President Chain Store Corp (
The contactless card, which has an embedded chip that lets users wave it near a reading panel instead of swiping it, is called "icashwave."
It functions as an electronic wallet for purchases below NT$500 and can be used as a credit card for larger amounts.
The card is an extension of the icash payment service President Chain already offers at 7-Eleven stores, the nation's largest convenience store chain.
It has issued 4.2 million icash cards -- in which customers can load money -- since their introduction in 2004.
"The project enhances the functions of 7-Eleven's stored-value icash mechanism and boosts Chinatrust Commercial's number of credit cards and utility rate," the two companies said in a joint statement.
Consumers can apply for the new co-brand card from March 1 and begin to use them at approximately 4,500 7-Eleven stores nationwide in the second quarter, the retailer said.
The new payment tool is expected to be used in 40 million transactions per year, it added.
Chinatrust Commercial's other co-brand cardholders could also enjoy the service soon, Chinatrust Commercial chairman Charles Lo (
Lo said that companies like Chinese Petroleum Corp (
As part of the two companies' partnership, Chinatrust Commercial said it would offer new automatic teller machines (ATM) with a cash deposit function at 7-Eleven outlets in the fourth quarter.
This would enable 7-Eleven to build an extensive network of banking services, President Chain president Hsu Chung-jen (
ATMs located at 7-Eleven stores recorded an average of 7.4 million transactions per month last year, the company said.
The number of ATMs in 7-Eleven stores is expected to increase to 3,450 units
by April, up from 2,897 at the end of last year, making the convenience
store chain the largest ATM channel in the country, it said.
President Chain began a project in 2003 with Chinatrust Commercial by
installing ATMs in its convenience store chain after the latter acquired
Grand Commercial Bank (萬通銀行), which is controlled by President's parent
company, Uni-President Group (統一集團).
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
‘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
PRESSURE EXPECTED: The appreciation of the NT dollar reflected expectations that Washington would press Taiwan to boost its currency against the US dollar, dealers said Taiwan’s export-oriented semiconductor and auto part manufacturers are expecting their margins to be affected by large foreign exchange losses as the New Taiwan dollar continued to appreciate sharply against the US dollar yesterday. Among major semiconductor manufacturers, ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光), the world’s largest integrated circuit (IC) packaging and testing services provider, said that whenever the NT dollar rises NT$1 against the greenback, its gross margin is cut by about 1.5 percent. The NT dollar traded as strong as NT$29.59 per US dollar before trimming gains to close NT$0.919, or 2.96 percent, higher at NT$30.145 yesterday in Taipei trading
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