Regulating STOs could provide a new equity fundraising channel for startups, but questions remain about the utility of the new rules. Just a few years ago, some virtual currency advocates were suggesting that Taiwan could become a hub for all things crypto in Asia. Given the conservative nature of Taiwan’s financial industry, the thought of…
Internet-only banks could potentially serve a credit-strapped young demographic that prefers to bank online, but what will be the effect on an already saturated banking sector? Taiwan is overbanked. Its 37 banking institutions operate roughly 5,000 branches for a population of about 23 million people. Because the sector’s US$1.6 trillion in assets are spread among…
The competition for market share for mobile-wallet business is intensifying as consumers increasingly settle transactions with their smartphones. Taiwan’s convenience stores have always lived up to their name – with one exception. They refuse to take most debit or credit cards. Besides cash, for years the only way to pay at a convenience store was…
Visa Direct – the more secure, convenient and cost-effective way for international remittance With the rise of fintech, banking is no longer confined to a particular place but is something we can do from anywhere. As banking undergoes industry-wide transformation, financial institutions and technology companies are working together to find new solutions that can better…
Banks remain cautious about embracing full-throated digitization. Customers of Taiwan’s domestic banks sometimes feel like they’re in a time warp. Basic savings accounts often are not automatically equipped with online banking – customers have to request that service. And in many cases, the standard means of tracking account activity is a passbook that must be…
Taiwan aims to pursue financial technology innovation, but over-regulation continues to block the needed experimentation and flexibility. Technological advances are increasingly transforming every aspect of financial services, a phenomenon that has given rise to the term “fintech,” short for financial technology. In Taiwan, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) in 2015 established a Fintech Office to…
As global advances in e-commerce and financial technology (“fintech”) catalyze change in insurance markets, how can Taiwan enable insurers to provide individuals and families with the full insurance coverage they need and close the insurance “protection gap”? In the recently published 2017 Taiwan White Paper, the Insurance Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in…
So far, regulators have been more concerned about the risks of financial innovation than the rewards. Financial industry observers see big potential for Taiwan in the nascent fintech sector, citing the ways in which emerging technologies could help the banking and insurance components of the nation’s financial conglomerates share information safely and efficiently. A special…
