The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) has released the 2021 results of Financial Inclusion Indicators for Taiwan today to help people understand the state and policy performance of financial inclusion in Taiwan. Meanwhile, the FSC adjusted the indicators for 2022, including newly adding some indicators with local features.
According to the 2021 results released by the FSC (see annex 1), Taiwan outperformed the global average, and many indicators improved compared with 2020. For example, there were in average 2.43 million mobile money transactions and 166 ATMs per 100,000 adults in Taiwan, which was higher than the global average of 1.04 million transactions and 54 ATMs, and these indicators were up by 59.03% and 3.1%, respectively, compared with 2020. Moreover, there were 540 digital savings accounts per 1,000 adults in Taiwan, up by 62.65% compared with 2020. The results show that people in Taiwan enjoy convenience to access financial services and make higher usage of financial services and products, and the performance of promoting financial inclusion is improving significantly.
In addition, among 13 indicators for which targets were set in 2021, 11 indicators reached the targets, as follows: (1) electronic payment institutions and banks have completed barrier-free features for mobile payments; (2) more than 50% of securities brokers now provide off-site account opening services; (3) the number of insurance policies sold online exceeded 2 million; (4) the accumulated number of micro-insurance policyholders exceeded 980,000; (5) the number of valid contracts for small-amount whole life insurance exceeded 600,000; (6) the compulsory auto liability insurance coverage ratio exceeded 90%; (7) the number of valid policies for residential earthquake basic insurance has risen to over 109,000; (8) financial literacy activities have been conducted in all 368 administrative areas in Taiwan, reaching the coverage ratio of 100%; (9) more than 640 financial literacy activities were held and attracted more than 69,000 participants; (10) 18 insurance companies have participated in insurance blockchain services; and (11) all of Taiwan's 14 property insurance companies now provide compulsory auto liability insurance services.
In order to improve the financial inclusion indicator for Taiwan, the FSC adjusts the financial inclusion indicators on a rolling basis, and indicators for 2022 can be found in annex 2. In addition to moving 2 indicators that have 0achieved targets in 2021 into a category called “Indicators which have achieved targets in the past years,” and adjusting the target values of some indicators, 3 indicators with local features have been added. After adjustment, there are 25 performance indicators and 4 observatory indicators. Details are as follows:
1.     2 performance indicators ( “barrier-free mobile payment features for electronic payments, electronic stored value cards, and credit cards” and “Promotion of compulsory auto liability insurance 2.0”) reached the targets in 2021, and thus were moved into the category of “Indicators finished in the past years” and will no longer be included in the 2022 indicators.
2.     The target values for the next 3 years (2022 to 2024) have been adjusted in 4 performance indicators, i.e. “number of insurance policies sold online,” “accumulated number of micro-insurance policyholders,” “number of valid contracts for small amount whole life insurance” and “compulsory auto liability insurance coverage ratio”. The target value of 2023 indicator “growth in number of valid policies for residential earthquake basic insurance” has been adjusted. The target value of 2022 indicator “Coverage ratio of financial literacy activities in 368 administrative areas” has been newly added, and “promoting the broadcasting of financial literacy videos in the waiting rooms of medical care institutions” has been newly added to the target for indicator “holding financial literacy activities.”
3.     In order to strengthen the local characteristics of financial inclusion indicators for Taiwan, 3 new performance indicators have been added, including “the ratio of multilingual ATMs,” “encouraging banks to set up bilingual branches,” and “holding financial literacy activities for new immigrant and female groups.”
The FSC stated that financial inclusion indicators for Taiwan cover financial needs across all different groups. This year, further considering the issues of ethnicity and gender equality, and in line with the policy of promoting a friendly bilingual financial service environment, 3 indicators with local features have been added. The FSC adjusts the performance indicators in a timely manner according to the financial development status and release the results of financial inclusion indicators every year based on reviews of the state of financial inclusion in Taiwan. In the future, the FSC will continue to improve the financial inclusion policy and strengthen the implementation of various measures to meet the financial needs across all sectors or different groups of society and strengthen the financial literacy of the public. By increasing access, usage and quality of financial services, it will achieve inclusive growth and improve the well-being of the public in Taiwan.
Related Files:
Annex 1: 2021 Financial Inclusion Indicators for Taiwan
Annex 2: 2022 Financial Inclusion Indicators for Taiwan