DBS Bank Taiwan (星展銀行) on Wednesday launched a credit card aimed at the very rich, in a bid to boost its retail banking and wealth management businesses.
The card is the first of its kind for the bank, as it can only be applied for with an invitation, but only those whose assets are worth more than NT$30 million (US$967,555) will be invited, Calvin Lin (林群凱), DBS Taiwan’s executive director of cards and unsecured loans, said yesterday by telephone.
Although the threshold sounds high, the bank believes that the customer base for the card should be huge, as the number of high-net-worth individuals in Taiwan is estimated at 381,000, Lin said, citing a global wealth report by the Credit Suisse Research Institute in 2017.
Photo courtesy of DBS Bank Taiwan
“We first plan to invite clients who already enjoy our wealth management services to apply for the card, as a way to build up customer loyalty,” Lin said.
The credit card is named “DBS Treasures Sparkle Infinite.”
The bank last released a credit card in October last year.
It released three cards last year, with a new one being released every two months on average.
“We spent more time preparing for this card, as we aimed to provide many exclusive benefits or special rewards for our cardholders, and had to hold a lot of discussions with our partners,” Lin said.
For example, cardholders can enjoy speedy immigration and security clearance in Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, and with no more waiting in long security lines it should take them less than one hour to arrive at their boarding gate after arriving at the airport, Lin said, adding that the service is provided by Ever Rich DFS Corp’s (昇恆昌) Huan Yu VIP Terminal.
“The speedy clearance service costs about NT$10,000 for regular travelers, so few banks provide such benefits,” he said.
The bank also offers room upgrades and free breakfast at high-end hotels worldwide, and airport pick-up services in a Mercedes-Benz, Lin said,
The bank even would hold a yacht party for cardholders if their annual credit card spending exceeds NT$18 million, he said.
The Treasures Sparkle Infinite is the last missing piece in the bank’s credit card range, as the three cards released last year target travel lovers, the younger generation and shopping lovers.
Credit cards aimed at rich clients “is a niche market, especially when there are already too many credit cards for regular consumers, as those clients have considerable spending power and we can earn handling fees,” Lin said.
The bank has some rivals competing for the very rich clients, such as American Express and Taishin International Bank (台新銀行), but it is confident it can attract customers with its program, he added.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
RECORD LOW: Global firms’ increased inventories, tariff disputes not yet impacting Taiwan and new graduates not yet entering the market contributed to the decrease Taiwan’s unemployment rate last month dropped to 3.3 percent, the lowest for the month in 25 years, as strong exports and resilient domestic demand boosted hiring across various sectors, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. After seasonal adjustments, the jobless rate eased to 3.34 percent, the best performance in 24 years, suggesting a stable labor market, although a mild increase is expected with the graduation season from this month through August, the statistics agency said. “Potential shocks from tariff disputes between the US and China have yet to affect Taiwan’s job market,” Census Department Deputy Director Tan Wen-ling
UNCERTAINTIES: The world’s biggest chip packager and tester is closely monitoring the US’ tariff policy before making any capacity adjustments, a company official said ASE Technology Holding Inc (日月光投控), the world’s biggest chip packager and tester, yesterday said it is cautiously evaluating new advanced packaging capacity expansion in the US in response to customers’ requests amid uncertainties about the US’ tariff policy. Compared with its semiconductor peers, ASE has been relatively prudent about building new capacity in the US. However, the company is adjusting its global manufacturing footprint expansion after US President Donald Trump announced “reciprocal” tariffs in April, and new import duties targeting semiconductors and other items that are vital to national security. ASE subsidiary Siliconware Precision Industries Co (SPIL, 矽品精密) is participating in Nvidia
RSS