State-run Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐銀行), the main subsidiary of Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控), yesterday said it aims to strengthen mortgage operations this year, as the business helps boost credit card customers and fund sales.
The lender’s mortgage operations last year spiked 64 percent year-on-year to NT$120 billion (US$4.24 billion), carrying its retail banking to second place among domestic peers, despite sharp competition, Mega Bank said.
Mega Bank attributed the achievement to its successful targeting of customers with real demand, namely first-time home buyers and those with relocation needs.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
Mortgage borrowers tend to have long-term relationships with banks and have demonstrated a keen interest in credit card usage, mutual funds, foreign currencies and other financial products and services, Mega Bank said.
Mortgage customers accounted for NT$6.1 billion of fund sales last year, the highest in three years, while contributing NT$2.3 billion in credit card spending, the lender said, adding that 70 percent of mortgage customers own Mega Bank credit cards.
The central bank’s selective credit controls are favorable for the health of the mortgage market, as they require higher capital for property development and multiple home purchases, the lender said.
Mega Bank said it would beef up mortgage operations by increasing its number of clients aged 39 or younger, adding that first-time home buyers underpin this group with an average loan demand of NT$8 million.
The lender would support the government’s program to provide young home buyers with preferential interest rates and make its online services more user-friendly, it said.
When an apartment comes up for rent in Germany’s big cities, hundreds of prospective tenants often queue down the street to view it, but the acute shortage of affordable housing is getting scant attention ahead of today’s snap general election. “Housing is one of the main problems for people, but nobody talks about it, nobody takes it seriously,” said Andreas Ibel, president of Build Europe, an association representing housing developers. Migration and the sluggish economy top the list of voters’ concerns, but analysts say housing policy fails to break through as returns on investment take time to register, making the
‘SILVER LINING’: Although the news caused TSMC to fall on the local market, an analyst said that as tariffs are not set to go into effect until April, there is still time for negotiations US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he would likely impose tariffs on semiconductor, automobile and pharmaceutical imports of about 25 percent, with an announcement coming as soon as April 2 in a move that would represent a dramatic widening of the US leader’s trade war. “I probably will tell you that on April 2, but it’ll be in the neighborhood of 25 percent,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club when asked about his plan for auto tariffs. Asked about similar levies on pharmaceutical drugs and semiconductors, the president said that “it’ll be 25 percent and higher, and it’ll
NOT TO WORRY: Some people are concerned funds might continue moving out of the country, but the central bank said financial account outflows are not unusual in Taiwan Taiwan’s outbound investments hit a new high last year due to investments made by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and other major manufacturers to boost global expansion, the central bank said on Thursday. The net increase in outbound investments last year reached a record US$21.05 billion, while the net increase in outbound investments by Taiwanese residents reached a record US$31.98 billion, central bank data showed. Chen Fei-wen (陳斐紋), deputy director of the central bank’s Department of Economic Research, said the increase was largely due to TSMC’s efforts to expand production in the US and Japan. Investments by Vanguard International
WARNING SHOT: The US president has threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on all imported vehicles, and similar or higher duties on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors US President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested that a trade deal with China was “possible” — a key target in the US leader’s tariffs policy. The US in 2020 had already agreed to “a great trade deal with China” and a new deal was “possible,” Trump said. Trump said he expected Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to visit the US, without giving a timeline for his trip. Trump also said that he was talking to China about TikTok, as the US seeks to broker a sale of the popular app owned by Chinese firm ByteDance Ltd (字節跳動). Trump last week said that he had
RSS