On June 1, 2007 MasterCard Worldwide in collaboration Kaohsiung City Government announced the official launch of the TaiwanMoney Card, which is the world’s first MasterCard OneSmart™ PayPass™ Chip Combi Card allowing cardholders to make “Tap & Go™” contactless payments at over 51,000 merchant locations worldwide.

Following its pilot launch on 19 October, 2005, the TaiwanMoney Card rapidly gained popularity in Southern Taiwan. According to a Kaohsiung City Government transaction report, the TaiwanMoney Card recorded substantial increases in the number of transactions within the first quarter of this year when compared the last quarter of 2006.

“Taiwan has been at the forefront in the development of contactless payment solutions in Asia/Pacific. Since the introduction of the program in 2005, we have introduced the world’s first contactless 3D key chain and watch equipped with MasterCard PayPass. More recently we announced the launch of the MasterCard PayPass for mobile phones, which leveraged Near Field Communication (NFC) and Over-The-Air (OTA) technology.” said Shuan Ghaidan, head of product sales and delivery, Asia/Pacific, MasterCard Worldwide. The TaiwanMoney Card also won the “Best Transportation Application” at 2005 SESAMES Awards in CARTES Exhibition and Conferences for its simplicity and innovation.

Evolution of the TaiwanMoney Card

• January 2005 – Initial TaiwanMoney Card project announcement
• October 2005 – Launch of TaiwanMoney Card pilot program & issuance of commemorative cards
• November 2005 - Won 2005 SESAMES Award for Best Transportation Application
• July 2006 – Launch of Kaohsiung City Chi-Jin Ferry Citizens card
• July 2006 - Top-up card launch
• June 2007 - Full Scale Roll-Out of the TaiwanMoney Card

According to the recently released transaction report by the Kaohsiung City Government, TaiwanMoney cardholders in Kaohsiung were able to easily pay for transportation usage:

• On public transport within seven southern counties in Southern Taiwan, comprising of 11 traffic transportation companies on 1,700 public buses and 385 traffic routes
• On 6 Kaohsiung City Chi-Jin Ferries, with 23 contactless terminals
• At more than 2,000 merchants across the island

MasterCard Worldwide

• JCB Rolls out Contactless Payment Program in Taiwan
• Visa Launch Asian First payWave Contactless Card in Taiwan
• Global Payments Asia-Pacific Launches CUP Card Acceptance Service in Taiwan
• New NFC Trial In China To Test Over-The-Air Downloads
• Wal-Mart To Launch Credit Card In China
• Hong Kong Joins Visa’s One Million EMV Chip Card Club
• China Southern Expands Deployment of NCR’s Self Check-in Kiosks
• Hong Kong Business and Government Spending Increases 8 Percent in 2006