Financial institutions continued to add automatic teller machines (ATMs) amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with the number of devices rising to 30,806 as of the end of June, increasing by 311 from the end of last year, data compiled by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) showed.
Keeping in line with the increase in ATMs, the number of issued debit cards grew to 215,223, up by 3,879 from six months earlier, while the number of debit cards in circulation also picked up by 2,299 to 108,593, the data showed.
However, the number of ATM transactions in June was 84,127, an increase of 13 percent from a year earlier, but a 1.4 percent dip from six months earlier, while the amount of transactions in June gained 17 percent year-on-year to NT$1.09 trillion (US$36.97 billion), the data showed.
Eighty-four percent of the ATMs are run by Taiwanese banks, with another 10.3 percent, or 3,203 devices, operated by Chunghwa Post Co (中華郵政) and 5.4 percent by credit cooperatives, the commission’s data showed.
CTBC Bank (中國信託銀行) operates 6,310 ATMs, ranking first, followed by Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) with 4,549 and Taishin International Bank (台新銀行) with 3,680, the data showed.
Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), founder and CEO of US-based artificial intelligence chip designer Nvidia Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) on Friday celebrated the first Nvidia Blackwell wafer produced on US soil. Huang visited TSMC’s advanced wafer fab in the US state of Arizona and joined the Taiwanese chipmaker’s executives to witness the efforts to “build the infrastructure that powers the world’s AI factories, right here in America,” Nvidia said in a statement. At the event, Huang joined Y.L. Wang (王英郎), vice president of operations at TSMC, in signing their names on the Blackwell wafer to
AI BOOST: Although Taiwan’s reliance on Chinese rare earth elements is limited, it could face indirect impacts from supply issues and price volatility, an economist said DBS Bank Ltd (星展銀行) has sharply raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth this year to 5.6 percent, citing stronger-than-expected exports and investment linked to artificial intelligence (AI), as it said that the current momentum could peak soon. The acceleration of the global AI race has fueled a surge in Taiwan’s AI-related capital spending and exports of information and communications technology (ICT) products, which have been key drivers of growth this year. “We have revised our GDP forecast for Taiwan upward to 5.6 percent from 4 percent, an upgrade that mainly reflects stronger-than-expected AI-related exports and investment in the third
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CHINESE EXPORT CURBS: A dispute between China and the Netherlands could halt chip supply, affecting vehicle production, US and European auto associations said Groups representing major automakers late on Thursday warned that a chip disruption stemming from a dispute between China and the Dutch government could quickly affect US auto production. Automakers and their suppliers received notice from chipmaker Nexperia (安世半導體) last week that it could no longer guarantee delivery of its chips, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association said, adding that manufacturing could be significantly disrupted. In the US, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents General Motors, Toyota, Ford, Volkswagen, Hyundai and nearly all other major automakers, urged a quick resolution. “If the shipment of automotive chips doesn’t resume — quickly — it’s going to