At 7-Eleven grocery store in Taiwan, you can buy a 4-in Miffy plush toybunny character from the Netherlands, mini bento box charm complete with a realistic chicken leg or small plastic rotary telephone. These key fobs, manufactured by iCash Corporation (a 7-Eleven affiliate), are more than just trinkets: each contains a contactless chip that connects it to Taiwan’s intricate stored-value payment system.
iCash cards, like competitor cards such as EasyCard and iPASS, can be used to travel on subways and buses, as well as to make purchases at convenience stores and other retail stores in Taiwan. High-end branded keychains that cost anywhere from $10 to more than $30 generate modest direct sales. But their real value lies in the marketing power that drives shoppers deeper into 7-Eleven reward ecosystem and keeping petite payments in their orbit.
Decentralized and deeply local
Over the past decade, iCash Corporation and its rivals have turned dozens of everyday products in Taiwan into limited-edition keychains. Many of them are miniature versions of snacks and household items available at 7-Eleven stores, such as a can of Super Supau sports drink, a tube of Darlie toothpaste and a cup of the classic yellow Uni-President pudding dessert. Those who prefer something a little weirder can stock up on a minuscule pack of toilet wipes or a doll-sized Scotch-Brite kitchen sponge. When I lived in Taipei for a few months last year, I paid for my groceries with a bag of diced potato chips.
iCash Corporation has also licensed Sanrio characters such as Hello Kitty and Cinnamoroll, as well as Pikachu from Pokémon and Stitch from Disney’s Lilo & Stitch. One of my favorite Taiwanese payment cards isn’t a keychain at all – it’s a plastic version of EasyCard’s Sailor Moon wand that (naturally) lights up when the transaction is completed.
I’ve been obsessed with these key chains and novelty toys since I started reporting on Taiwan a few years ago. They are the most delightful side effect of the island’s transition to cashless payments, and show how different Taiwan’s digital infrastructure is from China’s. Almost every consumer transaction in China takes place through Alibaba or Tencent, two tech giants that have a near monopoly on payments. Whether you’re buying a bowl of noodles at a street stall or a designer handbag at a boutique in Shanghai, you’ll almost always find an Alipay and WeChat Pay QR code.
In turn, Taiwan has developed a pluralistic network of NFC cards and mobile wallets layered on top of a dense transportation system and a network of convenience stores. The result is a cashless system that is concrete, decentralized and deeply local. In Taipei, people often “tap” to pay, while in Beijing they “scan”. In at least some respects, Taiwan’s technology is probably as advanced as China’s. Last year, Alibaba followed the island’s example and launched its own tap payment method.