September Credit Card Spending of NT$460 Billion Sets Record for Same Period
The Financial Supervisory Commission announced on the 10th its September 2026 credit card statistics, with single-month spending of about NT$460 billion, up about NT$27.4 billion from NT$432.6 billion in August, a record high for the same period and the fifth-highest single-month total on record. Banking Bureau Deputy Director-General Wang Yun-chung said growth momentum mainly came from department store anniversary sales, new iPhone launches, plus travel and dining spending during the Mid-Autumn holiday. Cumulative spending for the first nine months reached NT$4 trillion 2239 billion, also a record high for the same period, showing steady private consumption momentum.
CTBC Bank Holds Both Spending and Issuance Crowns
As of the end of September this year, there were 32 credit card issuers, with about 59.61 million cards in circulation and about 40.21 million effective cards. The top five banks by September spending were CTBC Bank with NT$89.01 billion, Cathay United Bank with NT$84.3 billion, Taipei Fubon Bank with NT$57.318 billion, E.SUN Bank with NT$55.645 billion and Taishin Bank with NT$51.429 billion, with CTBC Bank holding the spending crown. CTBC Bank also led in monthly new cards, with the top five at CTBC Bank with 181,574 cards, E.SUN Bank with 60,000 7795 cards, Cathay United Bank with 44,615 cards, Taishin Bank with 43,329 cards and Taipei Fubon Bank with 38,036 cards, taking the issuance crown for a dual-crown lead.
DBS Taiwan Suspends 181,600 Cards in Single Month to Clear Dormant Cards
Notably, DBS Bank Taiwan suspended 181,600 cards in September in a single month. Wang Yun-chung explained this was mainly due to DBS clearing holders with no consumption for 12 consecutive months, routine dormant-card cleanup, not a signal of business retrenchment.
E-Payment Users Up 370,000, Collection and Payment Services Dip Slightly
For non-cash payments, transactions in the first three quarters totaled 7.064 billion transactions for NT$7.7 trillion, versus full-year targets of 8 billion transactions and NT$10 trillion, achieving 88.29% and 77% respectively. For e-payments, as of end-September there were 10 dedicated e-payment institutions and 19 concurrent institutions, with total e-payment account users at 42.26 million, up 370,000 month-on-month. Agency collection and payment transactions for the month totaled about NT$33.79 billion, down about NT$340 million month-on-month, which Wang Yun-chung attributed to a lack of large promotions by some operators during the month, reduced e-commerce and physical-channel transactions, with some operators also reporting reduced travel and leisure spending after school started. In addition, domestic and cross-border small-value remittances totaled about NT$18.54 billion, up about NT$270 million from the prior month, stored value received totaled about NT$32.77 billion, down about NT$120 million, with payment balances of about NT$21.48 billion, up about NT$140 million.