to be rewarded a 2 percent cash rebate.
But the Kaohsiung-based bank’s new card may discourage big spenders, who will not receive cash rebates in proportion to the amount of money they spend.
Smart yet small spenders, on the other hand, will earn back every commission the bank makes from the credit card, which usually generates a 1.5 percent commission fee.
Desmond Tan (陳義中), general manager of the bank’s card department, yesterday said the bank was ready to make no profit from the new card because a 2 percent rebate for an NT$1,000 purchase was the biggest cash rebate in the market for the smallest amount of spending.
But the preferential card will benefit the bank in boosting its market share by leveraging its targeted customer base, he said, adding that he believed the number of potential cardholders could reach 500,000.
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
‘SHORT TERM’: The local currency would likely remain strong in the near term, driven by anticipated US trade pressure, capital inflows and expectations of a US Fed rate cut The US dollar is expected to fall below NT$30 in the near term, as traders anticipate increased pressure from Washington for Taiwan to allow the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said. Following a sharp drop in the greenback against the NT dollar on Friday, Lin told the Central News Agency that the local currency is likely to remain strong in the short term, driven in part by market psychology surrounding anticipated US policy pressure. On Friday, the US dollar fell NT$0.953, or 3.07 percent, closing at NT$31.064 — its lowest level since Jan.
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday met with some of the nation’s largest insurance companies as a skyrocketing New Taiwan dollar piles pressure on their hundreds of billions of dollars in US bond investments. The commission has asked some life insurance firms, among the biggest Asian holders of US debt, to discuss how the rapidly strengthening NT dollar has impacted their operations, people familiar with the matter said. The meeting took place as the NT dollar jumped as much as 5 percent yesterday, its biggest intraday gain in more than three decades. The local currency surged as exporters rushed to
RSS