Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) yesterday said its co-branded credit card partnership with Costco Wholesale Taiwan Ltd (台灣好市多) is to end on Aug. 7 next year, affecting 2.7 million card holders.
Once the partnership expires, co-branded credit card holders will no longer be able to use them to make purchases at Taiwan’s 14 members-only Costco outlets.
Chinese-language media reported that Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank (台北富邦銀行) recently acquired the exclusive partnership by paying NT$1.2 billion (US$37.4 million) in royalty fees — NT$200 million more than Cathay United paid in 2013 to replace Costco’s preceding partner, CTBC Bank (中信銀行).
Photo: Chang Jui-chen, Taipei Times
During the decade-long alliance, Cathay United Bank grew the number of co-branded credit card holders threefold, from 900,000 in 2014 to 2.7 million today, the lender said.
Costco is touted as the most popular warehouse club in Taiwan. It only accepts the co-branded credit card for cashless purchases.
The US retailer said in a statement yesterday that it is weighing its options regarding a new co-branded credit card partner.
Members’ interests are its primary concern, Costco added.
Taipei Fubon Bank had not commented as of publication time last night.
As of September, CTBC Bank remains the largest credit card issuer in Taiwan with 8.32 million cards, followed by Cathay United Bank’s 7.89 million, government data showed.
By measure of active credit cards — defined as having been used in the past six months — Cathay United Bank places first with 5.57 million, more than CTBC Bank’s 5.18 million, the data showed.
Taipei Fubon Bank ranks fifth in terms of active cards at 4.57 million, and could seize the No. 1 spot if it partners with Costco, as that would boost its number of active credit cards to 5.64 million, analysts said.
Cathay United Bank, the banking arm of Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控), did not try to top Taipei Fubon Bank’s offer, because it was concerned that business expansion would be limited unless Costco Taiwan adds new outlets, analysts said.
Issuing credit cards also generates little profit after factoring in bonuses, discounts, credit and other costs, analysts said.
By contrast, Taipei Fubon Bank, the banking arm of Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控), has ample ability to use creative methods to generate business given its affiliation with e-commerce operator Momo.com Inc (富邦媒體) and telecom operator Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大), analysts said.
Upon the termination of the alliance, Cathay United Bank is encouraging clients to switch to its upcoming CUBE credit cards, which are to have similar cash rebates as their cobranded cards, as well as other benefits.
The bank said it would disclose the details of the CUBE program soon.
Zhang Yazhou was sitting in the passenger seat of her Tesla Model 3 when she said she heard her father’s panicked voice: The brakes do not work. Approaching a red light, her father swerved around two cars before plowing into a sport utility vehicle and a sedan, and crashing into a large concrete barrier. Stunned, Zhang gazed at the deflating airbag in front of her. She could never have imagined what was to come: Tesla Inc sued her for defamation for complaining publicly about the vehicles brakes — and won. A Chinese court ordered Zhang to pay more than US$23,000 in
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said that its investment plan in Arizona is going according to schedule, following a local media report claiming that the company is planning to break ground on its third wafer fab in the US in June. In a statement, TSMC said it does not comment on market speculation, but that its investments in Arizona are proceeding well. TSMC is investing more than US$65 billion in Arizona to build three advanced wafer fabs. The first one has started production using the 4-nanometer (nm) process, while the second one would start mass production using the
US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose up to 100 percent tariffs on Taiwan’s semiconductor exports to the US to encourage chip manufacturers to move their production facilities to the US, but experts are questioning his strategy, warning it could harm industries on both sides. “I’m very confused and surprised that the Trump administration would try and do this,” Bob O’Donnell, chief analyst and founder of TECHnalysis Research in California, said in an interview with the Central News Agency on Wednesday. “It seems to reflect the fact that they don’t understand how the semiconductor industry really works,” O’Donnell said. Economic sanctions would
‘NO DISRUPTION’: A US trade association said that it was ready to work with the US administration to streamline the program’s requirements and achieve shared goals The White House is seeking to renegotiate US CHIPS and Science Act awards and has signaled delays to some upcoming semiconductor disbursements, two sources familiar with the matter told reporters. The people, along with a third source, said that the new US administration is reviewing the projects awarded under the 2022 law, meant to boost US domestic semiconductor output with US$39 billion in subsidies. Washington plans to renegotiate some of the deals after assessing and changing current requirements, the sources said. The extent of the possible changes and how they would affect agreements already finalized was not immediately clear. It was not known
RSS