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Near Field Communication and all contactless technology

NFC TIMES Exclusive Insight – While Visa’s country office in Taiwan was touting the fact that Taiwan ranks as one of the top countries in Asia Pacific for acceptance and use of contactless payments only six months ago, that hasn’t stopped the big payments network from actively promoting QR code payments on the island nation, too.

NFC TIMES Exclusive Insight – KEB Hana Bank of South Korea and Taishin International Bank of Taiwan have demonstrated the transfer of bonus points and purchase of coupons using Blockchain technology, with KEB Hana Bank planning to launch initial service for visitors to the Winter Olympics next February in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

NFC TIMES Exclusive Insight – Samsung made it official, launching Samsung Pay commercially today in Taiwan with seven banks, as expected, following Apple Pay to the market by about two months and beating Android Pay, which is expected to launch on the island nation as early as next week. 

NFC TIMES Exclusive Insight – TAIPEI, Taiwan: Apple launched its mobile payments service in Taiwan today, before the end of the month as expected, as the tech giant expands Apple Pay to its 15^th market globally.

NFC TIMES Exclusive – TAIPEI, Taiwan: Apple will collect a cut of transaction fees from Taiwanese banks on credit card transactions that is around the same level as the tech giant takes from U.S. credit card issuers, when Apple Pay launches in Taiwan, expected later this month, NFC Times has learned.

NFC TIMES Exclusive Insight – Two years after launch, Apple says Apple Pay users carried out hundreds of millions of transactions worth billions of dollars during the fourth quarter, Apple CEO Tim Cook told financial analysts Thursday, although Apple still doesn’t release actual transaction figures.

NFC Times Exclusive –  TAIPEI, Taiwan: At least six of Taiwan’s largest card issuers are lined up to participate in Apple Pay when it launches on the island nation, expected before the end of the first quarter, NFC Times has learned.

NFC Times Exclusive – Sony Mobile has no plans to introduce its own payments service, choosing instead to work with local mobile payments service providers market by market, NFC Times has learned.

NFC Times Exclusive Insight – Samsung today disclosed plans in a local forum to launch Samsung Pay in Taiwan next year with several banks and a closed-loop payments service, iPASS, which could be used for transit fare collection. The launch is expected around the first quarter.

NFC Times Exclusive – E.Sun Commercial Bank, a top five card issuer in Taiwan, plans to launch NFC payments from its own wallet app using host-card emulation, NFC Times has learned, the first major Taiwanese bank to make the move.