Holders of automated teller machine (ATM) cards issued by some Taiwanese banks are now able to withdraw Japanese yen from all ATMs in Circle K Sunkus Co Ltd convenience stores in Japan, Financial Information Service Co (FISC, 財金資訊公司) said yesterday.
FISC, which is owned by the Ministry of Finance and a group of local financial institutions, said that holders of ATM cards issued by 20 Taiwanese banks who travel to Japan gained access to financial services from more than 4,000 ATMs at Circle K stores across Japan starting on Oct. 1.
The 20 Taiwanese banks include Bank of Taiwan (台灣銀行), Land Bank of Taiwan (土地銀行), Cooperative Bank of Taiwan (合作金庫), First Commercial Bank (第一銀行), Hua Nan Commercial Bank (華南銀行) and Chang Hua Commercial Bank (彰化銀行).
The 20 Taiwanese banks have issued more than 52.8 million ATM cards, FISC said.
FISC said that to meet growing demand from Taiwanese consumers, many of whom consider Japan a favorite travel destination, the company is also on the verge of reaching an agreement with Japanese merchants to allow Taiwanese tourists to use the debit card function on their ATM cards to make purchases in Japan, beginning in the second half of next year.
Holders of ATM cards issued in Taiwan can already use their debit cards in stores in Hokkaido.
FISC said it is working to extend debit card services to about 20,000 Japanese merchants by 2020.
In addition to Japan, FISC said that Taiwanese ATM card holders are expected to be able to withdraw Hong Kong dollars and Macau patacas from December when they travel to the two territories.
FISC said that it has been pushing for the provision of similar financial services in Singapore, South Korea and Thailand.
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],”