One way to better control the pandemic is to reduce the need for people to leave home or handle financial business in person at service counters. At the same time, providing more financial services online helps to ensure that financial institutions maintain continuous business operations. Accordingly, the FSC has adopted a number of measures to spur financial institutions to improve mechanisms related to digital finance, and to provide greater choice and convenience to make consumers more willing to use online financial services. Relief measures, as well, will hopefully be handled online as much as possible. Measures adopted by the FSC to achieve these objectives include the following:
1.In the wake of an announcement by the Central Epidemic Command Center that the level 3 COVID-19 alert had been expanded to apply nationwide, the FSC announced on 20 May 2021 that whenever a COVID-19 alert level of 3 or higher is in effect in any single county or municipality, interbank account transfer service charges will be completely waived for transfers made via online banking (including mobile banking) services, and interbank account transfer service charges for transfers made by physical ATM will be reduced by NT$2.
2.Banks are encouraged to handle COVID relief loans digitally whenever possible, and are allowed to handle identity confirmation online for relief loans that meet the relief loan rules of the government agency program under which such loans are extended. Also, to make it easier for corporate customers to take out loans online during the pandemic, the FSC on 2 June 2021 approved a security mechanism (filed by the ROC Bankers Association) that allows existing corporate customers to take out loans online, and also allows for corporate COVID relief loans to be handled digitally.
3.On 2 June 2021, the FSC asked the ROC Bankers Association to inform its member banks that the application deadline for individual debt workouts made necessary by the pandemic had been extended from June 2021 to end-December 2021, and to ask banks to handle such workouts online as much as possible (provided that compliance with each bank's internal controls is assured). This approach is intended to facilitate the provision of financial services while at the same time protecting the health of bank employees.
4.The FSC asked the ROC Bankers Association to further study security mechanisms that would allow new corporate customers to take out loans and handle identity confirmation online. This new approach will be implemented after the Bankers Association has completed the necessary model contracts and self-regulatory rules. The FSC has also asked the Bankers Association to act as quickly as possible to allow the launch of other online financial services to ensure that financial service needs are met during the pandemic.