1st third-party payment service goes mobile in Taiwan

2016/05/19

Taiwan’s e-commerce industry received a significant boost May 17 as trial operations began for Gama Pay, the first Taiwan-based third-party payment system devoted to mobile payment services.

The platform allows customers to make payments by scanning the QR codes of the products or services they want to buy with their mobile phones. Upon initiating a transaction, the value of a purchase is deducted from a pre-paid Gama Pay account.

“All payment service providers should endeavor to promote mobile payments by working with all kinds of businesses in the consumer market,” said Albert Liu, CEO of Gamania Group, Gama Pay’s parent company. “We should work to expedite the process of going cashless in Taiwan.”

The Financial Supervisory Commission, Taiwan’s top financial regulator, is a strong proponent of cashless payment systems. In 2013 it gave the green light to mobile credit card payments, which complete transactions with virtual cards on cell phones. By the end of last year, 22 local financial institutions had begun providing such services.

Last week, the government approved the domestic participation of Apple Pay, a major global service by Apple Inc., highlighting Taiwan’s resolve to expand the local mobile payment market.

A total of 27 businesses have now obtained licenses to operate as third-party payment providers, including Gama Pay and four other nonfinancial institutions. Each company accepts deposits and handles online transactions as intermediaries and two of them also process mobile payments, with Gama Pay pioneering in the area.

In order to accelerate the expansion of Taiwan’s electronic payment industry, in September 2015 the FSC established the Financial Technology Office. The FTO recently issued a white paper that set a goal of doubling the percentage of consumer spending in Taiwan through e-payments by 2020. The rate currently stands at 26 percent.

The white paper said Taiwan has great potential to further develop its e-payment sector based on its solid digital infrastructure, citing a 2015 World Economic Forum report that ranked Taiwan fifth in Asia in its Networked Readiness Index, which gauges the ability of a country to make use of opportunities offered by information and communications technology.

Increased use of e-payments is expected to boost Taiwan’s competitiveness, enhance the efficiency of economic activities and improve financial transparency. The FSC has said it will continue studying e-commerce trends both at home and abroad to further develop the industry.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=244835&ctNode=2194&mp=9)