IRON LAW: Support At Least 3 Payment Methods in Taiwan
Taiwan consumers expect choice. Credit card alone misses ~40% of potential
buyers. The minimum viable payment mix for Taiwan e-commerce:
1. Credit card (信用卡)
2. ATM/bank transfer (ATM 虛擬帳號)
3. Convenience store payment (超商代碼/超商取貨付款)
Adding LINE Pay and Apple Pay captures another 10-15%.
Taiwan Payment Landscape
| Method |
Market Share |
User Profile |
Settlement Time |
| Credit/Debit card |
~45% |
All ages, higher spending |
T+1 to T+7 |
| ATM virtual account |
~15% |
Price-sensitive, no credit card |
Instant to T+1 |
| Convenience store (超商代碼) |
~10% |
Students, cash-preferred |
T+1 to T+3 |
| LINE Pay |
~12% |
LINE users (95% of Taiwan) |
T+1 to T+7 |
| Apple Pay / Google Pay |
~5% |
Mobile-first users |
T+1 to T+7 |
| 超商取貨付款 (COD at store) |
~8% |
Low trust, want to see product |
Upon pickup + T+3 |
| JKoPay / 街口 |
~3% |
Younger demographic |
T+1 |
Payment Service Providers (PSP)
| PSP |
Strengths |
Pricing |
Best For |
| 綠界 (ECPay) |
Most comprehensive (credit card, ATM, CVS, 超取), largest market share |
2.75% credit card, NT$15/ATM txn |
General e-commerce, startups |
| 藍新 (NewebPay) |
Good API design, modern dashboard |
2.5-2.8% credit card |
SaaS, subscription businesses |
| TapPay |
Mobile-first, Apple Pay/Google Pay/LINE Pay integration |
2.5-2.8% credit card |
Mobile apps, in-app purchases |
| PayNow |
Easy setup, no monthly fee |
2.75% credit card |
Low-volume, new businesses |
| Stripe |
International, excellent API |
3.4% + NT$10 per txn |
Cross-border, international focus |
Integration Flow (Standard)
1. Customer clicks "Pay" on your site
2. Your server creates an order → sends to PSP API
3. PSP returns a payment page URL (or token for inline)
4. Customer completes payment on PSP-hosted page
5. PSP sends callback (webhook) to your server with result
6. Your server verifies the callback signature
7. Update order status → show confirmation to customer
Key API Concepts
| Concept |
What It Is |
| MerchantID |
Your account identifier with the PSP |
| HashKey / HashIV |
Secret keys for signature verification |
| TradeNo |
Your order ID (must be unique per transaction) |
| PaymentType |
Credit, ATM, CVS, WebATM, etc. |
| Callback URL |
Webhook endpoint PSP calls after payment |
| Return URL |
Page to redirect customer after payment |
| CheckMacValue |
HMAC signature to verify data integrity |
Refund Handling
| Method |
Refund Capability |
Timing |
| Credit card |
Full or partial refund via API |
1-7 business days |
| ATM |
Cannot auto-refund — must wire transfer back |
Manual, 3-7 days |
| CVS payment |
Cannot auto-refund — must wire transfer back |
Manual, 3-7 days |
| LINE Pay |
Full refund via API |
1-3 business days |
Security Requirements
| Requirement |
What to Do |
| SSL/TLS |
All payment pages must be HTTPS |
| 3D Secure |
Enable 3DS 2.0 for credit card fraud reduction |
| PCI DSS |
If handling raw card data, need PCI compliance. Using PSP-hosted payment page avoids this. |
| Tokenization |
Store payment tokens, never raw card numbers |
| Webhook verification |
Always verify CheckMacValue signature before processing callbacks |
| Idempotency |
Handle duplicate callbacks gracefully (PSP may retry) |