While Taiwan has the necessary infrastructure and each consumer has an average of six cards, payment cards are not used frequently, compared to similar markets.
In Taiwan each debit card is used an average of only once a year, while credit and charge cards are used for around 25 transactions each year.
These figures are comparable to China and Hong Kong but are much lower than in Australia and New Zealand, where on average each payment card is used more than 100 times a year.
Payment card usage frequency and average transaction value in Taiwan (2015)
In many ways, consumer payment transactions in most Asian markets are still very much cash-based.
The densely populated urban nature of markets like Taiwan, where many merchants are within walking distance and ATMs are available at every corner, provides little incentive for people to shift from cash to cards.