Paying in Taiwan: Cash, EasyCard, Credit Cards and Mobile Wallets (2026)

Paying in Taiwan is easy once you know which of three things to reach for: New Taiwan dollar cash, an EasyCard (悠遊卡) or a bank card. Offer a credit card at a night-market stall and you get a polite shake of the head. Phone wallets add a fourth layer, but only a handful of foreign apps connect to Taiwanese tills.

This guide sorts it out by situation, with every limit, fee and rule taken from official pages checked in September 2026, from EasyCard Corporation, 7-ELEVEN (統一超商), FamilyMart (全家) and Chunghwa Post (中華郵政) to the Tourism Administration and Taipei Metro. Where a provider publishes nothing, we say so instead of guessing.

The short version: what to carry

• NT$ cash, mostly NT$100 notes and coins, for night markets, food stalls, traditional markets and small eateries. Notes come in NT$100, 200, 500, 1,000 and 2,000; coins in NT$1, 5, 10, 20 and 50.
• An EasyCard for the MRT, buses and small purchases at convenience stores. The card itself costs NT$100 with no balance on it, and you top it up with cash at the counter.
• One Visa, Mastercard or JCB card that works by tap, for department stores, chain restaurants, hotels and 7-ELEVEN. Visitors from mainland China should bring a UnionPay card as well.
• A second card on a different network, kept in a different pocket, in case an ATM or a terminal refuses the first.

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從「你在哪裡付錢」分成四條路。夜市、小吃攤、傳統市場：付現金，攤販與市場多只收現金，先在超商把 NT$1,000 鈔票換開；紙鈔有 100、200、500、1,000、2,000 元，硬幣有 1、5、10、20、50 元。便利商店 7-ELEVEN 與全家：用悠遊卡或感應刷卡，悠遊卡在商店單筆上限 NT$1,500、每日 NT$3,000；7-ELEVEN 信用卡限感應式，含國外 Visa、Mastercard、JCB 與銀聯；境外支付有 PayPay、GLN，支付寶與微信支付限中國大陸用戶。百貨公司、連鎖餐廳、飯店：刷信用卡，城市多數商店收主要信用卡（美國運通、萬事達、Visa、大來、JCB），飯店與餐廳加收 10% 服務費，不必給小費，結帳選新臺幣。捷運、公車、YouBike：用悠遊卡，交通扣款不受 NT$1,500 上限，卡片 NT$100、儲值上限 NT$10,000；台北捷運閘門也可感應 Visa、Mastercard、JCB、銀聯等銀行卡，按單程票價扣款、沒有轉乘優惠；台北市公車不收信用卡。底部：郵局 ATM 受理銀聯卡提領新臺幣，全家店內銀行 ATM 提供國際金融卡提款，手續費依卡片而定；統一發票六獎 NT$200 與五獎 NT$1,000 可在超商兌換，外國旅客帶護照，陸港澳居民帶入出境許可證，NT$10,000 以上獎金扣 20% 所得稅。Four branches from where you are paying: cash at night markets, stalls and traditional markets; EasyCard or a tapped card at convenience stores, with EasyCard capped at NT$1,500 per purchase and NT$3,000 a day, 7-ELEVEN taking contactless foreign Visa, Mastercard, JCB and UnionPay, and PayPay, GLN, Alipay and WeChat Pay (mainland users only) as cross-border options; credit cards at department stores, restaurants and hotels, where a 10% service charge replaces tipping; EasyCard on the MRT, buses and YouBike, where fares skip the NT$1,500 limit, the card costs NT$100 and balances stop at NT$10,000; Taipei MRT gates also take tapped bank cards at the single-journey fare with no transfer discount, and Taipei city buses take no credit cards. Footer notes on ATMs and the receipt lottery.

Cash: where it still rules and how to get it

The Tourism Administration's Seoul office puts it plainly in its visitor FAQ: cards work in most places, but small cafés and restaurants, snack bars, night markets, traditional markets, street stalls and some transport and lodging take cash only, so always carry a little. Break NT$1,000 notes at a convenience store before you walk into a market; a snack stall does not want to change one at nine in the evening.

ATMs: which ones take foreign cards

Convenience-store ATMs are the easiest to find. FamilyMart's site lists the Taishin Bank (台新銀行), Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) and E.SUN Bank (玉山銀行) machines in its stores and names international card withdrawal as a service on all three. Chunghwa Post says post office ATMs accept UnionPay debit and credit cards for NT$ withdrawals and refers fee questions to your card issuer; it names no other network. The US International Trade Administration notes that most of Taiwan's ATMs are on international networks, but the Tourism Administration's Seoul office warns that some areas' machines refuse international cash cards and that fees depend on your card. Check your card's foreign withdrawal fee before you fly.

Exchanging money

If you arrive with cash, the Tourism Administration's Seoul office notes that you can change it at the airport bank counters on arrival; after that, foreign currency is exchanged at government-designated banks and hotels. Keep the exchange receipt: the Tourism Administration says you must show it to change unused NT dollars back before you leave. Bank of Taiwan (臺灣銀行) posts cash rates for US dollars, yen, won, yuan, Hong Kong and Singapore dollars and ringgit. On 13 September 2026 its board bought US dollar cash at NT$31.24, so NT$1,000 cost roughly US$32. Rates move daily, so treat that as a rough guide.

EasyCard: more than a metro ticket

EasyCard is Taiwan's stored-value card. Besides the MRT and buses it pays at convenience stores, supermarkets, petrol stations and other shops showing its logo. iPASS (一卡通) is the rival card; the Tourism Administration's Seoul office notes that most public transport takes both, so one card is enough.

• Buy: the card costs NT$100, with no deposit and no balance, at 7-ELEVEN, FamilyMart, Hi-Life (萊爾富) and OK Mart or at metro station information counters. The card price is not refunded later.
• Top up: with cash at the convenience-store counter or a metro information counter. The balance can never go above NT$10,000.
• Spend: in shops, NT$1,500 per purchase and NT$3,000 per card per day. The limit does not apply to public transport, the Maokong Gondola, public bikes, parking or government fees.
• Lose it: an unregistered card counts as cash, and the balance cannot be frozen or replaced.
• Refund it before you fly: at a metro station information counter, where the card is locked. A NT$20 fee applies unless it has been used at least 5 times and is at least 3 months old, and refunds over NT$1,000 go through EasyCard's website instead of the counter.

Taipei MRT and EasyCard: fares, passes and YouBike

Cards, phones and QR wallets

Credit and debit cards

The Tourism Administration lists American Express, Mastercard, Visa and Diners Club as accepted, and its Japanese-language page adds JCB to the cards most city shops take. The catch is at the convenience store: 7-ELEVEN's payment page lists credit cards as contactless only, covering foreign Visa, Mastercard and JCB cards, UnionPay, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay. FamilyMart's credit-card list names Taiwanese banks only, so have EasyCard or cash ready there. The same tap works at Taipei Metro gates, with Visa, Mastercard, JCB, UnionPay, Diners Club and Discover cards or Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, charged the single-journey fare with no transfer discount; Taipei city buses do not take credit cards, so keep an EasyCard for them. If a terminal or hotel offers to charge you in your home currency, choose NT$ and let your own card issuer convert.

Phone wallets and QR codes

Stickers for LINE Pay, JKOPAY (街口支付), Taiwan Pay (台灣Pay) and other domestic QR wallets are on many counters. What a foreign visitor needs to open one is up to each provider, and we could not confirm it on their official pages, so do not count on them. Some foreign apps do connect: since 27 April 2026 Japan's PayPay has worked at more than 400,000 places in Taiwan showing the TWQR mark, night markets and convenience stores included, for users who completed its identity check before leaving Japan, though not on the MRT or buses; 7-ELEVEN lists PayPay and the Korean network GLN among its cross-border payments, and FamilyMart lists GLN too. Whether your home card can go into Apple Pay or Google Pay is up to your bank.

Taiwan's convenience stores: what 7-ELEVEN and FamilyMart can do for you

Tipping, service charges and the receipt lottery

You do not need to tip. The US International Trade Administration's Taiwan travel notes say tipping is not common practice and generally not expected, and the Tourism Administration explains that hotels and restaurants add a 10% service charge to the bill instead.

Shops issue a receipt called a uniform invoice (統一發票) or electronic invoice, and each one is a ticket in the Ministry of Finance's lottery. The draw is held on the 25th of every odd-numbered month for the two months before: July and August 2026 receipts are drawn on 25 September 2026 and paid from 6 October 2026 to 5 January 2027, and September and October receipts on 25 November 2026, paid from 6 December 2026 to 5 March 2027. Only the original receipt counts, not a copy or a photo on your phone. Foreign visitors claim with a passport; residents of mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau use their entry and exit permit or residence permit. The official lottery app pays winnings into a Taiwanese bank or post office account, so as a visitor you claim in person, which means being in Taiwan during the claim window.

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