To promote the use of debit cards with ATM and credit card functions, the Bankers Association of the ROC (銀行公會) promised to increase the number of retail outlets where debit cards can be used, chairwoman Susan Chang (張秀蓮) told a promotional event yesterday.
“We will work toward convenient shopping with our debit cards by catching up to the total number of outlets nationwide where credit cards can be used [300,000],” said Chang, who is also chairwoman of the Bank of Taiwan (台灣銀行).
The association’s figures showed that debit cards circulated via the Financial Information Service Co’s (財金公司) Smart Pay system since 2007 totaled 46 million cards, 33.8 million of which, issued by 113 banks, can be used at the system’s contracted 25,000 retail outlets.
An average of NT$1.17 million (US$36,400) is paid by debit card each day in Taiwan — or 1.7 times last year’s daily average — the association’s figures showed.
Chang yesterday heralded the use of debit cards as a better electronic purse than credit cards, as debit-card holders are restricted by the balance in their bank accounts.
To promote debit cards, nine domestic card issuers have teamed up with their counterparts in Hokkaido, Japan, so that Taiwanese tourists can shop with their debit cards there starting next year.
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