The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday said it has approved ShopeePay Taiwan Co’s (蝦皮支付) application to operate an electronic payment service in Taiwan, as the third-party payment service provider has to manage higher fund flows due to the rising business of its e-commerce affiliate Shopee Taiwan Co (樂購蝦皮).
If a third-party payment service provider’s average daily transactions surpass NT$1 billion (US$34.7 million), it must apply to the commission to become an e-payment company, which is subject to stricter regulations, the commission told a news conference in New Taipei City.
ShopeePay handled NT$3.1 billion on average in daily transactions last year, Banking Bureau Deputy Director-General Lin Chih-chi (林志吉) said.
Photo: Reuters
ShopeePay is required to apply for an operating license within the next six months, which would allow it to receive deposits from users and let them transfer money between holders of different accounts — two services it cannot currently provide as a third-party payment firm, Lin added.
Given that ShopeePay’s paid-in capital is NT$5 million — lower than the minimum paid-in capital of NT$500 million required for e-payment firms — the company has to boost its capital to NT$500 million, Lin said.
ShopeePay has told the commission that its parent company, Singapore-based SeaMoney TW Private Ltd, plans to inject capital to the Taiwanese unit, Lin said.
Like PChome InterPay Inc (國際連), which is fully owned by PChome Online Inc (網路家庭), ShopeePay is expected to focus on the ecosystem of Shopee Taiwan, he said.
Although Chinese technology giant Tencent Holdings Ltd (騰訊) is a major shareholder of Singapore-headquartered Sea Ltd (冬海), which fully owns SeaMoney TW Private Ltd, the commission has confirmed that ShopeePay is not a Chinese company, Lin said.
“As Tencent holds about a 20 percent stake in Sea Ltd and Ma Huateng (馬化騰), the founder of Tencent, and another Chinese company hold a combined 8 percent stake in Tencent, we think that Chinese investors only hold about 2 percent of ShopeePay,” Lin said.
According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, any company with more than 30 percent of Chinese ownership is considered a Chinese company, Lin added.
If ShopeePay succeeds in gaining a license, it would become the nation’s sixth dedicated e-payment service company, after AllPay Financial Information Service Co (歐付寶), Gama Pay Co (橘子支行動支付), ezPay Co (簡單行動支付), PChome InterPay Inc and Jkopay Co (街口支付), the commission said.
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