Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank (台北富邦銀行), the flagship retail banking arm of Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控), is to introduce a co-branded credit card with warehouse club Costco Wholesale Taiwan Ltd (台灣好市多) on Feb. 1.
A media invitation for this event this week confirmed that Taipei Fubon Bank has taken over rival Cathay United Bank’s (國泰世華銀行) deal to partner with Costco on a co-branded credit card.
Cathay United Bank, the banking arm of Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控), announced in November last year that it would end a decade-long credit card partnership with Costco on Aug. 7 this year amid speculation that Taipei Fubon Bank had spent NT$1.2 billion (US$39.52 million) to snatch the co-branding rights from Cathay United Bank.
Photo: Wu Hsin-tien, Taipei Times
Taipei Fubon Bank had not commented on the speculation until recently, when it said it would provide attractive privileges to cardholders to make the new co- branded credit cards a “must have” for consumers.
Costco only accepts co-branded credit cards for non-cash payments in its stores.
There are currently 2.7 million holders of Cathay United Bank’s Costco co-branded credit cards, but after the bank’s partnership with Costco ends on Aug. 7, those cardholders will no longer be able to use their cards to buy goods at Costco’s 14 stores in Taiwan.
People who get Taipei Fubon Bank’s co-branded credit card with Costco will not be able to use it at Costco outlets before Aug. 7, but will be able to use it like any other credit card to make purchases elsewhere.
Cathay United Bank is the second-largest credit card issuer in Taiwan, having issued 7.89 million credit cards as of September last year, behind CTBC Bank (中信銀行), a unit of CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控), with 8.33 million, analysts said.
Cathay United Bank, however, has 5.57 million active credit cards, defined as cards used to make purchases within the past six months, 387,192 more than CTBC Bank, analysts said.
In 2013, Cathay United Bank took over the co-branded credit card agreement with Costco from CTBC Bank.
Once Taipei Fubon Bank takes over the co-branded credit card deal with Costco, it should see its active credit cards grow to 5.64 million, topping Cathay United Bank.
It will also move up two notches to become the third-largest credit card issuer in Taiwan, with the number of credit cards issued increasing from about 4.8 million at present, according to analysts.
According to Cathay United Bank, holders of its Costco co-branded credit card will be given the chance to transfer those cards to the soon-to-be-launched CUBE credit card program.
UNCERTAINTY: Innolux activated a stringent supply chain management mechanism, as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure optimal inventory levels for customers Flat-panel display makers AUO Corp (友達) and Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday said that about 12 to 20 percent of their display business is at risk of potential US tariffs and that they would relocate production or shipment destinations to mitigate the levies’ effects. US tariffs would have a direct impact of US$200 million on AUO’s revenue, company chairman Paul Peng (彭雙浪) told reporters on the sidelines of the Touch Taiwan trade show in Taipei yesterday. That would make up about 12 percent of the company’s overall revenue. To cope with the tariff uncertainty, AUO plans to allocate its production to manufacturing facilities in
Taiwan will prioritize the development of silicon photonics by taking advantage of its strength in the semiconductor industry to build another shield to protect the local economy, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) said yesterday. Speaking at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee, Liu said Taiwan already has the artificial intelligence (AI) industry as a shield, after the semiconductor industry, to safeguard the country, and is looking at new unique fields to build more economic shields. While Taiwan will further strengthen its existing shields, over the longer term, the country is determined to focus on such potential segments as
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors