Reservations have begun for digital Quintuple Stimulus Vouchers. Citizens, their spouses, permanent residents, and diplomats can now go online to set up virtual vouchers worth NT$5,000. On Wednesday morning, users rushed to the official website at 9 o''clock on the dot, leading to crashes and lags that lasted for more than an hour.

At 9 o’clock in the morning, voucher registration got off to a rocky start. The website failed to load again and again, and successful attempts took at least 15 seconds after clicking “Go.” Satellite websites managed by banks and mobile payment companies also collapsed from the heavy traffic. It was a mad dash to be one of the first 4 million people to receive a NT$500 Foodlover Voucher.

Member of public
I won’t register today. It’s too much trouble. I’ll wait a little longer, when the rush dies down.

If you haven’t gotten a Foodlover Voucher yet, there’s still hope. Economics minister Wang Mei-hua says there are plenty to go around.

Voice of Lin Te-fu
KMT lawmaker
You can’t even get on the official voucher website, the official Quintuple Stimulus Voucher site.

Wang Mei-hua
Economics minister
We’ll troubleshoot all issues that arise. But I also want to tell everyone that there is no need to rush. There are 4 million Foodlover Vouchers.

To keep the website functioning, traffic management controls were imposed right away. As of 10 a.m., the website had been visited more than 880,000 times, with more than 210,000 users completing their digital registration. They were also able to enter raffles for bonus vouchers. The most popular was the Agriculture Voucher, with 496,800 entries. That was followed by the Domestic Travel Voucher, with 494,000 entries. The third most popular was the Arts Fun voucher, with 480,000 entries. Registration for the raffles will be open until Oct. 29.

Voucher registration is also available at electronic kiosks in convenience stores. In a new feature, multiple people’s vouchers can be linked to a single electronic payment method. The deadline for doing so is Oct. 1.

Member of public
Today I loaded the vouchers of two family members. This way, we can go together and buy some things that we need for the house. This feature is very handy. We’ll use the Foodlover Vouchers to go out for a nice meal together.

To load the whole family’s vouchers onto a single account, the account holder must first set up his or her own vouchers. After that, other people’s vouchers can be added by submitting their NHI cards to the system. This new feature, called Group Linking, aims to consolidate spending power for a greater stimulus effect.