The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday launched a NT$440 million (US$14.24 million) nationwide mobile payments rewards program in cooperation with several mobile payment service firms to stimulate domestic commerce as mobile payment options continue to lure Taiwanese.
Mobile payment transactions have increased more than threefold from NT$14.8 billion in 2017 to NT$47.8 billion last year, data compiled by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) showed.
The government-subsidized program involving Taiwan Pay, Line Pay, Jkos Pay (街口支付) and mobile wallet app Pi (Pi拍錢包) offers payment rewards of 15 to 20 percent with a maximum of NT$1,000 per account per month, the ministry said.
The rewards are redeemable through purchases made with the mobile payment systems at more than 200 shopping districts and stores nationwide, the ministry said.
The ministry has also provided another NT$300,000 in subsidies to encourage stores and shopping districts to develop distinguishing features to attract more consumers, it said.
The program would last until the end of the year and the rewards could vary depending on payment systems, time and region, it said.
However, some transactions such as deposits, cigarette purchases, bill payments, money transfers and fee collections are not included in the program, the ministry said.
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said second-quarter revenue is expected to surpass the first quarter, which rose 30 percent year-on-year to NT$118.92 billion (US$3.71 billion). Revenue this quarter is likely to grow, as US clients have front-loaded orders ahead of US President Donald Trump’s planned tariffs on Taiwanese goods, Delta chairman Ping Cheng (鄭平) said at an earnings conference in Taipei, referring to the 90-day pause in tariff implementation Trump announced on April 9. While situations in the third and fourth quarters remain unclear, “We will not halt our long-term deployments and do not plan to
‘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
RSS