Taishin International Bank (台新銀行) yesterday rolled out the third of its “infinite” credit cards — Asia Infinite Card — to tout for high-end China-based business clients by offering discounts for upgrades on business flights in Asia on China Airlines (CAL, 華航).
The bank will charge an annual fee of NT$20,000 (US$591) before Dec. 31 for the card — lower than the annual fee of NT$35,000 for its Global Infinite Card that offers similar discounts for flight upgrades around the world.
A survey by the bank found that China-based Taiwanese businesspeople, on average, make eight round trips between Taiwan and China per year. These people may find the card valuable since there’s no limit on the number of flight upgrades per year, Mark Chiu (邱豐凱), head of the bank’s credit card division, told a launching ceremony yesterday.
“Those who make more than four [round] trips a year in Asia will definitely earn back the annual fees they pay for the card,” Chiu said, vowing to attract more than 8,000 cardholders by year end.
Asia Infinite cardholders will save NT$12,200 when flying CAL business class between Taipei and Tokyo, or a minimum of NT$1,100 when flying CAL business class between Taipei and Shenzhen, airline company data showed.
Chiu said that the local credit card market will focus on two clientele groups — high-end customers and average spenders — while issuers will be aggressive about consolidating inactive cards.
Taishin has canceled 400,000 inactive cards since November and plans to cancel another 200,000 by May to total 2 million cards in circulation, Chiu said.
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