50 Years of Craftsmanship Meets the Web3 Wave: How Taiwan Mingban Opens a New Blue Ocean?
At the headquarters of Taiwan Mingban located in the Huaya Technology Park, a room is filled with thousands of pocket-sized cards, including Cathay CUBE cards, Shopee cards, and the previously popular PS4 and Pokémon-themed EasyCard, perhaps even one that once existed in your wallet.
Established for over 50 years, Taiwan Mingban began with the production of “nameplates” (which are signs engraved with text or patterns, such as the brand metal pieces on car keys), and later expanded into magnetic strip credit cards, eventually progressing to chip cards. With decades of deep cultivation in the card-making industry, they have produced over 100 million cards to date.
Taiwan Mingban General Manager Yin Wenzheng (left) and Deputy General Manager Su Wenhui (right).
Through “cards,” Taiwan Mingban has witnessed the gradual evolution of financial payment tools in Taiwan. This giant rooted in traditional finance has decisively crossed into the field of storing cryptocurrency with cold wallets, aligning itself with the trends of Web3.
“Why did we move from credit cards to cold wallets? We have to start with our company’s past development,” Yin Wenzheng began outlining the company’s foundation. “Our roots are firmly planted in the card-making field.” The small chip on the card is the starting point of everything.
From Magnetic Stripes to Chips: Accumulating Profound Internal Skills
Yin Wenzheng recalls that when credit cards first emerged, they primarily relied on magnetic stripe technology to store and read cardholder information. Although this technology opened the convenient era of card payments, data was easily intercepted or copied, leading to frequent incidents of counterfeit cards and fraud, posing serious cybersecurity threats and financial losses for institutions and consumers. To solve this fundamental problem, global international payment organizations actively promoted technological innovation, leading to the development of modern chip cards (IC cards).
But how does this historical account relate to Taiwan Mingban’s entry into cold wallets?
“Don’t underestimate this tiny chip!” The spark in Yin Wenzheng’s eyes brightened, and his tone was filled with enthusiasm. “You can think of it as a simplified function, yet highly secure microcomputer, which contains a central processing unit (CPU), independent memory, and a dedicated operating system, even capable of running specific applications.”
With this small chip, complex encryption and decryption calculations and identity verifications can be actively conducted with the card reader during transactions, greatly increasing the threshold for counterfeiting, making it exponentially more difficult.
This was also a key moment for Taiwan Mingban to begin honing its “internal skills.” They believed that the competition for chip cards was no longer limited to precise hardware manufacturing but rather depended on mastering the software soul inside this chip.
As a result, the company began to recruit and train software engineers with cross-disciplinary capabilities in large numbers, deeply researching the underlying operating systems of IC cards and developing applications that could operate stably in resource-constrained and highly secure environments.
Through this day-to-day, year-to-year technical cultivation and self-challenge, Taiwan Mingban gradually accumulated and refined its profound internal skills in mastering chip security, transforming it into the cards we use in our daily lives.
From Cards to Chains: Taiwan Mingban’s Path to Breaking the Framework
However, despite its significant achievements in the card-making field, Deputy General Manager Su Wenhui admitted that the traditional credit card market still faces a “ceiling.” “Taiwan is just so big, with five card manufacturers competing. Moreover, international organizations have strict regional restrictions on credit cards, making it difficult to secure overseas orders.”
As the wave of Web3 swept in, particularly with the growing demand for secure storage of cryptocurrency assets, Taiwan Mingban saw an opportunity.
Deputy General Manager Su Wenhui stated, “So we have been thinking about what else we can do leveraging our technological advantages in secure chips and software?”
Yin Wenzheng pointed out that during credit card transactions, the various verifications and calculations between the chip and the card reader are fundamentally based on encryption technology. The IC chip itself is designed to perform these encryption-related tasks, including generating keys/PINs and computing to ensure private keys are not compromised.
The core function of a cold wallet is to sign transactions using private keys, and the ultimate secure storage of private keys is precisely the expertise that Taiwan Mingban has accumulated in the financial IC card field.
One Card, Three Identities: Charge Card, Credit Card, Cold Wallet
Thus, a bold idea arose: Is it possible to integrate traditional payment functions with cold wallet security features onto one card?
After about 3 to 4 years of investment in research and development, overcoming numerous technical challenges, this idea finally became a reality. Taiwan Mingban launched the FortVax personalized cold wallet. In 2024, its subsidiary CFW, in collaboration with MatchMove, will introduce Taiwan’s first innovative product that combines cold wallet technology with a Mastercard charge card, the “Qingqing Cold Wallet Charge Card.”
Yin Wenzheng casually picked up a sample card from the table. The thin plastic piece had no screen or buttons and seemed unremarkable at first glance, yet it was a brilliant fusion of their years of card-making “internal skills” and Web3 technology.
“The most special and proud aspect of this card is the small chip inside it,” he introduced solemnly.
This chip possesses both credit card and charge card functionalities, allowing it to be swiped for payments in any location that accepts Mastercard. It can also function simultaneously as a high-security cold wallet. This breaks the boundary that financial cards and cryptocurrency cold wallets are two separate products; Taiwan Mingban cleverly integrates the two.
Taiwan Mingban showcased its metal cold wallet cards at the Token2049 exhibition in Dubai this year.
After users download the app and create a wallet, they simply need to place the card on the back of their mobile phone to use NFC technology to “tap” the cold wallet card. The connection can be established in just a few seconds, and since each transaction requires the card to be tapped, there is no need to worry about the cold wallet being hacked.
Yin Wenzheng emphasized that this chip is the core guarantee of asset security. By “locking” the private key within this hardware safe that is isolated from the internet, the risk of hacker attacks, malware intrusions, or exchange platform risks can be significantly reduced, providing users’ digital assets with a layer of physical isolation and protection.
Additionally, the usage method is quite simple, unlike many cold wallets that require a connection, making it very user-friendly for beginners.
“Moreover, there’s a crucial advantage that many people might not expect,” Su Wenhui added with a smile, “It’s in card form, so… no need to charge!”
This precisely highlights a common pain point of many electronic devices. Compared to many electronic cold wallets, even those in card form often require regular charging due to screens, leading to the embarrassing situation of running out of battery at critical moments. As long as this card remains intact, it can always provide safe cold storage functionality.
Yin Wenzheng believes that this card form, which does not require charging and is familiar and easy to carry, combined with its sturdy and durable characteristics (relative to electronic devices with screens or other precision components), makes it closer to the daily usage habits of the public, lowering the technical and usage barriers for entering the Web3 world.
Targeting Exchange Partners: Seizing the Web3 Payment Entry
Since the aim is to combine payment and cold wallets, Taiwan Mingban’s main partners targeted for collaboration are global cryptocurrency exchanges.
Yin Wenzheng indicated that many large exchanges like Bybit and Crypto.com currently issue charge cards, but they are usually just simple payment cards. However, the solution provided by Taiwan Mingban allows them to “upgrade” their charge cards by adding cold wallet functionality within the same card.
He believes this is an extremely attractive option for exchange users who increasingly value asset security while also needing payment solutions. “If you are a user of an exchange, you would certainly hope that the tokens you purchase can be safely stored. Now this card allows you to store safely and, when payment is needed, you can directly swipe it after conversion through the exchange’s system, which is a win-win!”
This strategy has already begun to yield results. Yin Wenzheng disclosed that they have reached a partnership with one of the top 10 exchanges globally, beginning small shipments of pure cold wallet products for market testing, and planning to introduce cold wallet charge cards in the future.
Furthermore, a Taiwanese exchange has also procured their cold wallet products and actively promoted them. This strategy of forming alliances with exchanges and offering differentiated products has allowed Taiwan Mingban to successfully circumvent direct price wars with traditional cold wallet manufacturers, instead directly challenging the more promising market of Web3 payments.
The Wave of Web3 Payments: A Firm Belief in the Value of Wallets
As for the future of Web3 and cryptocurrency payments, Yin Wenzheng maintains an optimistic outlook, stating, “The development of cryptocurrency is unstoppable, especially in the payment field.”
He observed that whether it is the global payment leader Ripple’s efforts in cross-border payments or platforms like Coinbase building the foundational network for cryptocurrency, the industry is moving toward more efficient and inclusive payment solutions.
He particularly emphasized the irreplaceable position of wallets in the Web3 world, saying, “No matter how grandiose the talk outside is, one of the core spirits of Web3 is ‘Your key, your token,’ which means the private key is the only proof of your assets. To enter this world, you need a wallet.”
Yin Wenzheng believes that even if more advanced technologies like Account Abstraction emerge in the future, end-users will still need a secure and reliable interface to manage their digital identities and assets. The wallet is the key entry point.
“Currently, the proportion of the global population using cryptocurrency wallets is still very low, indicating immense potential.”
Su Wenhui also pointed out that this is precisely where Taiwan Mingban’s opportunity lies. By integrating cold wallets with everyday payment habits, they aim to lower the entry barrier of Web3, enabling more people to safely access and use crypto assets.
From physical cards that carry financial trust to an innovative cold wallet charge card that connects the crypto world with daily payments, Taiwan Mingban is steadily and ambitiously sailing through the waves of digital finance.
This is not only a transformation story of an established enterprise but also a resounding business card for Taiwan in the Web3 payment sector.