EasyCard holders will be able to use their cards as an electronic wallet in convenience stores and more than 10,000 shops around the nation starting in March, the Taipei City Government and Taipei EasyCard Corp announced yesterday.
Users will be able to store as much as NT$10,000 on their EasyCard, although the Financial Supervisory Commission has set a limit of NT$1,000 on individual purchases and a daily cap of NT$3,000.
The commission on Thursday approved Taipei EasyCard Corp’s application to use the card as an electronic cash card, making it the first company to issue electronic cash cards since the legislature passed the Act on Issuance and Management of Electronic Monetary Cards (電子票證發行管理條例) last January.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) applauded the development yesterday as he bought an item using an EasyCard at a 7-ELEVEN store near Taipei City Hall.
“Turning the EasyCard into a multipurpose card was one of my campaign promises, and the use of the EasyCard as an electronic wallet symbolizes Taipei as a developed city,” Hau said.
The city government will strive to increase the functionality of the EasyCard and will promote the card to local and foreign tourists, he said.
Jason Lin (林志盈), general manager of Taipei EasyCard Corp, who accompanied Hau, said the card could be used at fast food chains, coffee shops and some movie theaters. The company is working to have the cards accepted at gas stations and more stores.
The Tourism Bureau has purchased 250,000 EasyCards to give as gifts to foreign visitors, Lin said, adding his company would continue to cooperate with the bureau to promote the use of EasyCards to visitors from abroad.
“The multipurpose EasyCard can now be used almost everywhere around the nation, and EasyCard holders can get rid of their heavy wallets by using the card to make purchases,” he said.
Company chairman Sean Lien (連勝文), the son of former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (連戰), was noticeable by his absence from yesterday’s event, raising concerns about his health after he had surgery last month to remove a tumor in one of his kidneys.
Hau thanked Lien for his efforts to promote the EasyCard since he took up the job last year, and urged him to take care of his health.
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