With just a few clicks, high-speed train commuters will be able to book and obtain their tickets at the iBon electronic kiosks at 7-Eleven sometime after Lunar New Year.
“Purchasing transport tickets must be fast and in real time, and the transaction system must be able to withstand huge transaction volumes at any given time,” James Hsieh (謝健南), chief operating officer at President Chain Store Corp (統一超商), told reporters during a media trip to Kinmen yesterday.
President Chain runs 7-Eleven, the nation’s largest convenience store chain.
The company has been in talks with Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC, 台灣高鐵) for the past two years, but some technicalities had to be resolved. The retailer’s iBon does not support THSRC’s ticket format, which meant extra costs if a different machine had to be introduced.
Both parties reached a settlement by using iBon’s 2D barcode for the ticket identification. Despite the different sizes of the tickets issued by THSRC and iBon, commuters will simply have to apply the iBon ticket barcode on the entry gates to enter the high-speed rail platform.
A NT$10 (US$0.30) fee per transaction will be charged for ticket purchases on iBon machines.
To create a niche amid growing competition in the convenience store sector, President Chain launched the iBon kiosks three years ago with an investment of NT$700 million. There are currently 4,650 kiosks across the nation.
Customers can use iBon kiosks for a variety of services including document printing, show ticket booking and collection, as well as credit-card and parking ticket payments.
Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) train tickets could eventually be sold on the machines as well, Hsieh said.
President Chain dominates the convenience store sector on the outlying islands, with a total of 43 stores spreading across Penghu, Kinmen, Matzu, Green Island and Siaoliouciou, while Taiwan FamilyMart Co (全家便利商店) has one outlet on Green Island.
DIVIDED VIEWS: Although the Fed agreed on holding rates steady, some officials see no rate cuts for this year, while 10 policymakers foresee two or more cuts There are a lot of unknowns about the outlook for the economy and interest rates, but US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled at least one thing seems certain: Higher prices are coming. Fed policymakers voted unanimously to hold interest rates steady at a range of 4.25 percent to 4.50 percent for a fourth straight meeting on Wednesday, as they await clarity on whether tariffs would leave a one-time or more lasting mark on inflation. Powell said it is still unclear how much of the bill would fall on the shoulders of consumers, but he expects to learn more about tariffs
NOT JUSTIFIED: The bank’s governor said there would only be a rate cut if inflation falls below 1.5% and economic conditions deteriorate, which have not been detected The central bank yesterday kept its key interest rates unchanged for a fifth consecutive quarter, aligning with market expectations, while slightly lowering its inflation outlook amid signs of cooling price pressures. The move came after the US Federal Reserve held rates steady overnight, despite pressure from US President Donald Trump to cut borrowing costs. Central bank board members unanimously voted to maintain the discount rate at 2 percent, the secured loan rate at 2.375 percent and the overnight lending rate at 4.25 percent. “We consider the policy decision appropriate, although it suggests tightening leaning after factoring in slackening inflation and stable GDP growth,”
Meta Platforms Inc offered US$100 million bonuses to OpenAI employees in an unsuccessful bid to poach the ChatGPT maker’s talent and strengthen its own generative artificial intelligence (AI) teams, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said. Facebook’s parent company — a competitor of OpenAI — also offered “giant” annual salaries exceeding US$100 million to OpenAI staffers, Altman said in an interview on the Uncapped with Jack Altman podcast released on Tuesday. “It is crazy,” Sam Altman told his brother Jack in the interview. “I’m really happy that at least so far none of our best people have decided to take them
As they zigzagged from one machine to another in the searing African sun, the workers were covered in black soot. However, the charcoal they were making is known as “green,” and backers hope it can save impoverished Chad from rampant deforestation. Chad, a vast, landlocked country of 19 million people perched at the crossroads of north and central Africa, is steadily turning to desert. It has lost more than 90 percent of its forest cover since the 1970s, hit by climate change and overexploitation of trees for household uses such as cooking, officials say. “Green charcoal” aims to protect what
RSS