Taipei Fubon Bank’s Warm-Link Initiative: Migrant-Friendly Financial Inclusion and Empowerment Qorus-Infosys Finacle Banking Innovation Awards 2025- Nominated

I. CONCEPT AND OBJECTIVES As of December 2024, the number of foreign migrant workers in Taiwan had surpassed 820,000—about 3.5 % of the nation’s population. This total now exceeds that of Indigenous peoples, making migrants the island’s fourth-largest demographic group. Centered on boosting the financial literacy and economic security of migrant workers in Taiwan, this project embodies the principle of socially inclusive financial inclusion by providing multilingual financial-education resources and innovative activities. It aims to eliminate the language barriers that hinder migrants from using bank services and guarding against fraud, to equip them with stronger money-management skills and anti-fraud awareness, and to foster mutual trust among migrants, the elders they care for, and their employers.

According to the 2024 Migrant Financial Literacy & Behavior Survey jointly conducted by Taipei Fubon Bank (hereafter “TFB”) and the migrant-education NGO One-Forty, nearly 30 percent of migrant workers have been victims of scams, losing an average of NT$7,995 (approximately US$266) each. The total amount defrauded from migrants nationwide is estimated at NT$1.7 billion (approximately US$56.67 million). In addition, one in every ten foreign live-in caregivers has witnessed the elder under their care fall prey to fraud. The survey also shows that more than 90 percent of migrant workers are eager to learn money-management skills and hope to lay a solid economic foundation through the right methods.

These insights revealed critical financial vulnerabilities and the knowledge gaps within the migrant community, directly inspiring the initiative’s strategic direction and inclusive solutions to promote long-term financial empowerment.

II. REASONS BEHIND AND STATE OF COMPETITION According to the Migrant Financial Literacy & Behavior Survey conducted by TFB in collaboration with One-Forty, a non-governmental organization dedicated to the education and empowerment of Southeast Asian migrant workers in Taiwan, long-standing language barriers have hindered migrant workers’ access to financial services and anti-fraud resources in Mandarin version. In response, TFB identified an urgent need for culturally and linguistically inclusive financial education and banking services.

At present, Taiwan’s banking sector has begun to pay attention to the needs of new residents and migrant workers—for example, some banks have added Southeast-Asian-language interfaces to their ATMs and set up bilingual service counters. Even so, industry-wide, systemic, innovation-driven services that focus on education and fraud prevention—and projects that fundamentally resolve the language constraints undermining migrants’ financial inclusion—remain rare.

This project therefore focuses on transmitting financial knowledge, preventing risk, and enhancing migrants’ right of access to banking. Its goal is to strengthen the financial capability of the migrant segment at its roots, encourage them to use formal financial channels with greater confidence, and ultimately reduce financial exploitation. In doing so, it makes foreign migrant workers’ time in Taiwan more valuable and meaningful, while enabling them to apply the acquired financial knowledge in their home countries to transform their families’ financial situations.

Amid Taiwan’s rapidly aging population and growing reliance on foreign caregivers, this initiative strategically empowers migrant workers to serve as trusted guardians of the elderly’s financial well-being —positioning them as a frontline defense against fraud.

III. SOURCES OF INSPIRATION The inspiration for this project comes from the survey results and on-the-ground observations described above. On the one hand, the frequent cases of migrant workers being scammed—and the financial difficulties caused by language barriers—prompted the team to devise innovative solutions; on the other hand, the unique setting in which migrants live side by side with older adults inspired us to adopt game-based co-learning to spark interaction, positioning migrants as the elders’ first line of defense.

In Taiwan, rampant fraud has become a major concern for both government and society. Preventing and combating scams at their root is a shared goal. According to the National Police Agency’s “Anti-Fraud Dashboard,” scammers steal more than NT$10 billion every month; from August to December 2024 alone, losses neared NT$63 billion. Extrapolated over a full year, that would reach NT$151 billion—roughly equal to last year’s after-tax profit of NT$151.1 billion posted by TFB’s parent, Fubon Financial Holdings.

Fraud rings in Taiwan often isolate victims with lines such as “Don’t tell anyone else.” Investment scams warn that “others will envy your profits and block your chance to get rich,” while fraudsters posing as prosecutors or police officers threaten that “revealing an ongoing investigation violates secrecy rules and will bring heavier penalties.” Such tactics arouse greed or fear and raise the odds of victimization. Conversely, person-to-person connections may be the key to prevention: if innovative methods can strengthen ties among migrant workers themselves, between migrants and the elders they care for, and between migrants and Taiwanese society, scams can be stopped at the source.

With this in mind, the project creatively weaves together multilingual financial materials, gamified experiences, and community engagement into a series of initiatives. We aim to deliver anti-fraud and financial knowledge in migrants’ mother tongues while deliberately nurturing “person-to-person connections” that reinforce collective fraud defenses. Key components include the “Abundant Life” Chinese-Indonesian Bilingual Board Game & Workshop on money management and fraud prevention, an Indonesian-Language Financial Education Video Series, and both the Four-Language Bank-Service User Guide and the Four-Language Anti-Fraud Essential Guide in Indonesian, Filipino, Vietnamese, and Thai. These resources are also repackaged into social-media posts and short videos adapted to migrants’ media habits, amplifying the project’s educational reach.

IV. DEPARTMENTS INVOLVED A. Internal Departments The project is spearheaded by the Brand and Sustainability Department, which links and mobilizes all relevant teams. Participating divisions include: 1. Retail Banking Division – responsible for branch-channel implementation and for offering recommendations to optimize customer service; 2. Financial Security Division – assists in designing the Four-Language Anti-Fraud Essential Guide, providing real fraud cases and practical prevention advice.

The initiative enjoys strong attention and support from the company’s executive leadership. Each unit collaborates within its own remit to ensure smooth project delivery. Cross-department coordination not only enables effective resource utilization but also internalizes the principle of diversity and inclusion into TFB’s day-to-day operations.

B. External Organizations The project has likewise formed a strategic alliance with One-Forty, jointly designing survey questionnaires, developing teaching materials, and running workshops. One-Forty contributes linguistic and cultural expertise—translating and vetting mother-tongue materials for migrant workers, recruiting migrant participants, and training seed instructors—making it a key driver of the project’s success.

V. MAIN RESULTS SO FAR Innovative measures launched from the second half of 2024 onward—progress as of the end of May 2025:

A. Migrant Financial Literacy & Behavior Survey: A total of 564 valid questionnaires were collected from Indonesian, Filipino, Vietnamese, and Thai migrant workers across 21 counties and cities nationwide, and focus-group interviews were conducted with 14 migrants. More than 50 media stories have covered the findings—including five TV news pieces and two reports in migrants’ own languages.

B. Anti-Fraud Essential Guide in Four Southeast Asian Languages: Anti-fraud guides were produced in migrants’ mother tongues (Indonesian, Thai, Vietnamese, and Filipino) and distributed both online and offline. Online, the content has reached more than 130,000 migrants; offline, 100,000 hard-copy guides were printed and delivered free of charge to TFB’s 179 branches, One-Forty locations, and the Migrant Life School. Social-media posts based on the guide have generated over 3,200 interactions.

C. “Abundant Life” Chinese-Indonesian Bilingual Board Game & Workshop: The first bilingual board-game workshop was held successfully, with 30 migrants and older adults learning side by side. To date, 22 migrant groups have borrowed the game to play and learn with friends and employer families. Short videos tailored to migrants’ viewing habits, featuring the game’s financial and anti-fraud lessons, have attracted more than 250 likes and over 4,000 views. Media exposure for the bilingual workshop has exceeded 30 reports.

D. Indonesian-Language Financial Education Video Series: Officially launched at the end of May 2025.

E. Bank-Service User Guide in Four Southeast Asian Languages : Design work on the Indonesian, Filipino, Vietnamese, and Thai versions was completed in May 2025; printing and training are under way. The guides are scheduled for rollout in July 2025 at all 179 TFB branches, lowering the barriers migrants face in using banking services.

F. Train-the-Trainer Program: TFB and One-Forty have begun the Train-the-Trainer Program for migrant educators, training nearly 30 instructors who will disseminate financial knowledge in migrants’ mother tongues and build a long-term outreach mechanism.