What can HowBridge's LINE official account do? How do the menu, commands and notifications work?
Quick answer: what can the HowBridge LINE official account do?
The HowBridge consolidation official account (unique ID @0523tw, LINE-verified) currently offers four kinds of features: ① Consolidation Assistant — a 6-tile rich menu below the chat (Consolidate packages / Track shipments / Check costs / Add forecast / Recipients・Declarants / More), or you can just type the corresponding Chinese text commands for consolidate, tracking, costs or forecast (see the exact words in the Commands section below) — the rules are identical to the website's consolidation page; ② Proactive notifications — 8 kinds of events are pushed to your LINE, including packages arriving at the warehouse, consolidation status updates (packed → signed for), customs release, EZ WAY "declaration matches" reminders, packing quotes above the base rate, and value-added service completion, subject to a 22:00–08:00 quiet period and a daily limit per person; ③ Freight and tax calculator — no account linking required, just send one line with dimensions and weight to estimate Sea Express and Air Express rates; ④ Live customer service — available Monday to Friday, 09:00–18:00; outside these hours you'll get an automatic reply first, then a reply in order once support reopens. Consolidating, tracking, forecasting and managing recipients all require linking LINE to your account first.
HowBridge only operates a Shenzhen consolidation warehouse and a Taoyuan operations warehouse, and only provides China → Taiwan consolidation service; we have no warehouses in any other country, and we do not offer purchasing-agent (daigou) service. Every feature of the LINE official account is built around this single route: any package you can consolidate in LINE must already have been sent to, and checked in at, the Shenzhen consolidation warehouse.
How do I add HowBridge's LINE official account and link my membership?
The official account is named “HowBridge Consolidation Official Account,” with the unique ID @0523tw. You can add it via the LINE button in the bottom-right corner of any consolidation-related page on this site, or open line.me/R/ti/p/@0523tw directly. After adding it as a friend, “linking your account” is a prerequisite for using consolidation features and receiving notifications — HowBridge only recognizes people whose LINE account is linked one-to-one with a member account, to prevent someone else from getting hold of your parcel data. There are three ways to link:
| Method | Who it's for | Steps | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sign up as a new member with LINE | You don't have a HowBridge account yet | On the website login page, tap “Log in with LINE” → agree to authorization → fill in your Taiwan mobile number → done. During sign-up, LINE will separately ask whether to add the official account as a friend; you can decide for yourself. | If the phone number is already registered to another account, the system will ask you to log in with your existing account instead; LINE linking then completes automatically after login — the two accounts are never merged just because they share a phone number. |
| Link LINE to an existing account | You already have an account (registered by email, Google or Apple) | Open 0523.tw/line/bind → log in your usual way → authorize LINE → see “Linking complete.” | The system never silently swaps out a LINE you've already linked; if this LINE is already linked to another member, you'll be taken to the account security page with a notice. |
| The personal link in the welcome message after adding as a friend | People who have added the account as a friend but not linked yet | Right when you add the friend, the welcome message includes a one-time link just for you → tap it, log in or sign up → linking complete. | The link works once and only for you — please don't forward it; blocking the official account invalidates it. Members who link this way will be asked to “verify by logging in with LINE” once more the first time they use the Consolidation Assistant in LINE, to confirm it's really you. |
The linking-complete page shows your current status: Linked and a friend (can receive notifications), One more step: add as a friend, Blocked (please unblock), or Not linked yet. The page has four buttons — “Add official account as friend,” “Open official account,” “I've added it, check again,” and “Back to LINE chat” — just follow them. You can also check the LINE currently linked at any time under “Account Security” in the Member Center.
The HowBridge consolidation official account has passed LINE's official business-document review. Under LINE Taiwan's update effective April 1, 2026, only verified official accounts display the verification badge; unverified general official accounts no longer show the marker once informally called the “grey shield.” Before adding as a friend, check that the ID is @0523tw and that the verification badge appears next to the name; for what the shield colors mean and a 3-step self-check, see “LINE Official Account Blue Shield Verification”.
What are the six tiles on the rich menu? What does each one do?
After adding it as a friend, open the chat with HowBridge and a 集運選單 (Consolidation Menu) will appear above the keyboard — LINE calls this a rich menu — expanded by default. This menu has 3 columns × 2 rows, six tiles in total, and every friend sees the same one; tapping any tile is completed right inside the LINE chat, with no separate webpage to open:
| Position | Button | What happens when tapped | Requires linked account? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top row, left | 選包裹集運 | Lists your packages already “checked in” at the Shenzhen consolidation warehouse, all selected by default; then you enter the total goods value, confirm the details and submit the consolidation order (see the three steps below). | Yes |
| Top row, middle | 查貨況 | Replies with an overview card: how many packages are waiting to consolidate, how many batches are being packed, how many are in transit, and how many are forecasted; then lists every batch in transit (status, customs stage, tracking number, estimated clearance and delivery date). | Yes |
| Top row, right | 查費用 | If you have completed consolidation orders, lets you choose “Freight estimate” or “Costs of completed orders”; if not, goes straight to the freight and tax calculator. | Not required for the estimate; required to check the cost of a completed order |
| Bottom row, left | 預報單號 | Opens the keyboard directly with the forecast-number field already filled in; paste your courier tracking number(s) (multiple at once is fine) to complete the forecast. | Yes |
| Bottom row, middle | 收件人・申報人 | Shows how many recipients and declarants you currently have; you can add, set as default, or delete them. | Yes |
| Bottom row, right | 更多功能 | The main features card: six tiles matching the functions above, plus a “Go to website consolidation page” button (auto-login), with a reminder of the available text commands. | Yes (unlinked accounts get a linking prompt card instead) |
The menu doesn't disappear — instead you'll get a “Please link your HowBridge account first” card, and its button takes you to the linking page. Once linking is complete, the same menu works normally.
Per LINE's official documentation, the rich menu and quick-reply buttons only display in the iOS/Android version of LINE; they don't appear on the macOS/Windows desktop version. On a computer, just type the text commands from the next section instead; buttons on cards can still be tapped in the desktop version.
Can I operate it without the menu? What text commands are available?
Yes. The Consolidation Assistant only responds to messages that “exactly match a keyword” or “match a fixed prefix format”; any other text is treated as a request for customer service and is delivered to the support inbox as usual — the bot won't intercept it. In other words, typing just the keyword calls up the assistant, while typing a full sentence like “I have a question about consolidation” goes to customer service.
| What you want to do | What to type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bring up the main menu | 選單 功能 集運助理 menu help (menu / features / Consolidation Assistant / menu / help) | Replies with the main features card. |
| Consolidate packages | 集運 選包裹集運 我要集運 申請集運 (consolidate / select packages to consolidate / I want to consolidate / apply to consolidate) | Same as the “Consolidate packages” menu tile. |
| Track shipments | 貨況 查貨況 我的集運 運送進度 (shipment status / track shipments / my consolidations / shipping progress) | Replies with the overview card and the in-transit list. |
| Check the status of a specific tracking number | 查貨況：<單號> (track shipment: number) | The number must be at least 5 alphanumeric characters; only packages, consolidation orders and forecasts under your own account can be looked up. |
| Check costs | 費用 查費用 運費稅金 (costs / check costs / freight and tax) | Available when you have completed consolidation orders; to check a specific order use 查費用：<單號> (check costs: number, at least 4 characters). |
| Estimate freight | 試算 試算運費 運費試算 算運費 (estimate / estimate freight / freight estimate / calculate freight) | No account linking required; just send one line with “length width height weight” afterward. |
| Forecast a tracking number | 預報 預報單號 (forecast / add forecast) | Then paste it using 預報單號：<單號> (forecast tracking number: number); separate multiple numbers with line breaks, spaces or commas, up to 20 at a time. |
| Manage recipients | 收件人 收件地址 (recipient / delivery address) | To add one, start with 新增收件人（宅配）, 新增收件人（7-11） or 新增收件人（全家） (add recipient — home delivery / 7-11 / FamilyMart) and the system will pre-fill the form. |
| Manage declarants | 申報人 (declarant) | To add one, start with 新增申報人（個人） or 新增申報人（公司） (add declarant — individual / company). |
| Fill in extra details mid-consolidation | 總貨值：<數字> 備註：<文字> (total goods value: number / note: text) | Only valid while a consolidation is in progress; notes are limited to 10 characters. |
If customer service has replied to you within the last 15 minutes and you then type a single keyword (for example, replying to support with just the word for “tracking”), the system treats it as your reply to customer service and won't trigger the assistant. While the assistant is handling a command, the question you were waiting on support for stays in the support inbox.
Every round of a flow has a flow code on its card; tapping a button on an old card returns a message saying the button has expired — please use the latest card instead. Each friend can take up to 60 actions per minute; a step waiting for your text input is valid for 10 minutes, and the whole flow is held for 30 minutes.
How do I send packages for consolidation in LINE? Three steps to finish
After tapping “Consolidate packages” or typing the keyword for consolidation, the assistant first checks that you have no “signed for but unpaid” bills (if you do, it will ask you to pay first), then lists the packages already checked in at the Shenzhen consolidation warehouse. The whole flow uses the same rules and the same order-submission program as the website's consolidation page — anything the website blocks, LINE blocks too.
1Confirm the packages to send (all selected by default)
The assistant replies with a summary card: item count, total weight, and the first 3 tracking numbers (the rest shown as “…N more”). Tap “Consolidate all (N)” to go straight to the next step; to pick specific packages, tap “Select packages individually” — each package gets its own card (tracking number, check-in time, item name, HS code, weight, size, package photos); use “Add this / Remove this” to adjust, then tap “Done selecting”. Up to 59 packages are listed at once; for more, please use the website.
2Enter the total goods value
When you tap the consolidate button, the keyboard opens automatically with the total-goods-value field pre-filled; enter the total price of the goods in this batch (in New Taiwan Dollars, up to 8 digits with up to 2 decimal places). This is usually the only field you need to type manually: the declaration type defaults to simplified declaration, the recipient defaults to your default recipient, the shipping method defaults to Sea Express, the declarant defaults to your first available declarant, and the duty collection method (home delivery) defaults to “Collected by HCT Logistics” — all of these can be changed afterward.
3Review the confirmation card and submit
The confirmation card is split into four groups: ① Declarant・Recipient ② Total goods value・Declaration type ③ Duty collection method ④ Shipping・Packaging・Note. To change anything, tap “Edit details”, which brings up quick replies for “Change recipient / Change declarant / Change value / Change declaration / Change tax method / Change shipping / Change packaging / Change note / Adjust packages”. Once everything looks right, tap the submit button (if you chose Tax+, the amount is shown right on the button), and the assistant replies with “Warehouse notified to pick and pack” and your consolidation number. Once submitted, the packages enter the consolidation process and this cannot be undone.
- Total goods value over NT$50,000: this exceeds the limit for express simplified declaration. As of September 15, 2026, switching to formal declaration is no longer mandatory, but if you still choose simplified declaration, you'll see a two-option card before submitting: “Reselect parcels and ship the rest another day” or “I accept the risk and submit with simplified declaration”.
- Total goods value under NT$800: duty collection can only be “Tax+” or “Collected by HCT Logistics”; if you choose HCT collection, the submit button changes to “Accept duty-free rules and confirm”.
- Declarant is a company (8-digit Tax ID): “Tax+” is unavailable, convenience store pickup can't be used, and tax is billed separately as assessed by customs.
- Convenience store pickup (7-11 / FamilyMart): total weight including a 100g packaging bag must not exceed 5,000g, only Sea Express is available, the only duty option is “Tax+”, and formal declaration cannot use store pickup.
- The Tax+ amount: calculated as the higher of “weight in kg × NT$20” or “total goods value × 5%”, and the submit button shows the exact amount.
- Formal declaration: a NT$800 customs declaration fee applies, only HCT Logistics home delivery is available, and HowBridge pays the tax in advance and bills it to you afterward.
You can choose multiple packaging services: carton / wooden frame / waterproof bag / bubble wrap / corner protectors / stickers (actual cost is quoted by the warehouse; if it exceeds the base rate you'll be notified separately — see the notifications section below). For notes, choose from “Fragile / Valuable / Flammable / Batteries” or write your own up to 10 characters, which is printed on the picking list for the warehouse.
Confirmation cards carry a version number: any change you make (including removing a package or changing the total goods value) updates the version, and the submit button on an old card stops working — the assistant will ask you to check the new card and confirm again. This prevents submitting outdated data after something has changed.
How do I check tracking and costs in LINE?
Both “Track shipments” and “Check costs” pull from the same data as your account, matching the website's consolidation and billing pages — the assistant just formats it as cards for the chat.
Track shipments: overview card + in-transit list
The overview card lists how many packages are waiting to consolidate, how many batches are being packed at the warehouse, how many are in transit, and how many are forecasted, plus three buttons: “Consolidate packages” (only appears if you have packages waiting), “Search by number” (auto-fills the tracking-search field), and “Check costs”. Next, up to 10 in-transit consolidation orders are shown as carousel cards: status, customs stage, main tracking number, weight, estimated clearance and delivery date, the HCT numbers for the first 3 sub-orders, and the latest logistics event; tap “View detailed progress” to see the last 8 events for each sub-order (newest first), and “Copy HCT number” to copy it with one tap (requires LINE 14.0.0 or later). Batches being packed at the warehouse get a separate card, listing up to 6 batches.
Search by number: one number checks every stage
Enter 查貨況：<單號> (at least 5 characters), and the assistant checks in order: the main tracking number, sub-order number, HCT number or courier tracking number of an in-transit order → batches being packed at the warehouse → your packages (by courier tracking number, replying claimed / checked in / value-added service in progress / consolidating / dispatched / returned) → forecasts (showing how many days until auto-deletion) → consolidation orders. If nothing matches, it replies “not found” and reminds you that only data under your own account can be searched.
Check costs: completed consolidation orders only
When you tap “Check costs”, if you have completed (signed-for) consolidation orders, you can choose “Costs of completed orders” to see the most recent 10, each as its own cost card: bill date, paid/unpaid, billable weight, freight for this order (noting Tax+ or tax billed separately), tax (only listed for company declarations), oversize fee breakdown, service fee (company), and total, plus “Cost per package” (up to 20 items) and “View bill” (auto-login to the billing page) buttons. Orders under an individual declaration note “any tax is collected separately by customs and is not included in the cost of this order”. Use 查費用：<單號> to look up a specific order directly; if several match, choose using the quick replies.
Freight and tax calculator: no account linking needed
Type the keyword for “estimate” and then send one line with “length width height weight” (for example 60 40 30 5), and the assistant replies with a freight card showing Sea Express and Air Express side by side; if the size counts as oversized, you'll first be asked to pick a delivery zone via quick reply. Tap “Calculate tax too” → enter the total goods value (in New Taiwan Dollars) → enter the item name → the assistant lists 5 candidate HS codes (the first marked “AI recommended”; type a number 1–5 to choose) → replies with a tax card and the “estimated total (freight + tax)”. The AI HS-code lookup is limited to 20 uses per friend within 10 minutes; if you don't respond within 15 minutes it ends automatically, and you can type “cancel” at any time. The full calculator is on the freight estimate page.
How do I forecast a tracking number and manage recipients and declarants in LINE?
These three features let you get your information ready in advance so you don't have to fill it in again when consolidating; the rules are the same as the website's Member Center.
Forecast a tracking number: just paste it, up to 20 at a time
Tap “Add forecast” or type the keyword for “forecast”, and the keyboard pre-fills the forecast-number field; paste your courier tracking number(s) after it (separate multiple numbers with line breaks, spaces or commas, 6–40 alphanumeric characters each; full-width characters convert to half-width automatically). The assistant processes them one by one and reports “Processed N, K succeeded”: a number already forecasted shows a notice that it can't be added again; a number for a package already checked in doesn't need forecasting (go straight to consolidation); and if the warehouse has already received it but it hasn't been assigned to an account yet (unclaimed), it's automatically claimed to your account. A forecast that hasn't checked in within 15 days is deleted automatically.
Recipients: home delivery, 7-11 or FamilyMart
Tap “Recipients・Declarants” → “Recipients” to see up to 11 entries (type, whether it's the default, name, masked phone number, address or store), each with “Set as default” or “Delete”. When adding one, choose home delivery / 7-11 / FamilyMart, and the keyboard pre-fills a form (name, phone, address or store), with a confirmation card before submitting. Rules: name 2–10 characters, phone number starts with 09 and has 10 digits, home delivery addresses must resolve to a recognizable city/county and district, and convenience store lookups accept a store number or store name (if more than 10 stores match, be more specific; when several match, choose from a carousel). The first entry is set as default automatically; a recipient already used on a consolidation order cannot be deleted; deleting the default hands the role to the next remaining entry.
Declarants: individual or company
For an individual declarant, fill in the name, phone number, and National ID or Resident Certificate number (with check-digit validation); for a company declarant, fill in the company name, 8-digit Tax ID (with check digit) and phone number. Both the assistant's cards and the customer service backend records automatically mask the ID number, but LINE chat itself can't mask the line of text you actually typed — if that concerns you, the card has a “Fill in on the website” button. A recipient or declarant added partway through a consolidation is automatically returned to the next step of consolidation once saved.
What proactive LINE notifications does HowBridge send, and when?
Aside from the “Forecasted package has arrived (not linked)” reminder, proactive notifications are only sent to LINE accounts that are “linked to a member and a friend of the official account”; if your member account is linked to a LINE group (for example, shared by coworkers), the notification goes to that group instead. There are currently 8 events the system sends proactively:
| Notification | When it's sent | Content | Quiet period | Daily limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Package checked in | When your courier tracking number is checked in at the Shenzhen consolidation warehouse and assigned to your account | 包裹已入倉 (package checked in) card + tracking number, weight and a dedicated URL for each item; multiple items within 90 seconds are merged into one | Delayed | Counted |
| Package status update | When a consolidation order enters 已打包 (packed) / 裝櫃運輸中 (loaded, in transit) / 清關中 (clearing customs) / 派件中 (out for delivery) / 已簽收 (signed for) | Status card + tracking number + “View details”; multiple items for the same member within 90 seconds are merged; the same package at the same status is sent only once within 30 days | Delayed | Counted |
| Customs release | The system checks with customs every 4 hours; sent when release is found | 包裹清關放行 (package cleared customs) card + order number and clearance number, noting delivery is coming up | Delayed | Counted |
| EZ WAY “declaration matches” reminder | When the customs broker has filed the declaration with customs and you need to tap “declaration matches” in the EZ WAY app | Text message: declaration number and how to proceed, with a link to the EZ WAY tutorial | Not delayed | Exempt |
| Packing quote exceeds the base rate | When the actual cost of packing materials entered by the warehouse is higher than the base quote | Consolidation number + each packing material's “base quote → actual amount” and total | Not delayed | Exempt |
| Value-added service completed | When a work order such as photographing, counting, return shipping or barcode labeling is completed | Title (e.g. 拍照已完成, photos completed) + courier tracking number + “View result” link | Not delayed | Counted |
| Forecasted package has arrived (not linked) | When you've provided a tracking number in chat and the package has arrived, but LINE isn't yet linked to a member account | A reminder to reply with your Taiwan mobile number or claim it yourself after linking; deliberately omits the tracking number | Not delayed | Also has duplicate-send prevention |
| Unclaimed warehouse package reminder | Sent manually by warehouse staff when a package can't be matched to a tracking number | Please complete claiming on the “Claim” tab of the consolidation page | Not delayed | Counted |
Package status, check-in and customs release notifications use a single-channel chain: if you have the HowBridge App installed (iPhone/Android) and the push notification delivers successfully, only the App is pushed; LINE is only used if you don't have the App; Email is only sent if you don't have LINE either. So members with the App installed usually won't get the same status notification again on LINE — that's not a missed notification.
To avoid disturbing you late at night, check-in, status-update and customs-release notifications during 22:00–08:00 Taipei time are delayed and sent the next morning (customs release is sent in the next round of the 4-hourly check). In addition, the same recipient receives at most 3 system push notifications per day; the “EZ WAY declaration matches reminder” and “packing quote” notifications that require you to act are not subject to this limit. The limit is a setting chosen by the site, not a legal requirement.
There used to be a passive-reply feature that “automatically replied with a status card when you sent a screenshot of a courier tracking number”; this has currently been suspended by the site. To check tracking status, please use “Track shipments” in the menu or the command 查貨況：<單號>; messages sent to customer service are still answered by a person during service hours.
Why do I sometimes not get LINE notifications?
The reason you're missing a notification can almost always be found in the table below; check it from top to bottom:
| Situation | Reason | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Added as a friend but account not linked | The system doesn't know whose LINE this is and can't match it to any packages | Complete linking using the personal link in the welcome message or the linking page |
| Account linked but the official account was blocked at some point | LINE doesn't deliver to blocked accounts; once the system receives the block report, it marks your friend status as “Blocked” | After unblocking, go to the linking-complete page and tap “I've added it, check again”; the system also automatically re-checks friend status every day at 9:30 am |
| The HowBridge App is installed | Notifications use a single channel; once a push to the App succeeds, LINE is no longer sent | Check the App's notifications instead; this is by design, not a missed delivery |
| Between 10pm and 8am | Quiet period — check-in / status / release notifications are delayed | They'll be sent after 8am |
| Already received 3 that day | Daily limit per person | Check-in/status notifications blocked that day are not resent — the limit resets the next day; customs release is sent in the next round of checks; reminder-type notifications aren't limited. You can always check with “Track shipments” |
| A company or family shares one account, and LINE is linked to a group | Notifications go to the linked group, not your personal chat | Check the group, or ask customer service to confirm who the account is linked to |
| A particular notification type was temporarily turned off by the site | Every proactive notification has its own switch (for example, during maintenance) | Please contact customer service to confirm |
| The official account has used up its monthly message quota | HowBridge uses LINE's medium-volume plan, with 3,000 free pushes per month; LINE rejects messages once it's used up | You can still check status anytime with “Track shipments” (the assistant's replies use the free reply channel and aren't affected by the quota) |
Links like “View details” and “View bill” on notification cards and assistant cards all open through LINE's LIFF mechanism: LINE hands your already-authorized identity to the website for verification, and once it matches your linked account you're logged in automatically and taken to that page. If no matching account is found, you're redirected to the linking page instead. These links only accept paths on this site and never lead to an external website.
How does live customer service on LINE work? What is the automatic reply?
The official account also serves as a customer service channel. Any message you send (other than the commands above) goes into the support inbox and is answered in order by a person during service hours; the Consolidation Assistant and live customer service are two separate paths that don't interfere with each other.
Live customer service hours are Monday to Friday, 09:00–18:00 (Taiwan time); closed on weekends and public holidays. See “Contact Us” for other ways to reach us. If you message outside service hours, you'll first get an automatic reply from the official account noting that it's currently outside service hours; your message is still kept and answered in order once support reopens.
As soon as you add the account as a friend, you'll get a text welcome message: if you haven't linked your account yet, you'll receive a one-time personal linking link; if you're already linked, it will confirm “Your LINE is linked to a 0523.tw account”. The message also explains the notifications you'll receive after linking, and that freight bills can be paid online via LINE Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, credit card, convenience-store payment codes and more (see the full list in “Payment Methods”). The welcome message isn't sent again for the same event within 1 hour.
HowBridge will never proactively add you as a friend from a personal LINE account, never ask you to transfer freight or tax payments to a personal bank account (for formal declarations where HowBridge advances the tax, you'll only ever be asked to pay by the methods listed on the billing page), and never ask for your online banking password, full credit card details or verification codes on LINE. Every payment step in the Consolidation Assistant only ever directs you to this site's billing page — it never collects payment inside the chat. If you receive a suspicious message, please read “The Complete Guide to Preventing Cross-Border Shopping Fraud” first, or call the 165 anti-fraud hotline.
What data is used to link LINE and receive notifications?
Under Article 8 of the Personal Data Protection Act, when personal data is collected the purpose of collection, the categories of data, how it will be used, and the data subject's rights must be disclosed; here's the data and purposes actually involved in LINE-related features:
| Data | When it's obtained | Purpose | What you can do |
|---|---|---|---|
| LINE user ID (userId) | Provided by LINE authorization when you log in with LINE or link your account | Maps LINE to your member account, to decide who to send notifications to and whose account data the assistant should reply with | Unlink it under “Account Security” in the Member Center |
| LINE display name, profile picture, email (if you agree to share it) | When you log in with LINE | Used to create your member profile; if LINE doesn't provide an email, the system creates the account with a placeholder address | Can be edited in the Member Center |
| Friend status (added / blocked) | On add-friend and block events, and an automatic check every day at 9:30 am | Notifications aren't delivered to accounts that haven't added the account as a friend or have blocked it | Restored as soon as you unblock |
| What you type in the chat | When you send a message | Commands are handled by the assistant; other messages go to the support inbox for a person to reply to | Declarant ID numbers are automatically masked in customer service records; if that concerns you, you can fill them in on the website instead |
| Package and consolidation order data | Already stored in your member account | Used to build tracking cards, cost cards and notification content | Notifications don't include sensitive fields like ID numbers; check-in reminders deliberately omit the tracking number |
Consolidation data includes recipient names, addresses, National ID numbers (used for declarations under your real name), tracking numbers and costs — exactly what an impersonator would want most. That's why HowBridge only recognizes a link where the LINE account and the member account match one-to-one, byte for byte. People who link via the personal link are asked to verify once more by logging in with LINE the first time they use the assistant, because a link can be forwarded to someone else. If an account has gone more than 30 days without completing identity linking, the assistant will first ask you to finish it on the Account Security page, matching the rule used on the website.
The verification badge on a LINE official account proves that “the account is backed by a government-approved business” — this is LINE's own self-regulatory review system. Taiwan's Fraud Crime Hazard Prevention Act, promulgated in 2024, targets online advertising platform operators (who must verify advertisers' identities and take down fraudulent ads); it doesn't directly require instant-messaging services to verify the real identity of every official account. So “having the verification badge” confirms the account is genuine, not that every message's content is necessarily accurate — the two experimental studies cited at the end of this page reach the same conclusion.
What are the current limitations of the LINE Consolidation Assistant?
The following reflects the situation as of September 20, 2026; this page will be updated as features change:
| Limitation | Reason | Workaround |
|---|---|---|
| Desktop LINE has no rich menu or quick replies | LINE's own restriction: display is limited to iOS/Android | Type text commands instead; card buttons still work |
| “Open keyboard with pre-filled text” requires LINE 12.6.0 or later; “one-tap copy” requires 14.0.0 or later | LINE's official feature version requirements | Update the LINE app, or type manually |
| Up to 59 packages waiting for consolidation are listed at once, up to 20 forecasts at a time, and up to 11 recipients are shown | Limits of chat card capacity and readability | Use the website if you exceed these |
| Checking costs only works for “completed” consolidation orders | Matches the scope of the “History” tab on the website | See the billing page for costs of orders in progress |
| A declarant's ID number can't be masked in the chat | LINE chat itself doesn't offer masking | Use the “Fill in on the website” button on the card |
| The rich menu image and the field names on the add-new forms are currently in Chinese | Foreign-language versions are still being completed | The rest of the text for foreign-language members is already available in 14 languages |
| Proactive notification cards and text are currently in Chinese (the EZ WAY declaration-matches reminder also has an English version) | Notification copy hasn't been localized yet | Foreign-language members can use “Track shipments” from the menu in LINE; the assistant's replies are already available in 14 languages |
| Members who log in with a Google account can't complete Google login in LINE's in-app browser | Google doesn't allow account login inside an in-app browser | Open 0523.tw/line/bind in an external browser (Safari/Chrome) to complete linking instead |
| Checking multiple freight quotes at once, or paying inside LINE | Not yet available | Use the website's estimate page for freight; use the billing page for payment |
Glossary
- Rich Menu
- A clickable image menu above the keyboard in a LINE official account's chat. Per LINE's official specs, the image is 800–2500 pixels wide with up to 20 tappable areas; HowBridge's “Consolidation Menu” is 2500×1686 with six tiles, set as the default menu for all friends, and is not shown in the desktop version of LINE.
- Consolidation Assistant
- A chatbot feature HowBridge provides inside its LINE official account, using the rich menu, card buttons, quick replies and pre-filled input fields to let you consolidate packages, track shipments, check costs, forecast tracking numbers, and manage recipients/declarants right in the chat; it shares the same underlying program with the website.
- Reply and Push
- The two ways LINE's Messaging API sends messages. A Reply answers a message you just sent and, under LINE's official rules, doesn't count toward the monthly message quota; a Push is sent proactively by the system and does count toward the quota. The Consolidation Assistant almost always uses Reply (a Push is only sent once as a backup if the reply to a successful order submission fails), while proactive notifications always use Push.
- Medium-Volume Plan
- One of LINE official account's promotional plans in Taiwan, providing 3,000 free push messages per month with no add-on purchases available; the monthly fee changes from NT$800 to NT$1,000 (excluding tax) starting November 1, 2026. HowBridge currently uses this plan.
- Quick Reply
- A row of small tappable buttons below a message, up to 13 per message, shown only in the mobile version of LINE; the Consolidation Assistant uses them to let you choose a warehouse, change consolidation details, or pick a store.
- fillInText (pre-filled input)
- A feature supported from LINE 12.6.0 onward: tapping a button automatically opens the keyboard with text pre-filled (for example, the total-goods-value or forecast-tracking-number fields), so you just continue typing the rest.
- LIFF Auto-Login
- LINE Front-end Framework. In-site links on notifications and cards open through LIFF, where LINE hands your already-authorized identity to the website for verification, and you're logged in automatically once it matches your linked account.
- EZ WAY Declaration Matches
- “EZ WAY,” a real-name verification app run by the Customs Administration, Ministry of Finance, with customer service provided by Trade-Van. Starting March 1, 2026, a customs broker first pushes declaration information via EZ WAY, and you must confirm “declaration matches” to complete the authorization before customs clearance can proceed; HowBridge sends LINE reminders for this.
- Simplified Declaration and Formal Declaration
- Express cargo can clear customs using a simplified declaration form under certain conditions (this site uses a total goods value of NT$50,000 as the reference threshold); formal declaration is handled using a regular import declaration, with HowBridge charging a customs declaration fee and advancing the tax.
- Tax+
- One of this site's duty collection methods: at submission, the higher of “weight in kg × NT$20” or “total goods value × 5%” is estimated as tax and bundled into the freight; convenience store pickup can only use this method; it's not available to company declarants.
- Quiet Period
- This site's notification policy: check-in, status-update and customs-release notifications are delayed between 22:00–08:00 Taipei time and sent the next morning instead; notifications that require you to take action are not affected.
- Single-Channel Chain
- This site's notification delivery principle: App push → LINE → Email — only the first available channel is used, to avoid receiving the same thing three times.
Sources and Limits of Verification
This page's feature rules are checked item by item against the live behavior of the site (2026-09-20); LINE platform limitations are taken from LINE's official developer documentation and Taiwan official-account announcements; legal citations are taken from the current text in Taiwan's national law database; and peer-reviewed literature is added to explain “why it's designed this way.”
LINE Official Documentation and Legal Basis
- LINE Developers〈Rich menus overview〉: the rich menu is only displayed in the iOS/Android version of LINE and not on desktop (macOS/Windows); an individual user's menu can only be linked to someone who has already added the account as a friend; images must be 800–2500 pixels wide with up to 20 tappable areas (Messaging API reference). This page's “Consolidation Menu” is 2500×1686 with six tiles.
- LINE Developers〈Use quick replies〉: up to 13 quick-reply buttons per message, supported only in the iOS/Android version of LINE.
- LINE Developers〈Messaging API reference — Postback action／Clipboard action〉:
inputOption: openKeyboardcombined withfillInText(up to 300 characters) can pre-fill the input field, requiring LINE 12.6.0 or later; one-tap copy (clipboard action) requires LINE 14.0.0 or later. - LINE Developers〈Messaging API reference — Send reply message〉: the reply token must be used within 1 minute of receiving the webhook. 〈Flex Message — Carousel〉: a carousel can hold up to 12 cards.
- LINE Developers〈Messaging API pricing〉: push／multicast／broadcast／narrowcast count toward the monthly quota, reply does not; the quota is counted by number of recipients; sending to a blocked or non-existent userId doesn't count; when the quota is used up the API returns 429, with the original error message shown in 〈Messaging API reference — Error messages〉: “You have reached your monthly limit.”
- LINE Biz-Solutions Taiwan〈2026 LINE Official Account Plan Price Adjustment〉(2026-09-01): starting 2026-11-01, the medium-volume monthly fee changes from NT$800 to NT$1,000, and the high-volume fee from NT$1,200 to NT$1,400 (excluding tax); the free monthly messages for light, medium and high volume remain unchanged at 200／3,000／6,000, and light/medium volume plans cannot purchase add-ons; it's recommended to complete payment setup by 10/27, since the plan can't be changed during backend maintenance windows on 10/28–11/2 and 11/24–25.
- LINE Biz-Solutions Taiwan〈LINE Official Account〉product page, “Message fees”: one-on-one chat messages, automatic-reply messages, the welcome message sent on adding a friend, and the Messaging API's Reply feature don't count toward message fees; billing uses Japan Standard Time (GMT+9), so messages sent from 23:00 Taiwan time count toward the next day.
- LINE Developers〈LINE Developers Console overview〉: the same LINE user gets a different userId under different Providers; for the Messaging API and LINE Login to share a userId, they must be built under the same Provider. (This is the technical prerequisite that lets this site match a LINE Login identity to an official-account friend.)
- LY Corporation〈LINE Notify Service-End Announcement〉: LINE Notify ended service on 2025-03-31; LINE officially recommends switching to the Messaging API of a LINE official account for sending notifications.
- LINE Biz-Solutions Taiwan〈Official Account Verification Shield Update: Easier for Customers to Recognize, Safer to Interact〉(2026-04-01): starting 2026-04-01, unverified (general) official accounts no longer show the marker once informally called the “grey shield”; the verification badge for verified official accounts has been updated to green and blue checkmark icons; since March 2026, the chat of an unverified account permanently pins the notice “This official account is auto-replying to messages.”
- LINE Biz-Solutions Taiwan〈Four Advantages of a Verified LINE Official Account Every Brand and Business Should Know〉(2025-07-01): a verified official account must pass LINE's review using documents from a government-approved business, store or organization, and must first obtain a unique ID (Premium ID).
- LINE Official Account Help Center〈What Types of Accounts Are There?〉: a verified account shows a verified marker and can appear in LINE App search results; unverified accounts do not appear in search results; verification review is currently only accepted for Japan, Taiwan and Thailand.
- LINE Taiwan press release〈LINE Celebrates 14 Years, Connecting Everyday Life Through Communication〉(2025-06-23): LINE has 22 million users in Taiwan, sends over 1 billion messages per day, and has 10 million daily active groups.
- Personal Data Protection Act, Articles 3, 8, 19 and 20 (Laws & Regulations Database of The Republic of China): Article 8 requires that, when collecting personal data, the collector's name, the purpose and categories of collection, the period, area, recipients and method of use, the data subject's rights, and the impact of not providing the data must all be clearly disclosed; Article 19, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 2 (“a contractual or quasi-contractual relationship with the data subject”) and Subparagraph 5 (“consent of the data subject”) are conditions under which a non-government agency may collect data; Article 20, Paragraphs 2 and 3 require that when personal data is used for marketing, use must stop as soon as the data subject objects, and the first instance of marketing must provide a way to opt out. The effective date of the amendment promulgated on 2025-11-11 is to be set by the Executive Yuan (as of this page's data-collection date it is still marked “effective date: to be determined”), and the articles cited on this page are not part of that amendment.
- Fraud Crime Hazard Prevention Act, Articles 2, 3, 27, 30–32 and 39 (promulgated 2024-07-31, amended 2026-01-21): online advertising platform operators above a certain scale must verify the identity of advertisers and funders using methods such as digital signatures (§30); ads must be labeled as ads and disclose the funder (§31); operators must remove fraudulent ads once aware of them and provide information such as the messaging-app accounts embedded in the ad to judicial police agencies (§32); violators are fined NT$500,000 to NT$10,000,000 by the competent digital-economy authority, up to NT$100,000,000 for serious cases (§39). The Act's target is online advertising platforms, and it does not directly require instant-messaging services to verify the real identity of every official account.
- Ministry of Digital Affairs Announcement〈List of Online Advertising Platform Operators That Meet a Certain Scale〉(2024-09-16, Ref. No. 11340007344): under Article 27, Paragraph 3 of the Fraud Crime Hazard Prevention Act, Google LLC, LY Corporation (LINE), Meta Platforms, Inc. and TIKTOK PTE. LTD. are announced as regulated operators.
- Ministry of Digital Affairs press release〈moda Partners with Google, LINE and Meta to Strengthen Anti-Fraud Measures Online〉(2024-08-30): LINE stated that, as of the end of July 2024, it had suspended 10,419 accounts involved in fraud, and has added the warning “Please be aware of potential fraud in this chat” to one-on-one chats, groups, personal profiles, Timeline, and one-way official-account communications.
- Executive Yuan press release〈Premier Chen Approves the “New Four Anti-Fraud Laws”〉(2024-05-09): the draft Fraud Crime Hazard Prevention Act, the draft Technology Investigation and Protection Act, and the amendments to the Communication Security and Surveillance Act and the Money Laundering Control Act are collectively called the “New Four Anti-Fraud Laws”; legislation was completed in July 2024.
- National Police Agency, Ministry of the Interior, FAQ〈Is There a Call Charge for the 165 Anti-Fraud Consultation Hotline?〉: calling 165 from a landline is free; from a mobile phone it's free on Chunghwa Telecom and NT$1 per minute on other carriers; you can also file a report online at the 165 Anti-Fraud website. Per the NPA FAQ〈What Channels Can I Use to Get the Latest Anti-Fraud Awareness Information?〉, the NPA's official anti-fraud awareness LINE official account ID is @tw165.
- Customs Administration, Ministry of Finance〈Express Consignee Real-Name Verification — Introduction and Instructions〉: EZ WAY real-name verification links a mobile number to a National ID or Resident Certificate number to complete real-name verification; one phone number can only be linked to one ID number; once a customs broker files a declaration, the individual should check the item name and amount, and tap “declaration matches” if correct.
- Customs Administration, Ministry of Finance press release〈Attention Online Shoppers: Customs Fully Implements Pre-Confirmed Authorization Starting March 1〉: the Ministry of Finance amended the Regulations Governing Customs Clearance of Air and Sea Express Cargo on 2026-02-23; starting 2026-03-01, individual simplified-declaration express cargo authorized online via EZ WAY real-name verification is fully subject to “pre-confirmed authorization”; import clearance cannot proceed without a response, or if the declaration doesn't match.
- Regulations Governing Customs Clearance of Air Express Cargo, Articles 11, 12 and 17 (amended 2026-02-23): cargo with a duty-paying value over NT$50,000 is high-value express cargo and must be cleared using a regular import/export declaration (§12, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 1); other cargo may be cleared using a simplified declaration form (§12, Paragraph 2); authorization must be made by one of three methods — in writing, via the Customs-Port-Trade Single Window, or via a real-name verification platform (§17, Paragraph 1); customs may refuse to accept a declaration if authorization is not completed (§17, Paragraph 2, effective 2026-03-01). For sea freight, see the corresponding articles of the Regulations Governing Customs Clearance of Sea Express Cargo.
- Customs Act, Article 49, Paragraph 2 + Ministry of Finance Announcement dated 2017-09-07 (Ref. No. 1061018778): import cargo in the same batch with a duty-paying value of NT$2,000 or less is exempt from customs duty, business tax and commodity tax (except for tobacco, alcohol and tariff-quota agricultural products), but this doesn't apply to frequent importers; per the Ministry of Finance Tax Portal〈Notes on Purchasing Goods from Abroad Online〉, tax is levied from the 7th import onward if imports exceed 6 times within six months.
- Electronic Signatures Act, Articles 4 and 5 (amended 2024-05-15): an electronic document that meets the requirements of this Act is functionally equivalent to a physical document; using an electronic format with another party requires that party's consent, or the party must be given a reasonable period and method in advance to object; the other party may withdraw consent to the electronic format at any time.
- Consumer Protection Act, Article 18, Paragraph 2: for transactions conducted via the internet, the legally required information a business operator must provide must be given in an electronic form that consumers can fully review and store. (The Consumer Protection Act has no provision directly regulating “notifying tracking status electronically”; this is the closest relevant provision.)
- Shopee Help Center〈Not Receiving Delivery Arrival SMS〉: starting 2025-09-17, when multiple packages arrive at a store within one hour, only the arrival notification for the first one is sent; check order details for the rest. (A peer's approach to notification frequency, for comparison with this site's daily-limit design.)
Research literature: chatbot customer service, tracking notifications and verification badges
Mobile apps in retail: Effect of push notification frequency on app user behavior
A 7-week experiment on a German retail app (17,500 users, 5 frequency groups): each additional non-personalized push per week raised the uninstall rate by 2.50 percentage points; the group receiving 2 pushes per week had a 6.46% uninstall rate versus 1.37% for the group receiving none. This is one reference point behind this site's “daily limit per person” setting.
An in-situ study of mobile phone notifications
In a one-week field study, 15 users had to deal with an average of 63.5 notifications per day, mostly from messaging apps and email; more notifications correlated with stronger negative emotions. This explains why a consolidation platform shouldn't push every single event to LINE.
Echoes of the Day: Exploring the Interplay Between Daily Contexts and Smartphone Push Notification Experiences
A 5-day diary study with 28 participants (135 entries) found that pushes often arrive at “the wrong moment,” causing interruption and stress, and argued for context-sensitive sending strategies — the rationale behind this site's 22:00–08:00 quiet period. The study didn't specify concrete time windows; the quiet period itself is a setting chosen by the site.
Usability and responsiveness of artificial intelligence chatbot on online customer experience in e-retailing
A survey of 425 e-commerce respondents: a chatbot's “responsiveness” increases the intrinsic value of the customer experience, and its “ease of use” increases extrinsic value, both of which positively affect satisfaction. The Consolidation Assistant's instant replies and its use of buttons and pre-filled input to reduce typing correspond to these two factors.
Understanding the user satisfaction and loyalty of customer service chatbots
A survey of 219 customer-service chatbot users: a bot's “service recovery quality” and “conversation quality” significantly affect satisfaction. This site's assistant only handles complete commands and leaves everything else to a person — that's leaving service recovery to customer service.
AI Customer Service: Task Complexity, Problem-Solving Ability, and Usage Intention
Three field experiments (banking context): for low-complexity tasks, consumers rated AI customer service as more capable than a person; for high-complexity tasks, they preferred a person. Handing fixed tasks like tracking and forecasting to the bot while sending customs-clearance questions to customer service follows the same logic.
When do AI chatbots lead to higher customer satisfaction than human frontline employees in online shopping assistance? Considering product attribute type
A scenario-based experiment with 567 participants: when asking about functional (verifiable) attributes, AI chatbots produced higher satisfaction than human customer service; for experiential attributes, a person performed better.
Serving customers through chatbots: positive and negative effects on customer experience
An analysis of 7,167 customer–bot conversations over two years at an online retailer: bots can provide information, reduce stress and increase trust, but can also create negative experiences by giving irrelevant answers — exactly why this site's assistant deliberately “only responds to explicit commands.”
Human-Computer Interaction in Customer Service: The Experience with AI Chatbots—A Systematic Literature Review
A systematic review of 40 empirical studies: factors affecting the customer-service chatbot experience fall into three categories — the bot itself (functionality, system, anthropomorphism), the customer, and the context.
The Impact of Anthropomorphism on Consumers' Purchase Decision in Chatbot Commerce
The anthropomorphic traits of a chatbot within a mobile messaging app positively affect consumers' willingness to purchase through conversational commerce.
Failure to deliver? Linking online order fulfillment glitches with future purchase behavior
An analysis of actual transaction data from an online retailer: after experiencing one fulfillment delay, customers' subsequent order frequency and spending decreased while their anxiety increased. The value of tracking notifications lies in reducing this uncertainty.
Online retail experience and customer satisfaction: the mediating role of last mile delivery
The last-mile delivery experience “mediates” the relationship between the online shopping experience and customer satisfaction: if the delivery stage goes badly, a smooth experience beforehand still struggles to translate into satisfaction. Out-for-delivery and signed-for notifications fill the information gap at this stage.
The Labor Illusion: How Operational Transparency Increases Perceived Value
Five experiments (online travel and dating contexts): showing people the “we're working on it for you” process leads to higher service ratings and even willingness to accept longer waits. This is the psychological basis for station-by-station tracking updates; it is not a logistics study.
An empirical study on logistic service quality, customer satisfaction, and cross-border repurchase intention
466 Chinese consumers with cross-border shopping experience: “delivery information service” (β=0.231) significantly increased satisfaction, while “delivery service quality” itself (β=0.057) was not significant — tracking information matters more than the delivery itself for cross-border customer satisfaction.
Logistics service quality and customer behavior in cross-border e-commerce: a Thai consumer perspective
387 Thai cross-border e-commerce consumers: “shipping information quality” (β=0.166) and “personal communication quality” (β=0.256) significantly increased satisfaction, which in turn drove repurchase with β=0.588.
The trust paradox: An exploration of consumer psychology and behavior in cross-border shopping using E-commerce mobile applications
A study of a cross-border e-commerce app using a sample of Taiwanese consumers: increased trust doesn't necessarily lower perceived risk — the factor that truly mediates and reduces uncertainty is “satisfaction.”
Exploring User Retention in WeChat E-Commerce for SME Retailers: Perspective of Perceived Quality and Privacy Calculus
694 WeChat e-commerce user surveys: information quality and service quality affect continued-use intention, and users weigh privacy concerns against perceived benefits — a service on a messaging platform needs to clearly explain what data it uses.
The Impact of Consumer Perceived Characteristics on Continuance Usage Intention of Mobile Instant Messaging through TAM and ECM: An Example of Line Official Accounts (original title: 整合科技接受模式與期望確認模式探討行動即時通訊持續使用意圖：以 LINE 官方帳號為例)
339 valid survey responses: for a LINE official account, perceived usefulness and ease of use → satisfaction → continued-use intention held up, and “personalized” messages strengthened the link from satisfaction to continued use. A master's thesis using Taiwan-local data.
Does the verified badge of social media matter? The perspective of trust transfer theory
Three experiments (Instagram context): a verification badge sequentially increases trust, attitude and sharing intention, with a more pronounced effect for accounts with fewer followers. A social-media study, not about LINE.
Does Being Verified Make You More Credible? Account Verification's Effect on Tweet Credibility
Two online experiments (748 and 2,041 participants): most users can distinguish “the account is real” from “the content is credible.” A verification badge proves identity, not content — which is why you should still check the ID and message content even after verification.
Social Media Authentication and Users' Assessments of Health Information: Random Assignment Survey Experiment
A randomized experiment with 534 US adults: the presence or absence of a verification badge didn't significantly change judgments of information accuracy. Along with the previous study, this is evidence that “a badge ≠ credible content.”
Notifications in the Post-Purchase Journey – 2023 Report
44% of Taiwanese respondents rated “real-time shipping notifications” as very important (compared with 42% in Japan, 40% in China, and 24% in the US). Not peer-reviewed; provided only as market background.
① This page describes the program's behavior as of the writing date; consolidation rules, notification policy and plan quotas may change — the actual live screens on the site govern. ② How the LINE platform itself displays things (menus, buttons, badges) is decided by LINE, and may differ between app versions. ③ Numbers like the daily limit and quiet period are settings chosen by the site, not legal requirements. ④ The cited literature consists of general customer-experience research, mostly in e-commerce or social-media contexts rather than studies specific to the consolidation industry or LINE; this is noted wherever cited.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the ID of HowBridge's LINE official account? How do I confirm it's the real one?
I added it as a friend — why does tapping the menu just show “Please link your account first”?
What's the difference between consolidating in LINE and consolidating on the website?
Do I have to use formal declaration if the total goods value is over NT$50,000?
Will I get separate notifications as my package arrives at the Shenzhen warehouse, ships out, and reaches Taiwan?
Why did I stop getting tracking notifications on LINE after installing the App?
If I send a screenshot of a courier tracking number to the official account, will it auto-reply with tracking status?
Why doesn't desktop LINE have the consolidation menu?
What can I use without linking my account?
How many LINE notifications can HowBridge send per month? What happens when the quota runs out?
I linked LINE to a company group — where will notifications go?
What happens after I unlink LINE or block the official account?
Further Reading
LINE Official Account Blue Shield Verification: 3 Steps to Spot Fake Customer Service
Contact Us: Full Official Contact Details and Service Hours
EZ WAY Real-Name Verification Tutorial
EZ WAY Pre-Authorization: Completing Authorization Before Customs Declaration
Company/Business Imports: Business Tax, Import Duty and Formal Declaration
E-Invoice Guide: How It's Issued After You Pay Freight
Payment Methods Overview
The Complete Guide to Preventing Cross-Border Shopping Fraud
Taiwan Customs Clearance Timeline: How Long Each Stage Takes
Download the HowBridge App
Add HowBridge's LINE official account and consolidate right from the chat
Look for the unique ID @0523tw and the verification badge. After adding it as a friend, link your account using the personal link in the welcome message, and the consolidation menu will appear below the chat.
Add official LINE account