Tue, Jul 14, 2020 page12

• DBS Bank Taiwan launches co-branded iPass card

  BIODEGRADABLE POLYMER: The bank said that its iPass credit card, the first such card issued by a foreign bank, gives it access to stores that do not accept its credit cards

  • By Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporter
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  DBS Bank Taiwan (星展台灣) yesterday launched its first co-branded credit card with iPass Corp (一卡通票證), and said it expects its credit card business to fully recover in the second half of this year.

  The new “DBS eco card” is made of polylactic acid — a bio-based biodegradable polymer that can be produced from renewable resources — and is the bank’s first credit card to have the iPass electronic payment function, it said.

  The partnership would give the bank new business momentum, DBS Bank Taiwan general manager Lim Him-chuan (林鑫川) told a news conference in Taipei.

  

  From left, DBS Bank Taiwan executive director of cards and unsecured loans Calvin Lin, general manager Lim Him-chuan and consumer banking managing director Seraph Sun pose for a photograph at a news conference in Taipei yesterday.

  Photo: Kao Shih-ching, Taipei Times

  That is because some stores and supermarkets in Taiwan accept a select number of credit cards, but they are usually more open to stored-value cards such as iPass because of government policy, Lim said, referring to Pxmart Co Ltd (全聯實業) supermarkets.

  “The partnership brings convenience to users as they can use the cards at more stores, while we also benefit by gaining access to stores that do not accept our credit cards,” he said.

  DBS is the first among the nation’s foreign banks to issue a co-branded iPass credit card, indicating that the Singaporean-based lender is committed to local development and digital transformation, he added.

  The new credit card offers cash points of up to 3 percent of each transaction, while users can decide whether to receive a cash rebate or to redeem their points for goods, the bank said.

  The card offers a cash point reward rate of 1.5 percent for domestic purchases and 2.5 percent for overseas purchases, but the rate would rise to 3 percent from tomorrow to the end of this year to attract new clients, it said.

  To encourage consumers to use green transportation, the bank offers a cash point reward rate of 5 percent for spending on vehicle sharing or scooter sharing services, or for charging electric scooters, it said.

  Like most other banks, DBS Taiwan saw its credit card business struggle in the first half of this year, as clients’ overseas spending plunged due to border controls implemented because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lim said.

  The bank hopes the impact of the pandemic can be offset in the second half of this year, as clients are likely to spend more domestically, he said.

  The number of clients applying for DBS Taiwan’s new cards on July 1, the first day when people could register their credit card on the Triple Stimulus Vouchers program, was 10 times the daily average, he added.

  Each credit card contributes profit of NT$200 per month to the bank, the highest among all banks, which shows that its strategy works, said Calvin Lin (林群凱), DBS Bank Taiwan’s executive director of cards and unsecured loans.
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