Digital payment giant LINE receives key regulatory approval

TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan's dominant third-party payment provider, LINE Pay (連加網路), has received crucial regulatory approval from the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC, 金管會), Taiwan's financial regulatory agency, Thursday (July 17) to operate as a fully licensed electronic payment institution. The milestone authorization enables the popular payment platform, widely used across Taiwan's digital economy, to establish a dedicated wholly owned subsidiary specifically for managing this expanded financial business. Company officials indicated that actual service rollout would commence after securing the final operational business license from regulatory authorities.

The regulatory transition will require existing customers who have been using electronic payment features through the original LINE Pay platform to complete a new registration process as LINE Pay Money (連加電子支付) members. This step is necessary to maintain uninterrupted access to essential financial services. These services include person-to-person money transfers, account top-ups, utility bill payments, and transportation payment codes widely used across Taiwan's public transit systems. The company has designed the migration process to allow users to effortlessly transfer their previously stored credit card information while gaining expanded payment flexibility through multiple options including credit cards, linked bank accounts, or the platform's proprietary LINE POINTS reward currency.