On the morning of December 22, Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Vice Chairperson Yung-Chin Hsu, National Development Council Deputy Minister Chien-Hwa Yu, and Political Deputy Minister of Finance Ching-Hwa Juan proceeded together to southern Taiwan to conduct visits at two pilot bilingual branches there for the first time. The branches visited were both in Kaohsiung City -- the Zuoying Branch of E.Sun Commercial Bank ("E.Sun Bank") and the North Kaohsiung Branch of Hua Nan Commercial Bank ("Hua Nan Bank").
In support of the government's Bilingual Nation 2030 policy, the FSC is encouraging banks to set up pilot bilingual branches, help employees improve their English ability, and create service environments that are conducive to the provision of bilingual financial services. From December 2019 through November 2020, visits have been conducted at four pilot bilingual branches in northern Taiwan (DBS Bank Taiwan's Tianmu Branch, Mega International Commercial Bank's Lanya Branch, the CTBC Bank's City Hall Branch, and the First Commercial Bank's Yanji Branch), and at two pilot bilingual branches in central Taiwan (the Shi Zheng Branch of Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank, and the Taichung Branch of Chang Hwa Commercial Bank), while this trip represents the first visit to pilot bilingual branches in southern Taiwan.
Domestic banks have actively responded to the Bilingual Nation 2030 policy by adopting plans to open pilot bilingual branches in northern, central, and southern Taiwan. The FSC, taking into account the progress of banks in implementing these plans, chose to travel to Kaohsiung for visits to the Zuoying Branch of E.Sun Bank and the North Kaohsiung Branch of Hua Nan Bank. Each of these pilot bilingual branches has its own distinctive features. The main line of business at the Zuoying Branch of E.Sun Bank is retail banking. The Zuoying Branch is located near schools, shopping districts, and tourist attractions, so the many foreign teachers, students, company employees, and travelers in the area present strong demand for currency exchange services. The branch provides convenient and customer-friendly digital banking equipment of the sort that foreign nationals often use, and a lot of art works based on the theme of Jade Mountain (the "E.Sun" in the bank's name means "Jade Mountain" in Chinese) are on display at the branch. In addition to providing customer-friendly banking services, therefore, the Zuoying Branch also familiarizes people from around the world with Taiwan's tremendous natural beauty. Meanwhile, the North Kaohsiung Branch of Hua Nan Bank is a traditionally large bank branch. Located not far from the Zuoying Branch, it operates many different lines of business. Most of its foreign customers are teachers, students, company employees, and travelers. In order to provide foreign customers with comprehensive information on its services, the North Kaohsiung Branch is the first bank branch in all of Taiwan to install bilingual customer service kiosks with an AI voice interface. It also provides bilingual 24-hour human customer service. These features make the branch's services more convenient and ensures that they are available without interruption. At these two pilot bilingual branches, the multilingual service counters provide a customer-friendly experience in every way, including the counter staff, the transaction forms, the environment, and the facilities. These features show that our domestic banks are well capable of providing friendly, innovative, and internationalized financial services.
In the course of its several visits to pilot bilingual branches, the FSC has discovered that different pilot branches all have different special features. After all visits have been completed, the FSC will prepare a report detailing how each of the visited branches has designed and developed unique bilingual pilot branches that reflect the character of the local area, the types of customers it serves, and its own corporate culture. This report will be provided to other banks for their reference.
Since the FSC began promoting pilot bilingual branches last year, 15 banks have opened 69 such branches (see the attached table), and consumers with a need for bilingual banking services are encouraged to make use of them. The FSC urges banks to open more pilot bilingual branches in order to create friendly bilingual services.
Contact: Chiu, Chien-Hung, Domestic Banks Division, Banking Bureau
Tel: (02) 8968-9675
For further information, please send a message via:
https://fscmail.fsc.gov.tw