NFC Times Exclusive Insight – The issue over availability of tokenization services and whether the major global networks, such as Visa, are allowing for a level playing field among token service providers has reached Taiwan–with a former prime minister and chief banking regulator weighing in on the topic–as Taiwanese officials decide how best to expedite the arrival of such mobile payments services as Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Android Pay.
Taiwanese banking regulators, known for being strict when it comes to how smartphones are provisioned with bank cards, say they are open to allowing tokenization of bank cards to happen outside the country, though many would like to see a local token service provider handle tokenization of cards for Apple Pay and other mobile payments services.
Tokenization by a local company is probably not going to happen for Visa-branded cards for more than a year, with an acknowledgement by Visa last week at a meeting organized by Taiwanese regulators that it wouldn’t have specifications ready to certify third-party token service providers until the second half of 2017.
