2020-07-30

Visa: Years of digital payment growth condensed into three short months as consumers adjusted to pandemic

  • Online payments grew by 16 points during this period, while number of tokenized transactions rose by 70 percent, indicating acceleration in eCommerce and mobile commerce adoption[1]  
  • The pandemic also opens up opportunities to serve customers in B2B space, in connecting all endpoints and networks, new payment flows, consulting and analytics and fintech engagement
Taipei, Taiwan, July 30, 2020The current pandemic has sped up digital payment adoption in Taiwan, as Visa saw online payment grew by 16 points in the first half of the year compared to the same period last year. The number of tokenized transactions have also gone up by 70 percent year-on-year[2], despite general global economic slowdown.
With eCommerce represents only about 14 percent of global retail spending[3], the shift from physical to digital payment continues to gain traction. As a result, digital payment methods and channels are multiplying, with more choices for consumers than ever, particularly in a digitally driven market such as Taiwan.
Michelle Jao, Visa General Manager, Taiwan, said: “From a digital commerce perspective, the pandemic has accelerated years of progress into the span of a few months. More people are buying online and using contactless payment in Taiwan, which now accounts for seven in ten of all face-to-face transactions[4]. These consumer behaviours will likely persist even after the pandemic, which means businesses will need to calibrate their strategies to meet these consumer expectations.”
In a world that is accelerating towards digital-first experiences, Visa is leveraging our global commerce network to connect the world and move beyond cards and payments to enable the movement of money for everyone, everywhere. In Taiwan, Visa will focus on three major pillars to help our clients and partners to new consumer demand and commerce landscape.  
1. Foster an open ecosystem for collaboration
As digital commerce matures, there is a need to foster an open and more inclusive ecosystem for collaboration. Fintechs play a central part in the future of commerce, as they try to solve unmet needs in the market. Instead of innovating in isolation, Visa are partnering with fintechs in and outside of Taiwan on four major areas of advancement: cross-border remittance, B2B payments, security and identity verification, and customer loyalty.
2. Expand new payment flows
Money flows are in more ways among consumers, corporations and governments than just consumer to business paying for goods and services. And the opportunity to digitise these flows in Asia Pacific alone is more than US$80 trillion.[5] In Taiwan, Visa is applying its global scale and capabilities across all payment flows, namely in cross-border remittance via Visa Direct, money transfer through Visa B2B Connect, and commercial card solutions to meet the needs of our underserved customers, bringing efficiency and transparency in the international movements of money.  
3. Use data analytics and consulting to help clients grow and adapt
The combination of Visa’s deep payment consulting expertise and breadth of data allows the company to identify actionable insights and recommendations that drive better business decisions for our clients and partners. Visa’s visibility of global data and trends, coupled with our ethical approach to personal data, puts the company in an ideal position to help clients and partners make the best use of data to serve customers and end-users. Visa Consulting and Analytics has a strong presence in Taiwan and Asia Pacific with hundreds of Visa consultants and data scientists working to help issuers, acquirers and merchants optimize value creation and capture.
Ms Jao added: “As the world’s largest electronic payments network, Visa wants to bring our core strengths in security, reliability, speed, scalability and availability, to our partners to futureproof their businesses and meet consumer demands, current and undiscovered. As such, there is a need for Visa to expand its networks and apply its capabilities across all payment flows, becoming a single point of connection to help consumers, businesses and governments around the world move money safely and efficiently. ”


[1] Source: Visa Net, June 2020
[2] Source: Visa Net, June 2020
[3] Source: Statista https://www.statista.com/statistics/534123/e-commerce-share-of-retail-sales-worldwide/
[4] Source: Visa Net, June 2020
[5] Reference: Feb. 11, 2020 Visa Investor Day; McKinsey's Global Payments Map; Visa data analysis