Line Bank Taiwan Ltd (連線商業銀行), the second Internet-only bank in the nation, is to begin trial operations on Wednesday, before an official launch next month, Line Bank general manager Morris Huang (黃以孟) said on Friday.
The bank has completed several rounds of tests, such as stress tests, integration tests and user tests, and the bank is well-prepared to open to the public, Huang said.
The bank also signed an agreement with Central Deposit Insurance Corp (CDIC, 中央存保) to provide deposit insurance to its clients.
Photo: Lee Chin-hui, Taipei Times
Huang said that 700 employees of the three Taiwanese subsidiaries of Line Corp would be offered services in the trial.
As a Web-only bank, it has placed much emphasis on cybersecurity, Huang said.
The bank would initially offer debit card services and personal loans, but more preparations would be needed before credit card services could be offered, he said.
Once it offers services to the public, the bank would start with a promotion campaign, but it would not initially engage in price competition to achieve a certain market share, Huang said.
Line Financial Taiwan Corp (台灣連線金融科技), which owns 49.9 percent of Line Bank, last quarter started a similar Internet-only bank in Thailand — Line Bk — which has been faring as expected, Huang said.
The Thai bank’s performance would serve as a benchmark for the Taiwanese operations, he said.
Rakuten International Commercial Bank Co (樂天國際商銀), Taiwan’s first Web-only bank, opened in January, while Next Bank (將來銀行) is expected to become the third, as its application to begin operations is under review at the Financial Supervisory Commission.
Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves hit a record high at the end of last month, surpassing the US$600 billion mark for the first time, the central bank said yesterday. Last month, the country’s foreign exchange reserves rose US$5.51 billion from a month earlier to reach US$602.94 billion due to an increase in returns from the central bank’s portfolio management, the movement of other foreign currencies in the portfolio against the US dollar and the bank’s efforts to smooth the volatility of the New Taiwan dollar. Department of Foreign Exchange Director-General Eugene Tsai (蔡炯民)said a rate cut cycle launched by the US Federal Reserve
Handset camera lens maker Largan Precision Co (大立光) on Sunday reported a 6.71 percent year-on-year decline in revenue for the third quarter, despite revenue last month hitting the highest level in 11 months. Third-quarter revenue was NT$17.68 billion (US$581.2 million), compared with NT$18.95 billion a year earlier, the company said in a statement. The figure was in line with Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co’s (元大投顧) forecast of NT$17.9 billion, but missed the market consensus estimate of NT$18.97 billion. The third-quarter revenue was a 51.44 percent increase from NT$11.67 billion in the second quarter, as the quarter is usually the peak
The US government on Wednesday sanctioned more than two dozen companies in China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, including offshoots of a US chip firm, accusing the businesses of providing illicit support to Iran’s military or proxies. The US Department of Commerce included two subsidiaries of US-based chip distributor Arrow Electronics Inc (艾睿電子) on its so-called entity list published on the federal register for facilitating purchases by Iran’s proxies of US tech. Arrow spokesman John Hourigan said that the subsidiaries have been operating in full compliance with US export control regulations and his company is discussing with the US Bureau of
Pegatron Corp (和碩), a key assembler of Apple Inc’s iPhones, on Thursday reported a 12.3 percent year-on-year decline in revenue for last quarter to NT$257.86 billion (US$8.44 billion), but it expects revenue to improve in the second half on traditional holiday demand. The fourth quarter is usually the peak season for its communications products, a company official said on condition of anonymity. As Apple released its new iPhone 17 series early last month, sales in the communications segment rose sequentially last month, the official said. Shipments to Apple have been stable and in line with earlier expectations, they said. Pegatron shipped 2.4 million notebook
RSS