Already becoming somewhat commonplace in developed nations like Japan and Singapore, mobile credit payment services are finally making their way to Taiwan. On Jan. 15, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) passed regulations concerning the safety and management of mobile credit cards, a service that financial institutions in Taiwan will soon be offering. In the future, you will be able to use credit cards stored on your cellphone to make purchases at various shops, and the purchase amount will not be restricted to the current amount of NT$3,000.
Jean Chiu, a deputy director-general of the commission’s banking bureau, says that five banks, including Chinatrust Commercial Bank, Union Bank of Taiwan, Taishin International Bank, Taipei Fubon International Bank and Cathay United Bank, already offer mobile credit cards, but not for purchases exceeding NT$3,000.
How exactly are mobile credit cards used? Chiu says that in the future people will need to apply for mobile credit cards at their local bank or financial institution, not with telecom operators, which will then provide something similar to a SIM card or SD card. After downloading the necessary app, you will be able to make purchases at stores simply by swiping your phone across a scanner. To ensure safety, however, consumers must enter a password every time they activate the credit card function.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
照片：自由時報記者劉信德
Steven Lin, director of the E-Commerce Business Center’s marketing and sales department at Kainan University, says that smartphones using Near Field Communication (NFC) technology are capable of storing all of your credit cards.
Aside from issuing physical credit cards, banks will also be offering consumers the option of applying for virtual cards, which after authentication, all a person needs to do is run an app on their phone to make a transaction. In order to use mobile credit cards, SIM cards equipped with the single wire protocol (SWP) specifications must be inserted into your NFC-enabled smartphone, while non-NFC cellphones can use SD cards with safety features and NFC technology stored on them.
Lin also says that if the cellphone with more than one credit card or other cards stored on it is lost or stolen, all one has to do is contact the Trusted Service Management Center to report the lost phone, and service to the phone will be deactivated. Reactivating the phone is also just as convenient, just a single phone call away.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
在日本、新加坡等先進國家相當普及的「手機刷卡消費」，也將出現在台灣。金管會一月十五日通過手機信用卡安全控管規範，即日起開放國內金融機構申請開辦此項新業務，未來國人可直接使用手機在實體商店進行信用卡刷卡，單筆消費金額不限三千元。
金管會銀行局副局長邱淑貞表示，目前已有中信、聯邦、台新、北富銀、國泰世華五家銀行試辦小額度的手機信用卡刷卡，但金額不得超過三千元。
至於手機信用卡如何使用？邱淑貞說，民眾未來必須向金融機構提出申請，而非電信業者。屆時，發卡機構會提供類似SIM卡或SD卡，手機下載相關App應用程式後，可透過商店的感應器進行刷卡交易；但為安全起見，消費者每次開啟手機的信用卡功能，都必須輸入密碼。
開南大學行動商務研發營運中心行銷業務處處長林明海表示，透過有近場無線傳輸（NFC）功能手機可做到將各家信用卡全都放在一支手機上。
以後銀行不但會核發實體信用卡，消費者申請虛擬信用卡並通過認證後，付費時開啟App，也可進行支付。有NFC功能的手機，需要更換符合SWP-SIM規格的SIM卡，非NFC手機可使用具NFC與安全功能的SD卡。
林明海說，一支手機可能含有數張信用卡或其他卡片，一旦失竊，立刻向信託服務管理中心掛失，即可全部停用；手機找回來後，也是一通電話全部重啟，對消費者非常便利。
(自由時報記者王孟倫、陳炳宏）
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