How Taiwan Made Cashless Funds Cute

At a 7-Eleven comfort retailer in Taiwan, you possibly can decide up a 4-inch plushie of Miffy, the bunny character from the Netherlands, a mini bento field attraction full with a practical hen drumstick, or a tiny plastic rotary telephone. Produced by iCash Company (a 7-Eleven affiliate), these keychains are extra than simply trinkets: Every comprises a contactless chip that connects it to Taiwan’s elaborate stored-value fee system.

iCash playing cards, together with these made by opponents like EasyCard and iPASS, can be utilized to trip the subway and buses, in addition to to make purchases at comfort shops and different retailers in Taiwan. The over-the-top branded keychains, which price wherever from $10 to over $30, generate modest direct gross sales. However their actual worth lies of their advertising and marketing energy, drawing customers deeper into 7-Eleven’s rewards ecosystem and holding small funds inside its orbit.

Decentralized and Deeply Native

Over the previous decade, iCash Company and its rivals have turned dozens of on a regular basis merchandise in Taiwan into limited-edition keychains. Many are miniature variations of snacks and home items obtainable at 7-Eleven shops, akin to a can of the sports activities drink Tremendous Supau, a tube of Darlie toothpaste, and a cup of Uni-President’s traditional yellow pudding dessert. Those that choose one thing weirder can get a teeny bundle of bathroom tissues, or a doll-sized Scotch-Brite kitchen sponge. After I lived in Taipei for a couple of months final 12 months, I paid for issues with a bag of crinkle-cut potato chips.

iCash Company has additionally licensed Sanrio characters like Hi there Kitty and Cinnamoroll, in addition to Pikachu from Pokémon and Sew from Disney’s Lilo & Sew. One among my favourite Taiwanese fee playing cards isn’t even a keychain in any respect—it’s a plastic model of Sailor Moon’s wand made by EasyCard, which (naturally) lights up once you full a transaction.

I’ve been obsessive about these keychains and novelty toys since I started reporting on Taiwan a number of years in the past. They’re essentially the most pleasant aspect impact of the island’s transfer towards cashless funds, they usually show simply how totally different Taiwan’s digital infrastructure is from China’s. Almost each shopper transaction in China occurs by way of both Alibaba or Tencent, two tech giants which have a close to monopoly on funds. Whether or not you’re shopping for a bowl of noodles at a road stall or a designer purse in a Shanghai boutique, you’ll nearly at all times discover each an Alipay and WeChat Pay QR code.

In distinction, Taiwan has developed a pluralistic community of NFC playing cards and cell wallets layered atop its dense transit system and community of comfort shops. The result’s a cashless framework that’s tactile, decentralized, and deeply native. In Taipei, folks usually “faucet” to pay, whereas in Beijing, they “scan.” A minimum of in some methods, Taiwan’s know-how is arguably simply as subtle as China’s. In reality, Alibaba adopted the island’s lead final 12 months and launched its personal faucet fee technique.