I am new to the community and to the country, and a little lost around both. But to answer the questions i’m sure would be asked, yes, i’ve searched the forums for banking and received a lot of useful information but none that directly answers all of my questions.
To start, it seems like a lot of people use that Mega bank and are satisfied with it so i might try my luck there. I have already opened an account at the post office because i think i need to use that for the scholarship i am receiving, but so far they have been insanely frustrating to deal with. It’s truly ironic that a world away one can still find stereotypical faults with postal service. Basically, does anyone know if one can do wire transfers at the post office bank? I’ve been told by other banks in english that it is true but at two separate post offices they kept saying “sorry, sorry” in english but it was obvious that my limited chinese and their practically non-existent english wasnt getting us anywhere. So to clarify, does anyone know if it is possible?
I’ll assume no for now and move on to which bank would be best for exactly that reason. As i said, i’ve seen in other posts people talking about i think some bank called Fubon (i’d have to look it up to be sure of spelling) and Mega. I’ve seen citibank mentioned, which would be tremendously convenient because there is one across the street from where i live, so does anyone have any personal experience with money transferring from citibank?
I’m going to be forthright and get to the point. Even though i may be read seemingly calm, i am actually in need of money and i need a wire transfer within a few days. After exchanging what cash i had, renting an apartment and buying some necessities and obviously daily food (cut down to only 1 meal a day to save), i have cut significantly into my funds. I have been unable to cash most of the 100 dollar bills i brought with me because of the CB printing number. I have been unable to find a bank that would take it. Either way, with the cash exchanged or not, i would still need more funds for my school registration that starts next week and a money transfer is the only way i can acquire the money i need yet i have had a difficult time with what i need.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance
You can do international wire transfers at post offices with foreign currency services. Only a few have this service. It sounds like your branch does not. Withdraw your cash and go to a bank that does.
Ah, you want to remit money to Taiwan! It may well be that the post office thinks you want to remit money from Taiwan rather than receive it.
Any major bank can do this. I’ve had funds remitted to my Mega account many times. Here’s how to fill out the form for Cathay United. Mega will be similar–but change the codes
Account: [exact name on passbook]
Bank: Megabank, Cheng Chung Branch
Address: [street address of bank branch]
Bank Routing Number (SWIFT): [get this from bank]
Account Number: [your account number]
There will be fees on both ends. I’m not sure you can open an account if you are not a resident though.
Apparently Taiwanese banks WILL NOT accept cb bills. The Bank of Taiwan may be willing to do it if you pay for the counterfeit examination (c. US$15/note).
Interesting. I will look into banking at a post office that has foreign currency services. Perhaps the post office at my school may have one? I think it would make sense if it did but maybe it would be too good to be true! And in case anyone might read this that knows, i will be attending Normal University!
Also, “remit money to taiwan” i have never heard of that before, of remitting money. I’m sure its the same thing, but just to clarify, i need someone from the US to transfer money into a bank account that i can setup here. So not sure how the conversion from US to NT would work, i know i saw some posts on this forum talking about setting up something online, which would be nice, but since i need something soon within the next couple of days, i suppose i’ll have to do some more online experimentation later
If you are concerned about communication problems I suggest HSBC. They have English language phone banking and answer emails in English through their online bank. I can’t say I am terribly happy with them, they add little fees here and there and their service is not really great but I have no big complaints. I know a lot of people don’t like HSBC but if you want to get answers in English I think they are your best bet. I send a lot of questions through the online banking system and usually get an answer within 24 hours or they call me up.
well not so much communication problems because after all, i am here to learn chinese, but rather, i just need the easiest, fastest way to open up an account and get some funds wired over. All i know is that the post office said no, which must mean they were not a branch that was able to do it, so i guess i’ll either try to find one that has foreign exchange services or open an account at another bank i guess.
i just feel like i’m in dire need of some money by next week and not really comfortable asking some new taiwanese friends i just met to loan me a bunch of cash, especially since they have managed to pay for everything anyways. I really need to learn how to ninja the bill like they do, i have no idea when or how they pay sometimes but somehow they manage to sneak off. I have definitely learned that if i ever go to the bathroom, no matter if in the beginning, middle or end of a meal, they will always sneak off and pay! Not sure if that is the culture or just my new friends though hah
What your are talking about is Inward Remittance. Almost every bank on the planet can accept inward remittances. If you can get Step 2 our of the post office from my list below then you are good to go.
To transfer money from outside Taiwan you need:
account number for your Taiwanese account
SWIFT BIC number for your Taiwanese bank (for some reason most banking staff in Taiwan say ‘SWIFTCALL’ so ask for ‘SWIFT bian1 hao4’ or ‘SWIFTCALL hao4 ma3’.
address of your Taiwanese bank (not essential but the US bank may refuse to transfer without it - again ask your Taiwanese bank for this)
account name (e.g. your name as printed on your bank book / statements in Taiwan)
I don’t know if you have an ARC or not but I suggest opening an account with Taishin because they can definitely set you up with a passport, one other photo ID and ID number (which you can get from the NIA/ex-foreign affairs police). If you have an ARC you don’t need the ID number. ID numbers can be issued on the spot so if you get up early, go get your ID number first then head off to a Taishin branch you can probably call your buddy in the US and have access to your funds by next day or the day after.
You will have to send the funds in USD and do the conversion in Taiwan. Taishin will call you to go and sign the currency conversion paperwork when your funds arrive, so best to make sure you give them a contact number that works.
no i didnt bring my atm card from the US. i was informed that it wouldnt work here, maybe bad information? do some atm cards from the states work here then? if so, then that pisses me off tremendously. It made sense when the person (or persons because i heard it from 2 reliable sources that have been here before) told me that they didnt because of the conversion. Which i naturally thought the same thing, how could an atm card linked to an account with US currency be able to withdraw NT from taiwan? i thought impossible as well so i didnt bring it.
i did bring a visa credit card from the US, but this quarter’s tuition is 35k and they only accept cash. Which i find interesting, a university accepting only cash. But at any rate, my scholarship wont kick in until mid august so i’m going to need 35k for tuition, 9k for next month’s rent, and then however much required to eat and standard living expenses. I wont tell you how much i have now but suffice it to say you all would probably scold me for bringing so little, but i suppose i thought i could open an account at an international bank and just have my family back home deposit cash inside. Naturally we should have done some research because we would have found that they are international in name only and they dont seem to be connected in anyway to the banks back home.
But what is western union? another way to remit money?
thanks for those steps. I will see if i can go to a post office that can do that for me because definitely the one i tried at was unbelievably rude and just kept saying sorry sorry and waved me away. I understand my chinese is bad but give me a break!
yea i dont have my ARC because i need to register for classes first on Aug 25th. I cant register for classes because i dont have any money. I dont have any money because i cant get a bank account. And i cant get a bank account because i dont have an ARC! One HUGE circle.
I’m not sure if i’ll be able to open up another bank account at a different bank because i had to go through some loops and hurdles in order to open up an account at the post office. Thank god for some random taiwanese person that decided to help me because i would have been there all day. Apparently i was able to use my apartment contract for ID. Yea, it totally doesnt make sense but hell, at least it worked.
and yes, i did go get an ID number written on that records page but banks just seem to ignore that. I definitely need to get my ARC but as i said, its just one huge circle. Taishin, or any bank that is recommended would be nice i guess, but since i’d need another photo ID, i think i’d be pretty screwed. I suppose my final option is setting it up at the post office. Does anyone know one that does foreign currency exchange? Hopefully somewhere near the lower half of the brown line, below the blue line?
I assume you’re in Taipei? Go to the post office on HePing rd. near Shi Da. From the Mandarin Training Center / Language School exit at Shi Da. turn left and walk down HePing rd. There is a large post office about 5 minutes down on your left that should be more used to dealing with foreigners and should have more services. I don’t live in Taipei so maybe someone can offer a large branch nearer you.
You can get an account with some banks without an ARC but you need the ID number I talked about. Ask at the national immigration agency / foreign affairs police for the ID number to open a bank account. They will understand. It’s a single page form and I don’t even think it costs anything.
The post office is weird, just get the ID number I talked about and you will get an account at Taishin no problem.
Passport and rental agreement may be acceptable. Even a foreign driving license or any card with a photo on it would be okay. I set someone up with an account at Taishin very recently using a passport, student card and the ID number.
PS: if your only immediate problem is paying your tuition then ask your school for their bank details so you can have the tuition wired in directly from the US.
ok excellent, that is the training center i’m going to and i assumed that they had a post office nearby if not even on the campus. I know this sounds stupid, seriously, because i’m so ignorant sometimes, but when you say turn left, is that like looking at the campus or from the campus? haha, so better yet, if you recall, since i know you said you’re not in taipei, is it east or west of the college?
“PS: if your only immediate problem is paying your tuition then ask your school for their bank details so you can have the tuition wired in directly from the US.”
that sounds like an excellent idea. even though they said “please pay in cash” maybe if i just tell them the situation they’d be able to just accept the money wired directly to them.
Go to the larger post office on Jinshan rd as the one on Hoping that Llary mentioned in no more, something I found out the day after it closed as I was going to pick up my mail and extend my PO box for another year.
Okami just PMd me to say that post office is now closed down, whoops But there is a Taishin branch just a little further down on the right side of the road (so you would have to cross over from Shi-Da, or if you are coming from the Taipower Building MRT station or Shi Da nightmarket on Shi Da road just walk towards NTNU and take a right on He-Ping, it’s on that same side). About 7-10 minutes walk from that intersection with He-Ping, here is the logo so you will recognise it easier: taishinbank.com.tw/english/index.jsp.
As far as I know NTNU will not accept anything but cash, sorry (I studied there many years ago, it’s a nice place).
I appreciate your circumstance, because I was there, almost one year ago, to the day. For the long term, the elders here can give you the best advice, and I wouldn’t presume to give you any advice other than to listen to them. However, if you need money soon, why not just use Western Union. I believe Chang Hua bank works with them, so it shouldn’t be a problem for your friend to send you money through them. If you are really in a bind, I think that’s your best route.
ok i suppose western union will work for the short term. There is just one thing. I really dont even know what it is. Yes, naturally i have heard about it in the states but i have never used it before, is it a money service to wire money? Do they have offices here in taiwan or do they work out of taiwan banks?
would i need an account with a particular bank or set up something with western union? cause opening up an account at another bank i think we would a hassle as i do not have my ARC yet
I’ve never had an issue using my US ATM card here. Maybe the ATMs at the smaller banks don’t work, but everyone I’ve tried so far works. Although you will have to pay a fee (I think mine is $5) the exchange rate is usually pretty decent.
If you don’t mind the interest on your credit card, you could take it into the bank and request a cash advance. They should be able to do it with just a passport. Otherwise, if you do a cash advance on an ATM I think the cutoff amount is $30,000NT in one go, so you’ll have to pay double fees to do it twice to cover all the cash you need.
Also, I’ve had really good experiences with Taiwan Cooperative Bank. I think the people there are great and do everything super quick.
wow if i had known about the US atm card working over here…just wow. well, looks like i’m gonna try to bum around for a awhile and my mom is gonna mail me my atm card from the states. I guess i’m gonna go over to the university and see if they’ll accept some money late or something, i dunno, maybe late registration. Or i’ll try to bum cash from some people. Btw does anyone know how long it will take for something mailed from the states to arrive?
I overnighted stuff international before…not sure about the prices though. A few years ago it was about $17 to overnight an envelope. Otherwise, a priority mail package takes about 3-6 days. (And this was from Ohio, so from Cali might be even faster)
wow overnight? thats cool. So if an atm card would constitute as just a letter right? not really a package? If i could get that overnight that would be awesome!
[quote=“eligh”]ok i suppose western union will work for the short term. There is just one thing. I really dont even know what it is. Yes, naturally I have heard about it in the states but I have never used it before, is it a money service to wire money? Do they have offices here in taiwan or do they work out of Taiwan banks?
would I need an account with a particular bank or set up something with western union? cause opening up an account at another bank I think we would a hassle as I do not have my ARC yet[/quote]
In the states, Western Union branches are everywhere; grocery stores, convenience stores, liquor stores. In Taiwan, they are (I believe) only at Chang Hwa branches.
So, hypothetically, your mom would go to a branch, give them some money and have it sent to you. Then you would go to a Chang Hwa bank, fill out a form, and they would give you the money. Then they would exchange the US$ into Taiwanese $.
But there is a Taishin branch just a little further down on the right side of the road (so you would have to cross over from Shi-Da, or if you are coming from the Taipower Building MRT station or Shi Da nightmarket on Shi Da road just walk towards NTNU and take a right on He-Ping, it’s on that same side). About 7-10 minutes walk from that intersection with He-Ping, here is the logo so you will recognise it easier: