The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) on Saturday said that it is planning to allow Apple Pay to expand its services in Taiwan.
Only holders of credit cards issued by Visa Inc and MasterCard Inc are eligible to sign up with Apple Pay to use its mobile payment services, but the commission said that the service could be expanded to debit card holders.
The commission said that as long as changes benefit consumers, it would be happy to make them happen.
Visa and MasterCard have built close business ties with Apple Pay and once they reach a consensus on expanding its digital wallet services to debit card holders, change would be possible, Banking Bureau Deputy Director-General Sherri Chuang (莊琇媛) said.
In addition to the need for an agreement between Apple Pay and the two international credit card issuers, the expansion of the service also depends on the progress made by the Bankers Association of the Republic of China (銀行公會) to ensure transaction security for debit card users, Chuang said.
Apply Pay started to provide payment services for credit card holders in Taiwan on March 29, making it the first major foreign mobile payment platforms available in the nation.
Samsung Pay and Android Pay launched their services in early May and June respectively, although the FSC did not say whether Samsung Pay and Android Pay would expand their services in line with Apple Pay.
Apple Pay has more users in Taiwan than Samsung Pay and Android Pay.
E.Sun Commercial Bank (玉山銀行), one of the local banks which provide Apple Pay services to credit card holders, is seeking approval from the commission to expand the services to debit card users, Chuang said.
Earlier this year, Visa said it is hoping that Apple Pay would expand its services to debit card users by the end of the year.
The expansion is expected to benefit young Taiwanese who cannot own credit cards before the age of 20, but have access to debit cards, enabling them to use mobile payment services.
Separately, the government is to expand the scope of its value-added tax (VAT) refund service for foreign visitors from next month as part of its tourism promotion efforts, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday.
From Friday, the four VAT refund counters in Taipei and Kaohsiung will accept applications from foreign visitors who have purchased at least NT$2,000 worth of goods, the Taxation Administration said.
The counters are in Taipei 101 Mall (臺北101購物中心), Pacific Sogo Department Store Co’s (太平洋崇光百貨) branch on Zhongxiao E Road in Taipei, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store Co’s (新光三越百貨) A8 building in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) and Kaohsiung’s Hanshin Department Store (漢神百貨).
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