State-run Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐銀行) yesterday ended its currency exchange settlements services for online credit cards after peers and regulators raised issues regarding legal compliance.
The termination came one day after the lender announced it would lower fees to NT$10 per currency exchange settlement valued at less than NT$500,000.
Peers and regulators voiced concern that the offer was tantamount to marketing a cash advance, in contravention of constraints on lenders.
Photo courtesy of Mega International Commercial Bank
Underregulated promotion of cash advances were an issue linked to a credit card debt problem in Taiwan in 2005 and 2006.
Mega Bank said it might have misunderstandings about an exclusive regulatory permit for online credit card operations involving foreign exchange settlements and would halt the disputed service.
Demand for currency exchange settlements is escalating as overseas travel has expanded multifold after countries around the world ditched border restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Phil Tong (童政彰), deputy director of the Financial Supervisory Commission’s Banking Bureau, said that lenders should diligently review legal compliance issues and refrain from questionable practices regardless of whether they are explicitly banned.
The market has undergone drastic changes in the 20 years since Mega Bank was granted a regulatory permit, Tong said, adding that the commission would frown on similar business propositions by other banks.
Credit cards should be used as a payment tool and should provide cash advances only in emergency cases, he said.
The central bank said that in 2005 it approved online currency exchange settlements to facilitate easy transactions, but never agreed to marketing of cash advances.
Mega Bank’s offer of currency exchange settlements to online credit card operations drew protests from peers partly because the local banking market is excessively competitive, rendering exclusive practices controversial.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday obtained the government’s approval to inject an additional US$7.5 billion into its US subsidiary, the Department of Investment Review said in a statement. The department approved TSMC’s application of investing in TSMC Arizona Corp, which is engaged in the manufacturing, sales, testing and design of IC and other semiconductor devices, it said. The latest capital injection follows a US$5 billion investment for TSMC Arizona approved in June. The chipmaker has broken ground on two advanced fabs in Arizona with aggregated investments approved by the department totaling US$24 billion thus far. According to TSMC, the first Arizona
The lethal hack of Hezbollah’s Asian-branded pagers and walkie-talkies has sparked an intense search for the devices’ path, revealing a murky market for older technologies where buyers might have few assurances about what they are getting. While supply chains and distribution channels for higher-margin and newer products are tightly managed, that is not the case for older electronics from Asia where counterfeiting, surplus inventories and complex contract manufacturing deals can sometimes make it impossible to identify the source of a product, analysts and consultants say. The response from the companies at the center of the booby-trapped gadgets that killed 37
FRIENDLY TAKEOVER: While Qualcomm Inc’s proposal to buy some or all of Intel raises the prospect of other competitors, Broadcom Inc is staying on the sidelines Qualcomm Inc has approached Intel Corp to discuss a potential acquisition of the struggling chipmaker, people with knowledge of the matter said, raising the prospect of one of the biggest-ever merger and acquisition deals. California-based Qualcomm proposed a friendly takeover for Intel in recent days, said the sources, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. The proposal is for all of the chipmaker, although Qualcomm has not ruled out buying some parts of Intel and selling off others. It is uncertain whether the initial approach would lead to an agreement and any deal is likely to come under close antitrust scrutiny
SECURITY CONCERNS: The proposed ban on Chinese autonomous vehicle software and hardware would go into effect with the 2027 and 2030 model years respectively The US Department of Commerce today is expected to propose prohibiting Chinese software and hardware in connected and autonomous vehicles on US roads due to national security concerns, two sources said. US President Joe Biden’s administration has raised concerns about the collection of data by Chinese companies on US drivers and infrastructure as well as the potential foreign manipulation of vehicles connected to the Internet and navigation systems. The proposed regulation would ban the import and sale of vehicles from China with key communications or automated driving system software or hardware, said the two sources, who declined to be identified because the