O'Pay first e-payment platform approved for overseas remittances

Taipei, July 17 (CNA) O'Pay has become Taiwan's first electronic payment platform approved to provide overseas small-value remittance services, including transfers for migrant workers, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said Thursday.

The company, which has around 1.1 million users, is expected to launch its migrant worker remittance service in the fourth quarter, according to the FSC.

The service will initially allow migrant workers from the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam to send money to their home countries, the FSC said.

Taiwan amended the Act Governing Electronic Payment Institutions in 2021 to allow e-payment companies to provide domestic and overseas small-value remittance services, including remittance services for migrant workers.

However, no electronic payment institution had previously received approval to launch such services.

Chang Chia-kuei (張嘉魁), deputy director-general of the FSC's Banking Bureau, said O'Pay had been approved to operate two types of overseas remittance services.

The first will cover small-value remittances made by migrant workers.

The second will allow Taiwanese citizens and foreign nationals with bank accounts in Taiwan to send money overseas, initially to Vietnam.

Each transaction under the second service will be capped at the equivalent of NT$50,000 (US$1,546), while the monthly limit will be NT$300,000, Chang said.

That service is expected to launch in the second half of 2027, he added.

Five remittance companies are currently approved to provide overseas small-value remittance services for migrant workers in Taiwan, according to the FSC.

Those companies had a combined 990,000 users and processed transactions totaling NT$129.1 billion in 2025, the commission said.

Users of such services are generally required to verify their residence permits and mobile phone numbers.

Each migrant worker may remit up to the equivalent of NT$30,000 per transaction, with monthly and annual limits of NT$50,000 and NT$500,000, respectively.