Taiwanese commuters bemoan e-cards

An electronic payment card rolled out recently by Taiwan Easy Go has been criticised by local commuters using the railways, states China Post.

Commuters have complained the e-cards cannot be used to transfer between some trains and buses.

The e-card can reportedly be used at 29 train stations from the north-eastern coastal town of Ruifang to Hsinchu. Its competitor, EasyCard, can be used at 19 train stations.

Internet payment service provider ClickandBuy is to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, reports MarketWatch.

Deutsche Telekom owns 20.2% of ClickandBuy's shares and has now acquired all of its remaining shares.

ClickandBuy's CEO, Charles Fraenkl, welcomed the deal: "ClickandBuy, already one of today's leading providers of online payment solutions, will continue to strengthen and expand its market position in the future with the involvement of Deutsche Telekom."

The Bangladesh postal department is set to introduce electronic transaction services for its millions of customers, to transfer money within an hour to remote areas, says The New Nation.

Under the existing system, it takes seven to 10 days to transfer money to the remote areas. Post and Telecommunications secretary, Sunil Kanti Bose, says: "It is part of the initiative taken by the Postal Department to build a digital Bangladesh.”

Under the new system, a customer can withdraw and transfer funds using a postal cash card or their mobile phone. The service will be rolled out into 150 post offices in the country as a pilot project.