萬國法律事務所

PayPal, a popular third-party payment provider, recently decided that from September 21, 2015 it will cease collections and payments between Taiwan accounts in order to comply with the requirements provided in Taiwan’s Act Governing Electronic Payment Institutions (“Act”, 電子支付機構管理條例).

The Taiwan governing authority for third-party payment providers is the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC). The FSC has stated that it respects PayPal’s business decision, but, the FSC noted that PayPal, as a company incorporated and registered in Singapore, can still engage in electronic payment business activities by establishing a Taiwan Branch or a subsidiary in Taiwan, provided that PayPal’s total balance of funds collected / paid as an agent remain less than NTD 1 billion. Otherwise, the FSC explained that Paypal can cooperate with a domestic electronic payment institution to conduct offshore transactions, which are not regulated by the Act.