Credit and debit cards have replaced cash as the most common payment method in Taiwan, Visa Taiwan Co (台灣威士卡) said in a report on Thursday last week.
A survey of 800 people conducted in August last year showed that about 80 percent of respondents used credit cards daily, while about 77 percent used cash and 58 percent used stored-value cards, such as EasyCards and iPass cards, Visa Taiwan said.
A 2019 study showed that cash was the most popular payment method in the nation, with 91 percent of respondents using cash daily and 83 percent using credit and debit cards, it said.
Photo: Lee Chin-hui, Taipei Times
“Cash is no longer king,” Visa said.
The company attributed the trend to the popularity of contactless payment amid the COVID-19 outbreak, reward point systems by banks issuing credit cards and the booming e-commerce sector.
The recent survey found that only 35 percent of respondents used cash as their main payment method, down from 41 percent in 2019, while 64 percent said that they preferred cashless payment methods for purchases above NT$400 (US$14), up from 58 percent a year earlier.
Fifty-one percent of respondents shopped online at least once per week, up from 50 percent before the COVID-19 pandemic, while 54 percent said that they used online banking, compared with 49 percent before the pandemic, Visa Taiwan said.
Food deliveries, fresh vegetables and meat, and healthcare products were the top three items on people’s online shopping lists, it added.
Separately, German food delivery firm Foodpanda GmbH gained approval from the Investment Commission last week to invest NT$5 billion into local subsidiary Foodpanda Taiwan Co Ltd (富胖達).
The commission also approved another 18 million euro (US$21.85 million) investment by the German company to boost its working capital, the commission said.
The investments showed the rising importance of the food delivery market in Taiwan, it said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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