Taipei EasyCard Corp said yesterday it would expand the use of EasyCards to fast food chains and gas stations this year as part of efforts to promote use of the cards as electronic wallets.
The company launched EasyCard as an electronic wallet that can store up to NT$10,000 in value last April.
Cards can be used at more than 12,000 outlets, from convenience stores and restaurants to supermarkets.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Before last year, use of the card was restricted to paying for public transportation.
Celebrating the first anniversary of the EasyCard as an e-wallet yesterday, company chairman Liu I-cheng (劉奕成) said the firm is working to have the card accepted at major fast food chains including McDonalds, and gas stations this year, as well as launching a reward program for e-wallet users to enable them to gain bonus points with each transaction.
The company is also looking into the possibility of integrating the cards with ATM cards, allowing cardholders to withdraw money from bank accounts and shop using the card, he said yesterday at a celebration ceremony.
The company has issued 24 million EasyCards, and 4.5 million users have used the cards as e-wallets, with more than 80 percent of the daily 280,000 transactions taking place at convenience stores, the company said.
Former company chairman Sean Lien (連勝文), son of former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (連戰), also attended the ceremony yesterday, attracting media attention as he has rarely been seen in public snce being shot in the face at a campaign rally for a local politician in what was then Taipei County in November.
As the key figure who pushed for the e-wallet program during his time as company president, Sean Lien expressed his pride in the program.
He declined to comment rumors linking him to the post of deputy mayor in Taipei City.
“Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) is not here today, and I’m not in a position to discuss the issue,” he said.
There are two deputy mayors in the Taipei City Government. The Hau administration plans to add one more deputy mayor to the team, and Sean Lien has been spoken about as a likely candidate for the position.
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
Taiwan is planning to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based X-ray imaging to customs clearance points over the next four years to curb the smuggling of contraband, a Customs Administration official said. The official on condition of anonymity said the plan would cover meat products, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, large bundles of banknotes and certain agricultural produce. Taiwan began using AI image recognition systems in July 2021. This year, generative AI — a subset of AI which uses generative models to produce data — would be used to train AI models to produce realistic X-ray images of contraband, the official
RSS