Taipei, June 30 (CNA) The Taiwan branch of Visa Inc., the world’s largest credit and debit card company, said Monday that the usage of electronic payments remains low in Taiwan compared with neighboring Asian economies.
Citing data from the Euromonitor Merchant Segment Study, Visa Taiwan said cash remains the primary method of payment in Taiwan despite the introduction of payment cards over 20 years ago.
Electronic payments represent only 25.8 percent of personal consumption expenditure in Taiwan, far below other Asian markets such as Hong Kong (64.5 percent), China (55.9 percent), South Korea (54.8 percent) and Singapore (53.0 percent), the statistics showed.
According to Visa Taiwan, reliance on cash-based payments can cost a nation between 5 percent to 7 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), while cash payments can impose significant processing costs at the banking and retail levels.
Macro Ma, country manager of Visa Taiwan, said the relatively low personal consumption expenditure from payment cards in Taiwan presents “a tremendous opportunity” to convert cash to safer, more reliable and convenient forms of payment.
“In order to advocate the use of electronic payment, we are committed to continue educating the public on the benefits of electronic payment,” Ma told a press briefing.
While credit cards have become popular in Taiwan, many local retail stores will not accept credit cards because they do not want the tax authorities to know about their financial situations, Ma said.
Other forms of electronic payments such as making payments with an EasyCard –which is widely used on public transportation in Taipei –remain in an early stage of development in Taiwan, leading to the country’s low rate of personal consumption expenditure through payment cards, Ma explained.
“Visa will continue to extend the scope of its work in electronic payment to more people and businesses in Taiwan, making it easier for consumers and merchants to pay and be paid around the globe,” he added.
(By Jeffrey Wu)
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Electronic payment usage remains low in Taiwan: Visa Taiwan
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