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Taiwan legislators last Thursday took their first step to lower the cap on credit card interest rates when a committee voted to drop the top rate to between 12% and 15% from 20%, according to Taiwan's national Central News Agency. The legislation must pass in two more votes before becoming law. Several issuers oppose the lower limits. "This would force bank operators to consider the possibility of tightening lending conditions," Chiu Feng-kai, senior vice president of Taishin International Bank's credit card services division, told reporters. Meanwhile, Taiwan's Consumers' Federation, a consumer-advocacy group, is calling for a 10% rate cap. Taiwan has at least 40 credit card issuers and some 33 million credit cards on issue, according to the country's Financial Supervisory Commission.
