The FSC stated that it seeks to assist businesses (including FinTech startup teams) to overcome difficulties in FinTech development and provide necessary assistance amid the rapid development of FinTech in recent years. The FSC has conducted 24 sessions of interviews with stakeholders and organized 3 FinTech development seminars to gather viewpoints and recommendations from participants in the ecosystem. The FSC also considered the current international FinTech trends as well as the critical areas and actual demands for the current development of FinTech in Taiwan to formulate the "FinTech Development Roadmap" as the guiding policy for the next 3 years.

  The FinTech Development Roadmap includes four objectives, three principles, and eight implementation strategies which are described below:

1.Implementation objectives:

(1)Inclusive: Promote financial services to satisfy varying needs of different businesses and consumers to achieve convenience and inclusion.

(2)Innovative: Uphold a balanced principle of "encouraging innovation and preventing risks" to promote responsible innovation and increase the value of the finance industry.

(3)Resilient: Ensure the capital adequacy as well as operational and financial soundness of financial service providers, implement a culture of integrity, and enhance the financial system resilience through robust risk management measures.

(4)Sustainable: Encourage financial service providers to fulfill social responsibility, promote sustainability, and work toward creating prosperity for the economy, environment, and society.

2.Implementation principles

(1)Functional and behavioral supervision: Convert the financial supervision mindset from the institutional management approach to the functional and behavioral approach. Encourage the development of innovative business models and effectively identify and control risks to protect the rights and interests of financial market users.

(2)Technology neutrality: Encourage the use of technologies to enhance operation efficiency and performance, create an environment for fair competition, increase financial consumer benefits, and enhance the competitiveness of the industry.

(3)Innovation friendly: Implement policies to support innovation and entrepreneurship resources and create a vibrant FinTech ecosystem to promote the eight implementation strategies below.

3.Implementation strategies:

(1)Enhance the FSC FinTech Innovation Center''s role as a platform for communication on issues and cross-agency collaboration. Help businesses resolve common issues and assign peripheral organizations to set up the FinTech Co-creation Platform for relevant development promoting.

(2)Adjust digital finance related rules and regulations to facilitate the development of cross-industry, cross-border and scenario-based financial services.

(3)Integrate public and private resources to jointly create data value and provide financial services catered to consumer needs.

(4)Formulate plans for promoting FinTech certificates to increase the capacity of overall R&D applications on the market.

(5)Organize FinTech contests, select FinTech international teams, and strengthen connections with the international community.

(6)Expand the domain and functions of FinTechSpace, strengthen the fintech ecosystem, and build a directory of startups and diverse communication channels to assist startups in fundraising and pitch & match.

(7)Select FinTech image ambassadors and continue to organize FinTech exhibitions or forums to increase the visibility of FinTech development in Taiwan.

(8)Advance digital supervision mechanisms and host the Taiwan RegTech Challenge to promote RegTech/SupTech development.

  According to the aforementioned objectives and principles, the Roadmap will be implemented in a phased manner over the next three years. It mainly includes the eight major dimensions and key measures set forth below:

1.One-stop communication platform: Enhance the FSC FinTech Innovation Center''s current role as a platform for communication on issues and cross-agency collaboration. Assign peripheral organizations to set up the FinTech Co-creation Platform for relevant development promoting.

2.Data sharing: Accelerate the development of "open banking (open finance)"; establish TSP cooperation information disclosure system; establish mechanisms and rules for customer data sharing by financial holding company subsidiaries; establish mechanisms and rules for cross-institutional sharing of customer data in the financial market; establish mechanisms and rules for cross-market sharing of customer data.

3.Regulatory adjustment and codes of ethics: compile and amend existing rules and regulations accommodating digital financial services; outsource research on the feasibility of the "Rules for the Administration of Digital Financial Services"; evaluate the feasibility of adopting the principle of proportionality, tiered management, or restrictive licensing for supervision of digital financial services; enhance the operating efficiency of the regulatory sandbox; establish data classification and data governance standards; track the status of fintech development, study the establishment of subject-specific best practice principles, and enhance consumers’ understanding of fintech services and associated risks.

4.Capacity building: Study the establishment of a FinTech certificate system; Study the adjustment of qualification requirements and competency standards for legal representatives of financial institutions; enhance industrial-academic cooperation mechanisms; establish FinTech learning maps for regulators.

5.Digital infrastructure development: Develop a standard mechanism for mobile identity verification; allow online corporate account opening.

6.FinTechSpace ecosystem development: Establish mechanisms for field experiment in FinTechSpace; expand the domain and functions of FinTechSpace; establish startup directory; expand regulatory clinics and coordinate common issues in a full-fledged approach; assist startups in fundraising and matchmaking; organize FinTech awards.

7.International networking: Foster international-calibre fintech teams and enhance oversea business expansion; recruit and select FinTech image ambassadors and advertising/ promotion staff; continue to organize the FinTech Taipei Exhibition or Forum to demonstrate the achievements of FinTech development; strengthen exchange and develop business opportunities through cooperation.

8.SupTech/RegTech development: Advance digital supervision mechanisms; organize the Taiwan RegTech Challenge to promote SupTech development.

  Businesses daring to innovate is the requisite for FinTech development, which relies on new technologies and applications and also requires accommodation of current laws and regulations to practice. The FSC will continue to render support and encourage responsible innovation. The FSC gathered information from international trends and recommendations from stakeholders, and proposed its vision for development in the FinTech Development Roadmap. It aims to create a more friendly and innovative ecosystem for FinTech development in the next three years to increase the competitiveness of the market in Taiwan and provide financial consumers with more efficient and high-quality digital financial services.

The "FinTech Development Roadmap (Excerpt)", information pack, and presentation are enclosed for your reference.

Contact person: Wei-Lang Chang, Section Chief, Financial Technology Development and Innovation Center

Telephone: (02)8968-0048

If you have any questions, please send an email to us.