The short version
LINE is how people in Taiwan message each other, and how many government bodies and public services reach you through official accounts. The official apps a student meets most are the Central Weather Administration's weather app, the NHI app (foreigners register with their ARC number), city apps like Taipei's TaipeiPASS, and each metro's own app. Mobile wallets that hold money are licensed by the Financial Supervisory Commission. LINE Pay Money, JKOPAY and Easy Wallet each describe a sign-up route for ARC holders.
LINE
LINE's parent company, LY Corporation, says LINE had 22 million monthly users in Taiwan in 2024, out of a population of 23.42 million. The 2025 Taiwan Internet Report from TWNIC (the Taiwan Network Information Center) found that 80.10% of residents, and 90.26% of internet users, name LINE as the messaging app they use most. Next came Facebook Messenger at 5.21%. WhatsApp was at 0.26%.
- LINE covers chat, voice and video calls, and OpenChat groups of up to 5,000 people.
- Government bodies and public services run LINE official accounts. One example is LINE's fact checker account, with over 860,000 friends.
Inside Taichung's everyday Taiwan page has a section on LINE, wifi and phone alerts, and Inside Taipei's settling in guide covers LINE and the EZ WAY app for parcels.
Government apps
| App | Run by | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 中央氣象署W 生活氣象 | Central Weather Administration | In Chinese and English: forecasts for 368 townships, radar, air quality, and alerts for earthquakes, typhoons and weather warnings. |
| Earthquake (中央氣象署E 地震測報) | Central Weather Administration | Earthquake early warnings and reports. → Safety |
| 全民健保行動快易通 | 健康存摺 | National Health Insurance Administration | Listing in Chinese only. Your health records (medicines, tests), premium payments, NHI card applications, insurance certificates, address changes, video consultations and a clinic map. |
| 台北通 TaipeiPASS | Taipei City Government | In Chinese and English: one account for city services, city venue discounts, and bill lookup and payment. You can also call Taipei's 1999 line through it. |
The NHI app with an ARC
The NHIA gives foreigners three ways to register, using your ARC (居留證) number:
- By phone: a monthly-plan number registered in your own name, using its 4G or 5G data, plus your ARC number and the last four digits of your NHI card. This does not work with prepaid numbers, numbers not in your name, company or family-plan child numbers, MVNO numbers, numbers with unpaid bills, or numbers outside 中華電信, 遠傳 and 台灣大哥大.
- Online on a computer, with a card reader, your NHI card and your chip ARC.
- At an NHIA regional office counter, with your NHI card and chip ARC.
The NHIA helpline is 0800-030-598, or (02) 4128-678 from a mobile phone.
Taipei's 1999 line
Anyone in Taipei can call 1999 about city services, not only Taiwanese nationals, and there are English and Japanese lines. From outside Taipei, the number is 02-27208889. Calling through TaipeiPASS uses the internet, works from anywhere and costs nothing. Other cities run similar apps: Hsinchu County's is 竹縣e999. Inside Tainan's living in Tainan page describes Tainan's own channels.
Good to know: we found no general app from the National Immigration Agency in the Taiwan App Store. Students apply for the ARC through the NIA's online system. → The resident certificate (ARC)
Getting around
| App | Run by | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 台北捷運Go (Go!Metro Taipei) | Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation | Route map, fares, journey planner, live arrivals and crowding. Switch to English, Japanese or Korean with the globe icon. |
| 高雄捷運-通勤助理 | Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corporation | Live metro and light rail arrivals, crowding, fares and timetables. |
| 台中捷運 Taichung MRT | Taichung Mass Rapid Transit Corporation | Listing in Chinese. Service status, arrivals, transfers to trunk buses. |
| i搭桃捷 Taoyuan Airport MRT | Taoyuan Metro Corporation | Service status, departures, fares, station exits. |
| 台鐵e訂通 | Taiwan Railway (國營臺灣鐵路股份有限公司) | Booking, payment, mobile tickets and live train status. |
| 台灣高鐵 T Express | Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation | Booking, payment and QR code tickets for the gates. |
| YouBike微笑單車 官方版 | YouBike Co., Ltd. | Register, link up to five cards, see station status. |
| Bus+ (公車動態) | Shuttle Network Limited, a private company | Bus arrivals across Taiwan, bike share stations and train times. |
| MeN Go | Run for the Kaohsiung City Government Transportation Bureau | QR code monthly passes for public transport in the south, and transport information. |
Paying by phone
In the 2025 TWNIC survey, 40.32% of residents said they had used mobile payment in the past three months, and 74.76% of 18 to 29 year olds.
Who is allowed to hold your money
Under the Electronic Payment Institutions Act (電子支付機構管理條例), only institutions licensed by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC, 金融監督管理委員會) may hold stored value for you, take payments for purchases or send small transfers. A dedicated institution must put the money it holds for users into a trust, or have it fully guaranteed by a bank. At the end of August 2026 there were 10 dedicated electronic payment institutions and 19 others (18 banks and Chunghwa Post).
Account levels and limits
The FSC's rules set three levels of personal account, and apply to people from other countries too. For an ARC holder, the ID check is made with the Ministry of the Interior or the agency that issued the card.
| Level | What you verify | Stored balance up to |
|---|---|---|
| Type 1 | Phone number, ID, a bank account or credit card in your name, and an in-person, digital certificate or video check | NT$100,000 (transfers up to NT$100,000 each and NT$1,000,000 a month) |
| Type 2 | Phone number, ID, and a bank account or credit card in your name | NT$50,000 (NT$300,000 a month paid and received) |
| Type 3 | Phone number and ID only | NT$10,000 (payments NT$30,000 a month) |
The wallets students ask about
Listed in no particular order. Each is run by an FSC-licensed institution.
- LINE Pay Money (連加電子支付). For holders of a Taiwan chip ARC: choose the option for not having a Taiwan ID card, verify a Taiwan phone number by text message, enter and photograph your ARC (result within five working days), then verify a Taiwan credit card or bank account. LINE Pay's help center says accounts opened with an ARC at Citibank Taiwan, Standard Chartered, Taichung Bank, King's Town Bank, HSBC Taiwan, Hwatai, Sunny Bank, Bank of Panhsin, Cota, EnTie and Hua Nan cannot complete the check. Plain card payments in LINE Pay are separate from a LINE Pay Money account.
- JKOPAY (街口支付). Open to people with a Taiwan ID card or a Taiwan residence permit. It says some banks do not let residence permit holders register, and only cards from its domestic partner banks can be linked. Without a linked bank account or card, payments are capped at NT$30,000 a month.
- Easy Wallet (悠遊付, from EasyCard). Choose 居留證驗證 (ARC verification), enter your ARC details and upload photos of both sides. Staff review it and you get a notice within about 14 days.
- iPASS MONEY (一卡通). Its registration page asks for an ID card and a bank account and does not mention the ARC. Its FAQ has an entry on whether foreigners can register.
→ Bank account and phone number
Questions
Do I really need LINE?
LINE is the main messaging app in Taiwan. LINE's parent company says it had 22 million monthly users in Taiwan in 2024, and a 2025 TWNIC survey found 80.10% of residents name it as the messaging app they use most. Government bodies and public services also run LINE official accounts.
Can international students use LINE Pay or JKOPAY?
Each wallet describes a route for residence permit (ARC) holders. LINE Pay Money needs a chip ARC, a Taiwan phone number and a Taiwan credit card or bank account, and accounts opened with an ARC at some banks cannot complete its check. JKOPAY accepts Taiwan residence permit holders, but says some banks do not let them register.
Can I use the NHI app with an ARC?
Yes. The NHIA says foreigners can register with their ARC number and the last four digits of their NHI card, by phone verification, online with a card reader, or at an NHIA office. Phone verification needs a monthly plan in your own name with 中華電信, 遠傳 or 台灣大哥大; prepaid numbers do not work.
→ Next: making friends · Arrive and live
Sources (30)
Checked November 2026.
LY Corporation, LINE in Taiwan. TWNIC, 2025 Taiwan Internet Report. App Store (Taiwan) listings: LINE, 中央氣象署W, TaipeiPASS, 竹縣e999, NHI app, 台北捷運Go, 高雄捷運, 台中捷運, i搭桃捷, 台鐵e訂通, T Express, YouBike, Bus+, MeN Go, LINE Pay, JKOPAY, Easy Wallet, iPASS MONEY. NHIA, NHI app registration for foreigners (Q&A). Taipei City Government, 1999 FAQ. Electronic Payment Institutions Act. 電子支付機構身分確認機制及交易限額管理辦法. FSC, electronic payment statistics, October 2026. LINE Pay help center. JKOPAY registration. Easy Wallet registration. iPASS MONEY registration and FAQ.