Far Eastern International Bank (FEIB, 遠東國際商銀) yesterday became the nation’s first lender to gain regulatory approval to offer open banking services.
The medium-sized lender said it had been given the go-ahead by the Financial Supervisory Commission on Thursday to launch an account integration app, a new service provided in conjunction with affiliate Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信).
The move makes FEIB the nation’s first third-party service provider, as technology is reshaping the banking industry and more customers prefer online transactions, FEIB digital banking division head Simon Tai (戴松志) said.
Photo courtesy of Far Eastern International Bank
The new app enables customers to integrate their accounts at different banks, allowing them to manage their savings accounts, bills, credit cards and funds without having to open multiple apps or windows, Tai said.
The app uses artificial intelligence to recommend the most favorable options for customers when making wealth management decisions or choosing banking services, the Taipei-based lender said.
FEIB was able to steal a march on its peers in open banking due mainly to its collaboration with Far EasTone, which does not keep a record of customers’ banking details or passwords, maintaining the safety of transactions, Tai said.
The lender has achieved significant progress in digital transformation, with 93 percent of its transactions taking place over the Internet this year, up from 90 percent last year, he said.
FEIB has more than 40,000 digital banking accounts, which function as an entry-level product to help the bank gain more business, much like credit cards did in the past, Tai said, adding that the bank plans to introduce more digital services later this month.
The bank posted net income of NT$2.33 billion (US$81.93 million) in the first three quarters of the year, or earnings per share of NT$0.68, FEIB president Thomas Chou (周添財) said.
That suggests a 20 percent full-year retreat from a year earlier, as the banking sector takes a hit from the COVID-19 pandemic, Chou said.
Increased market liquidity is weighing on loan growth and increasing the costs of provisions, but FEIB has fared better than its peers on non-performing loans so far this year, he said.
Real estate agent and property developer JSL Construction & Development Co (愛山林) led the average compensation rankings among companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished 14th. JSL Construction paid its employees total average compensation of NT$4.78 million (US$159,701), down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but still ahead of the most profitable listed tech giants, including TSMC, TWSE data showed. Last year, the average compensation (which includes salary, overtime, bonuses and allowances) paid by TSMC rose 21.6 percent to reach about NT$3.33 million, lifting its ranking by 10 notches
Popular vape brands such as Geek Bar might get more expensive in the US — if you can find them at all. Shipments of vapes from China to the US ground to a near halt last month from a year ago, official data showed, hit by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and a crackdown on unauthorized e-cigarettes in the world’s biggest market for smoking alternatives. That includes Geek Bar, a brand of flavored vapes that is not authorized to sell in the US, but which had been widely available due to porous import controls. One retailer, who asked not to be named, because
SEASONAL WEAKNESS: The combined revenue of the top 10 foundries fell 5.4%, but rush orders and China’s subsidies partially offset slowing demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) further solidified its dominance in the global wafer foundry business in the first quarter of this year, remaining far ahead of its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. TSMC posted US$25.52 billion in sales in the January-to-March period, down 5 percent from the previous quarter, but its market share rose from 67.1 percent the previous quarter to 67.6 percent, TrendForce said in a report. While smartphone-related wafer shipments declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices and urgent TV-related orders
Prices of gasoline and diesel products at domestic fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.2 and NT$0.3 per liter respectively, after international crude oil prices increased last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week snapped a two-week losing streak as the geopolitical situation between Russia and Ukraine turned increasingly tense, CPC said in a statement. News that some oil production facilities in Alberta, Canada, were shut down due to wildfires and that US-Iran nuclear talks made no progress also helped push oil prices to a significant weekly gain, Formosa said
RSS