Preface

In May 2025, Taiwan's five major credit card issuers disclosed their financial standings. Cathay United Bank secured the title of most-used card for the second consecutive month, while E.SUN bank maintained its position as the top card issuer for three months straight. Despite celebrations like Mother's Day and tax season, the overall transaction volume didn't significantly increase, attributed to extended tax payment deadlines and deferred transactions due to the Dragon Boat Festival holidays.

Lazy bag

The top five issuers collectively processed over 1.3 trillion NTD in credit transactions through May. Cathay’s usage was narrowly surpassed by Citibank's annual leadership, while E.SUN's new card issuance topped 409,000 units.

Main Body

May has traditionally been marked by increased consumer spending, aligned with Mother's Day promotions and the critical tax filing period. However, the transaction volumes for May 2025 reveal unforeseen dynamics. The top five credit card entities recorded a combined spend of 2621.95 billion NTD, which, although reflecting a marginal month-to-month decrease, saw a year-on-year gain of 1.2%.

Leading the pack in terms of transaction amounts was Cathay United Bank, amassing 630.76 billion NTD, narrowly outpacing Citibank, which logged 629.36 billion NTD. Following were Taipei Fubon Bank at 485.42 billion NTD, E.SUN with 469.83 billion NTD, and Taishin International Bank at 406.58 billion NTD, the latter two being the only banks to record month-on-month growth.

In terms of cumulative transaction volumes for the first five months, Citibank led with 3199.8 billion NTD, trailed by Cathay United’s 3186.96 billion NTD. Other notable mentions include Taipei Fubon Bank (2440.42 billion NTD), E.SUN (2266.84 billion NTD), and Taishin (1988.76 billion NTD).

E.SUN's new card issuance in May was noteworthy, achieving 409,000 new cards despite a slight drop from the previous month’s 550,000. Citibank and Taipei Fubon Bank followed, with 79,000 and 59,000 new cards, respectively.

Card deactivation trends highlighted Citibank as having the highest closure rates, maintaining approximately 92,000 closures in May. Cathay United Bank showed a significant reduction in inactive cards, dropping from 215,000 in April to 26,000 in May, the least among the top issuers.

Factors such as extended tax deadlines to June and delayed holiday billing did temper the potential rebound in May’s card transaction volumes, leading to only modest monthly declines. Looking forward to June, the synchronization of insurance premium payments and the effect of deferred tax and holiday expenses are expected to drive a considerable year-on-year increase in transaction growth.

Both Cathay United and Citibank anticipate heightened travel and retail spending due to summer holidays. Cathay highlights promotional efforts during Mother's Day and anticipates boosted travel and retail expenditures due to early summer vacation planning. Similarly, Citibank observed a rise across multiple spending categories, forecasting further gains with tax-related incentives and promotional financing offers for June.

E.SUN continued its robust trajectory, posting record transaction growth fueled by its international and app-based payment platforms, 3C, and e-commerce channels, indicating sustained double-digit growth rates.

Despite a base effect from the previous year's membership-related boosts from its Costco partnership, Taipei Fubon Bank's May year-on-year dip was just 4%. Nonetheless, the prolonged consumption over holidays kept the park mid-year comparables repressed.

In contrast, Taishin recorded a slight increase from the previous month, aided by aggressive rebate programs and 0% interest installment options during tax and premium billing peak.

Key Insights Table