Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten Inc is set to start issuing credit cards in Taiwan through a subsidiary, after the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) approved its plan to distribute own-brand cards locally.
The move is part of Rakuten’s overall strategy to achieve its ambitious annual growth target for its Taiwanese business.
The commission on Tuesday announced that it has granted Rakuten Card Co, a credit card subsidiary of the Japanese online retailer, permission to set up Rakuten Card Taiwan Inc (台灣樂天信用卡) with NT$300 million (US$9.93 million) in capital.
The new venture would be the nation’s fourth foreign-funded credit card-issuer, joining American Express International (Taiwan) Inc (台灣美國運通), Diners Club International (Taiwan) Co (台灣大來) and AEON Credit Card (Taiwan) Co (台灣永旺), the commission said in a statement.
Prior to the announcement, Grace Lo (羅雅薰), head of business at Taiwan Rakuten Ichiba Inc (台灣樂天市場), said at a press briefing on Tuesday that the credit card issuance is part of Rakuten’s plans to increase the portion of its revenue generated in Taiwan by more than 60 percent this year.
The company’s credit cards are to incorporate Rakuten Super Points, which can be earned with every NT$100 spent on Rakuten items and can be redeemed as payment for new purchases, Lo said.
Taiwan was the first overseas market Rakuten entered and since establishing its presence in the nation in 2008, the online retailer has expanded into 27 countries, including Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.
Rakuten expects its Taiwan revenue to grow by more than 60 percent this year, a target it calls aggressive, but achievable through its a revamped business strategy, Lo said at the press conference.
The Japanese company also announced that it is to team up with Google Inc to give small and medium-sized Taiwanese enterprises easier access to the US firm’s advertising tools.
Under the partnership, Google will provide its AdWords keyword tools to boost Web site traffic and sales for the more than 2,800 Taiwanese retailers on Rakuten.com, while the Japanese firm will provide its e-commerce consulting services to those firms interested in using Google’s keyword tools.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last