Imagine a credit card with no preset spending limit that allows you to buy a car, a yacht or even an estate. You can probably get one provided you earn NT$3 million a year and are willing to fork over a NT$20,000 annual fee.
Taishin International Bank's (台新銀行) new Visa Infinite card (無限卡) "will be by invitation only," said Eric Wu (吳東亮), chairman of Taishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控), at a launching ceremony for the card yesterday afternoon.
Wu said that the first targeted pool of potential cardholders will be from the bank's wealth management clients, who have an annual income of over NT$3 million.
Four Infinite cards were given to yesterday's honorary guests including Rosemary Ho (
Visa Infinite cardholders will enjoy benefits such as travel insurance coverage as high as NT$50 million, free parking in some 50 parking lots, free entry to some cultural activities and 24-hour concierge services that can help to arrange parties and banquets free of charge, Daniel Tsai (蔡孟峰), general manager of the holding company's retail banking group, said at the same ceremony.
The bank charges an annual fee of NT$20,000 for the card, Tsai said.
The cards are a prestige issue, giving users big face as only 20,000 Infinite cards have been issued globally. Taishin is the first bank in Asia to issue the cards.
Visa International's Clark said that the Infinite card caters to the needs of the top 1 percent of the highest spending consumers worldwide. The bank estimates the number of potential cardholders in Taiwan at around 100,000.
Visa International's research showed that the typical Infinite cardholder is a professional or entrepreneur between the ages of 35 and 54, earning at least US$100,000 a year.
William Fong (
"The card will help boost the bank's transaction income," Fong said.
"Even though other banks provide similar wealth-management products, there's still a lot of room for growth," he said.
The card launch coincides with Taishin opening its newly renovated flagship wealth-management center in Taipei.
SELL-OFF: Investors expect tariff-driven volatility as the local boarse reopens today, while analysts say government support and solid fundamentals would steady sentiment Local investors are bracing for a sharp market downturn today as the nation’s financial markets resume trading following a two-day closure for national holidays before the weekend, with sentiment rattled by US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff announcement. Trump’s unveiling of new “reciprocal tariffs” on Wednesday triggered a sell-off in global markets, with the FTSE Taiwan Index Futures — a benchmark for Taiwanese equities traded in Singapore — tumbling 9.2 percent over the past two sessions. Meanwhile, the American depositary receipts (ADRs) of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the most heavily weighted stock on the TAIEX, plunged 13.8 percent in
A wave of stop-loss selling and panic selling hit Taiwan's stock market at its opening today, with the weighted index plunging 2,086 points — a drop of more than 9.7 percent — marking the largest intraday point and percentage loss on record. The index bottomed out at 19,212.02, while futures were locked limit-down, with more than 1,000 stocks hitting their daily drop limit. Three heavyweight stocks — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (Foxconn, 鴻海精密) and MediaTek (聯發科) — hit their limit-down prices as soon as the market opened, falling to NT$848 (US$25.54), NT$138.5 and NT$1,295 respectively. TSMC's
TARIFFS: The global ‘panic atmosphere remains strong,’ and foreign investors have continued to sell their holdings since the start of the year, the Ministry of Finance said The government yesterday authorized the activation of its NT$500 billion (US$15.15 billion) National Stabilization Fund (NSF) to prop up the local stock market after two days of sharp falls in reaction to US President Donald Trump’s new import tariffs. The Ministry of Finance said in a statement after the market close that the steering committee of the fund had been given the go-ahead to intervene in the market to bolster Taiwanese shares in a time of crisis. The fund has been authorized to use its assets “to carry out market stabilization tasks as appropriate to maintain the stability of Taiwan’s
STEEP DECLINE: Yesterday’s drop was the third-steepest in its history, the steepest being Monday’s drop in the wake of the tariff announcement on Wednesday last week Taiwanese stocks continued their heavy sell-off yesterday, as concerns over US tariffs and unwinding of leveraged bets weighed on the market. The benchmark TAIEX plunged 1,068.19 points, or 5.79 percent, to 17,391.76, notching the biggest drop among Asian peers as it hit a 15-month low. The decline came even after the government on late Tuesday authorized the NT$500 billion (US$15.2 billion) National Stabilization Fund (國安基金) to step in to buoy the market amid investors’ worries over tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump. Yesterday’s decline was the third-steepest in its history, trailing only the declines of 2,065.87 points on Monday and
RSS