The amendments to "The Act Governing Electronic Payment Institutions" (hereinafter referred to as the "Act") has been promulgated by the President on December 7, 2020, and the scheduled effective date of the Act set on July 1, 2021 has been approved by the Executive Yuan. The amendments to the Act not only aimed at the goal of creating a payments ecosystem  but also allowed cross-institutional money transfer services through the establishment of an "inter-institutional electronic payment institutions platform". In response to the amendment, a total of 18 sub-regulations, ordinances, or administrative rules should be amended or enacted accordingly, of which 16 are governed by the FSC, one by the Central Bank, and one by the Ministry of Finance thereof. Regarding the 16 regulations governed by the FSC, 14 sub-regulations are required to announce the drafts publicly before promulgated officially, so they will be announced shortly to seek the public opinions in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act. The other two ordinances are not sub-regulations, so this procedure is not required.
    For drafting sub-regulations, ordinances, and the amendments, the FSC consulted the Bankers Association of the Republic of China (hereinafter the “Association”) to set up an ad hoc team to collect opinions from related member institutions. The Association had held many meetings, and then proposed recommendations for the draft amendments to the FSC. The FSC, thereafter, had convened 10 conferences with the related government agencies, businesses, professionals, and scholars since April 6, 2021, completing the whole drafts of the sub-regulations, ordinances, and amendments.
　 The main points in the drafts and amendments are as follows:
I. Two new sub-regulations:
　　(I) Draft of the "Regulations Governing Small Amount Remittances by Foreign Migrant Workers": Approved service providers will be allowed to provide foreign migrant workers with small amount remittances services. Through legitimate, secure, and transparent channels, those foreign workers may remit their salary back to their home countries conveniently and at a low cost.  This new business meets the needs for building up a differentiated governance mechanism and a scheme of limited licenses issuance after the FinTech innovation experiments completed. The drafted regulations specifies that companies shall engage in the service of "small amount remittances to  foreign migrant workers" as an independent business (with a dedicated department, personnel, and independent accounting). The validity period of the business license granted by the FSC will be 3 years, providing that the companies may apply for renewal before the expiry. The draft also specifies a minimum paid-in capital (or allocated operating capital) of NT$100 million, fund protection mechanisms that require all remittance transactions to be delivered in full to a trust or obtain full guarantee from a bank, and limits on remittances.
　　(II)  Draft of the "Regulations Governing Qualification Requirements and Concurrent Serving Restrictions and matters for Compliance by the Responsible Persons of Electronic Payment Institutions": Considering the responsible person of an electronic payment institution will affect its business performance and development, the draft specifies the positive and negative qualifications and requirements for the responsible person, concurrent serving restrictions, training, and matters for compliance. The purpose of this regulations is set to boost the electronic payment institutions to operate in a safe and sound manner.
II. Main points of five of the other 12 amended sub-regulations are as follows:
　　(I) Draft amendments to the "Regulations Regarding Paragraph 2, Article 3 of the Act Governing Electronic Payment Institutions": After the FSC weighed up the trend of the growth on the businesses such as online retail sales, online shopping, and mail-order business, the regulation regarding the criteria of third-party payment service providers being incorporated into financial supervision system has been modified accordingly. It means that criteria of the “certain amount” prescribed in the current regulation for the average daily balance of funds collected/paid and kept by the third-party payment services companies, which only operates collecting and making payments for real transactions as an agent, shall be raised from the current NT$1 billion to NT$2 billion.
　　(II)  Draft amendments to the "Regulations Governing the Dedicated Deposit Account of Electronic Payment Institutions": In accordance with the Act governing payment settlements between institutions, Financial Information Service Co., Ltd. will establish the "inter-institutional electronic payment institutions platform." The draft amendments include the related operating mechanisms for the "settlement bank" and "settlement account," and the mechanisms governing inter-institutions payment settlements in both the “managing bank” and the “settlement bank.” This draft is set to ensure that the payments settlements between institutions, fund transfers between electronic payment institutions and other financial institutions (such as banks, etc.) and payments settlements between merchants across different institutions may operate smoothly. It is also expected to reach the goal of funds transferring conveniently and sharing distributions.
　　(III) Draft amendment to the "Regulations Governing Cooperating with or Assisting Foreign Institutions in Engaging in Activities Associated with Electronic Payment Business within the Territory of the Republic of China": The amendment includes a provision to allow the use of stored value cards as payment facilities for cooperation matters between approved institutions and foreign institutions. It also allows the cooperation approach in which the "domestic settlement service institutions" or the "foreign settlement service institutions" could provide account settlement, system interfacing, data transmission, and exchange services.
　　(IV) Draft amendment to the "Regulations Governing Identity Verification Mechanism and Transaction Limits for Users of Electronic Payment Institutions": To enhance the identity verification mechanisms of electronic payment institutions, the amendment specifies the mechanisms for verifying the mobile phone number provided by users, procedures for verifying the name, and financial instrument categories for which the use of Type 3 digital accounts for identity verification is excluded. The amendment also raised the maximum amount of stored value for Type 1 e-payment accounts from current NT$50,000 to NT$100,000.
　　(V) Draft amendment to the "Rules Governing the Administration of Electronic Payment Business": The amendment includes the related administration mechanisms for businesses permitted in accordance with the Act such as domestic and foreign small amount remittances and provide shared terminal devices for contracted institutions. Additionally, it requires electronic payment institutions to complete procedures for classification as public companies.
　　The aforementioned draft sub-regulations or draft amendments will be published in the official gazette of the Executive Yuan and on the FSC website. If anyone has any comments, please visit the webpage of “Notice of Draft Regulations” on the FSC “Laws and Regulations Retrieving System” website (URL: https://law.fsc.gov.tw/index.aspx), and state your opinions within 14 days after the announcement.
     The FSC added that, during the Covid-19 pandemic, cash payments may increase the risks of infections. To prevent transmission, the FSC also advised the public to use non-cash payment facilities to reduce the probability of infections. The implementation of the Act with the related sub-regulations and ordinances will enhance the convenience for daily payment, and reduce the risks of spread and infections. It will help to create a friendly environment for the development of non-cash payment instruments and diverse mobile payments in Taiwan, as well as to accelerate the promotion of financial inclusion. The FSC will proactively proceed the following amending procedures.