The Cathay United Bank (
The Cathay United-Pacific Sogo card can be used as a MasterCard credit card and it also comes with a range of Lin Yuan Group benefits, said Roger Lee (
In addition, the cardholders can accumulate loyalty program points and participate in Sogo member-only packages, including discounts on purchases at Sogo stores, Lee added.
Such partnerships are good for both Cathay United and Pacific Sogo. The bank is expected to expand its credit card customer base from the current 800,000 to an estimated of 1.5 million by the end of the year, making it one of the biggest three credit card issuers on the island, Lee said.
The deal will also help transfer Sogo's 1.4 million in-house debit cardholders into MasterCard credit cardholders, offering customers more advanced financial services, said Darren Chang (章啟正), executive director of Pacific Sogo.
Chang said he expects to see above 700,000 Sogo in-house debit cards be transferred into affinity credit cards this year.
The Chinese language media reported that Cathay United -- who beat out competitors Chinatrust Commercial Bank (
Chang declined to comment on that figure, but he did say the Linyuan Group has strong financial resources to support the promotion of the new cards, including the 5 million customers of its affiliate Cathay Life Insurance Co (
Pacific Sogo is a unit of Pacific Construction Co (太平洋建設), which manages 15 department stores in both Taiwan and China.
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