A guide to Taiwanese VISA Debit Cards

One thing I should’ve mentioned about DBS and it’s a good thing imho, is that they don’t have pass books, so no more hassle having to update the damn thing. They send you monthly bank statements instead which is a lot better. It also seems like their online banking is on English, but I have as yet to get my login and it might only be for their business banking.

I’ll update it if there is new information. :slight_smile:

Especially the type of ARC.
Otherwise, I think we have to assume that none of the cads are available to those on a regular ARC.

Hm… not sure what you mean - what is a regular ARC? And what ARC should i assume all those people have who got a card? And, anyway, are you not listed in that file as having a card (Megabank?) already - what’s the deal here? :slight_smile:

I had a standard work based ARC when I first got mine from Taishin.

I see…

So now i’ve read about “regular” and “standard” ARCs here - stupid me would have assumed those terms apply to the same kind of document, but now we are told that a regular ARC is not good enough to get a debit card while a standard ARC is.

Anybody have an explanation?

I see…

So now I’ve read about “regular” and “standard” ARCs here - stupid me would have assumed those terms apply to the same kind of document, but now we are told that a regular ARC is not good enough to get a debit card while a standard ARC is.

Anybody have an explanation?[/quote]

I meant the same thing ie an ARC based on employment not APRC or JFRV.

OK… got it… so now we just need to wait for trubadour’s explanation of what his concern is - i trust that the satisfied customers whose reports we have on file here are enough evidence for us to know that the system works in principle, but, of course glitches can happen. :wink:

Why are you trying to make rules for something where no rules exist?

You can/can’t get a credit card on a “regular” ARC, or a PARC or a JFRV, there are no rules and no book to refer to, it’s all up to luck or insistence.

I got mine by being a biggish customer in a bank, and demanding one.

I thing he is looking for the answer to a question like, “can we trust that this really works?”
(He had also reported some time ago that he had received a debit card from Megabank sort of automatically when opening an account, so i am not sure why there is doubt all of a sudden.)

But just to make sure, i have reworded the relevant part of the post at the top of this thread to make it more explicit that all there is are precedents and not rules.

Do you mean to say that you did now have (or at least did not show) an ARC when applying for your card?
(Not that it would surprise me - “money talks” :wink: )

You will need an ARC.

Roger - that confirms what we already have… :bow:

I have a debit card that only works in cash machines and in person at some shops in Taiwan - not online.

A previous post mentioned somewhere that to get a proper debit card (that works online, like on Amazon.com), you have to have an ARC that is valid for more than one year. I don’t have one of those, I just have the standard renewable yearly ARC, not a long term thing or whatever other types of ARC/workpermit/etc are issued. So, I just wanted to be clear on what type of ARC is required.

Now Mr. He said that there are “no rules” anyway. So, is it all just down to the particular person of the particular branch you happen to visit on any given day?

OK, now i understand what you were/are asking about…

Please consider once more the information in the first post (it has been extracted from what other people have reported):
“a valid passport and an ARC for a period of at least one year”.
That is all we know and it sounds like the ARC you have fits that description. :wink:

So… all that is left to do is to pick a bank that has the kind of card you want and go there and talk with them… :slight_smile:

I’m interested in getting the debit card from Taishin. To clarify, is the Visa Debit Card the card they give you by default when you apply for an account, or do you need to specify that you would like one?

You need to specify.

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I’d suggest that anybody opening an account with any bank should specify exactly what services they want. :slight_smile:

Even if one person at some time got a desired VISA debit card without asking at a certain bank, that does not guarantee that the next customer will get the same service (there are too many variables in these “equations” of people interacting) - the appropriate way to get what you want is to negotiate and to confirm with the staff that they will give you what you want. (This is not only true with banks but probably almost anywhere else in life. :wink: )

[quote=“andycjw”]
tl;dr: Chinatrust VDC has a bug on visa 3d for foreigners account, scheduled to be fixed around end of March.[/quote]

Great Thread, and amazing at how crazy the whole banking industry is in Taiwan, why cant there just be a “standard”, that all banks follow. Begs belief :loco:

Anyway, anyone know if the Chinatrust Verified by Visa issue has been corrected? i tried discussing it with the bank last week, but not a single person at the bank knows what verified by visa is. Talk about knowing your product and customer . . . :ohreally:

If the verified by visa is not rectified on the Chinatrust debit cards, will getting a Credit Card from Chinatrust allow to me to make purchases on sites that require the online verification?

My Huanan visa debit card magically became usable for Internet transactions, overseas hotels and the like for no reason. And I don’t even have an ARC…go figure.

AWESOME! I got the Taishin card in less than 30 minutes! Thanks! You guys rock! Beers on me!

It only took 2 or 3 rounds of “sorry, foreigners can’t apply for VISA cards” before she caved in.

I can finally close my ludicrously expensive SA accounts which charge me monthly for the benefit of them existing.

I have to disagree. Giving locals any more than one piece of information at a time usually just gets messy. Try something simple with 3 basic details like “Yi Bei kafei, ja nigh-jing, bu ja tang” and witness the confusion. (my pronunciation is a lot better than my pinyin)

[quote]zyzzx

  • has used the card to withdraw money from an Austrian ATM, using the 6 digit PIN
  • the card has only a 6-digit PIN[/quote]
    I needed to put in a 6 digit PIN for local and 4digit for international. You may want to refresh the info.

OK… i’ve updated the message at the head of this thread accrodingly - many thanks for the info!

:slight_smile: (see: “negotiation strategy”…)

I have to disagree.[/quote]
At your own peril. :wink: :smiley:

Aye, aye: that can happen with locals anywhere in the world. :wink: And that’s why the pros can tell us a lot about about “negotiation strategy”. :slight_smile:

[quote][quote]zyzzx

  • has used the card to withdraw money from an Austrian ATM, using the 6 digit PIN
  • the card has only a 6-digit PIN[/quote]
    I needed to put in a 6 digit PIN for local and 4digit for international. You may want to refresh the info.[/quote]
    Done! Many thanks for the update!