Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman William Tseng (曾銘宗) yesterday warned of possible disruptions and risks as the nation heads toward greater digitization of financial services, but said the government was committed to the move.
While the government is open to introducing new practices — such as Web-based banks, person-to-person lending and increased use of mobile devices as payment channels — it is concerned about the potential impacts of the changes on the industry, Tseng said on the sidelines of a Taipei forum.
The digitization of financial services, commonly referred to as Bank 3.0, is the transition away from the dependence on physical bank branches to online and mobile channels. Experts say the shift brings both opportunities and threats to the banking sector.
Traditional financial institutions, for instance, are facing immense challenges as lending takes place between individuals on a peer-to-peer (P2P) basis, Tseng said.
P2P lending allows for the democratization of personal finance, but the commission is concerned about its possible risks, he said.
Such financing has exponentially expanded the number of participants in such schemes, and the public must be aware of the risks of conducting transactions with strangers instead of with people they know, Tseng said.
The commission has been promoting Bank 3.0 since late last year by deregulating online banking, mobile payment and third party payments, but numerous disputes since then have left it cautious about whether and when sweeping changes can be put into effect, he said.
The emergence of online banks may jeopardize the livelihood of the 160,000 employees of conventional bank branches, Tseng said.
“There is still an abundance of conventional banks in Taiwan,” he said.
Nevertheless, the government and the banking sector remain committed to facing the challenges of Bank 3.0, Tseng said.
The commission will accelerate legal amendments and push for appropriate deregulatory measures, while financial companies have been advised to step up information technology investments and prepare their employees to take on new roles, he said.
Chris Skinner, a blogger and independent commentator who was the forum’s keynote speaker, said in his speech that P2P lending and payments schemes make the most difference in developing economies such as African countries, where access to financial services are limited.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
RSS