iPASS e-wallet users are able to pay for various public transportation services across the nation starting yesterday by simply displaying an iPASS QR code on their regular banking apps.
Passengers are able to use the iPASS "TWQR" Travel Code on the Kaohsiung Metro, Kaohsiung Light Rail, Taichung Metro, New Taipei Metro and other bus, ferry and rail services, iPASS Corp said in a news release yesterday.
By opening a payment app on their mobile phone, selecting the QR, and scanning it at the ticket barrier reader, passengers can pay for transportation services directly from their iPASS accounts -- without needing physical cash, tickets, or cards.
Photo courtesy of iPass Corp
iPASS announced the new service at a press conference held at Formosa Boulevard Station in Kaohsiung yesterday.
Chen Yen-Liang (陳彥良), vice chairperson of Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission, Wang Hong-rong (王宏榮), deputy secretary-general of the Kaohsiung City government, and other figures witnessed the launch event that was also broadcast online.
According to the company, the iPASS "TWQR" Travel Code was developed by the Financial Information Service Co, which integrated the QR Code Common Payment Standard with the Ministry of Transportation and Communication’s "Transportation Ticket Two-Dimensional Barcode Data Format Standard."
iPASS explained that the system connects the two main payment networks -- banks and electronic payment institutions -- via an "Electronic Payment Cross-Institution Shared Platform."
The first group of financial institutions to support the iPASS "TWQR" Travel Code are the Bank of Taiwan, Land Bank of Taiwan, Taiwan Cooperative Bank, First Bank, Hua Nan Bank, Chang Hwa Bank, Mega Bank, Taiwan Business Bank, and Chunghwa Post.
iPASS said the service officially began yesterday for customers of the nine financial institutions, with plans to expand nationwide to include more transport networks.
To encourage people to try out the new service, the nine participating financial institutions will offer 100 percent rebate on fares paid with the iPASS "TWQR" Travel Code from April 15 to Dec. 31 this year.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
RSS