Can foreigners get a credit card in Taiwan?

[quote=“dan2006”]
My purpose for government intervention is not to tell the banks that they must approve everyone just because we are a foreigner. Just set the regulation that anyone who is a legal resident of Taiwan is not to be discriminated against when it comes to credit products. So if the pimply faced 20 year old xiaojie that works at Mcdonalds can be approved for a card under a certain set of criteria, the same criteria would be applied for foreigners. So see, we are not forcing you to give credit cards to foreigners, but we are :laughing:

Thus endeth the discrimination

Again I do not mind if there is other criteria involved, like a year of salary deposited, a good credit record etc, but there has to be a specific reason why a foreigner application would be rejected, not just seeing our face on the photocopy of the ARC and the application going in the garbage. :smiley:[/quote]
You can’t use the same criteria cause the credit risk is not the same.

[quote=“E04teacherlin”][quote=“dan2006”]
My purpose for government intervention is not to tell the banks that they must approve everyone just because we are a foreigner. Just set the regulation that anyone who is a legal resident of Taiwan is not to be discriminated against when it comes to credit products. So if the pimply faced 20 year old xiaojie that works at Mcdonalds can be approved for a card under a certain set of criteria, the same criteria would be applied for foreigners. So see, we are not forcing you to give credit cards to foreigners, but we are :laughing:

Thus endeth the discrimination

Again I do not mind if there is other criteria involved, like a year of salary deposited, a good credit record etc, but there has to be a specific reason why a foreigner application would be rejected, not just seeing our face on the photocopy of the ARC and the application going in the garbage. :smiley:[/quote]
You can’t use the same criteria cause the credit risk is not the same.[/quote]

So do you agree or disagree with the current criteria of banks [strike]issuing[/strike] not issuing credit to legal residents here?

Disagree, but that does not mean they should use the same criteria, that they use for a 20 year old local on any foreign application. Foreigners pose a greater credit risk. Therefore they don’t (in most countries) qualify for premium credit rates. They might need some form of security. If the banks required a 15000 NT investment, not deposit, that pays the same interest as a fixed deposit and used it as initial security, I say they should approve the loan. If you can’t invest that much, then you are getting a credit card to over spend and pose an even greater risk. Phone bills and other accounts should be used towards determining repayment ability.
They can also pay a higher insurance premium on non-repayment from the card holder and this can be reflected in the interest rate charged. Many normal banking solutions.
Debit cards can be used abroad, and I am almost certain credit cards can also be used abroad. Many people do not know that they actually require a different pin code.

I do agree that in general foreigners may be a greater credit risk. And I do lean toward a bit of a tougher standard to apply but not impossible. As I said, if the banks were willing to look at previous credit history in Taiwan, or asking for deposits that are returned after a few years, I think that is fair.

I guess where my issue is is that a good portion (not all) banks immediately say “no foreigners”, or if they do they want a guarantor. Again irregardless of your current financial position or credit standing. Thats the part that should be stopped by regulation. Why should two people be made to answer for one persons bill. If you want to do that, you better be giving me a 5% interest rate on my card or else forget it due to low risk

Anyway I am probably beating a :flog:

[quote=“E04teacherlin”]Disagree, but that does not mean they should use the same criteria, that they use for a 20 year old local on any foreign application. Foreigners pose a greater credit risk. Therefore they don’t (in most countries) qualify for premium credit rates. They might need some form of security. If the banks required a 15000 NT investment, not deposit, that pays the same interest as a fixed deposit and used it as initial security, I say they should approve the loan. If you can’t invest that much, then you are getting a credit card to over spend and pose an even greater risk. Phone bills and other accounts should be used towards determining repayment ability.
They can also pay a higher insurance premium on non-repayment from the card holder and this can be reflected in the interest rate charged. Many normal banking solutions.
Debit cards can be used abroad, and I am almost certain credit cards can also be used abroad. Many people do not know that they actually require a different pin code.[/quote]

Don’t agree. Pemanent residents in countries other than this one, are given full access to credit services. That Taiwan does not is nothing more than open discrimination, and an inability to distinguish between a visitor and someone who lives here. While I may agree that offering a credit card to someone on a short-term work contract would be risky, I don’t think there is any evidence that long-term, permanent residents are any more of a risk than many Taiwanese (who often possess foreign passports themselves).

[quote=“80sStar”][quote=“E04teacherlin”]Disagree, but that does not mean they should use the same criteria, that they use for a 20 year old local on any foreign application. Foreigners pose a greater credit risk. Therefore they don’t (in most countries) qualify for premium credit rates. They might need some form of security. If the banks required a 15000 NT investment, not deposit, that pays the same interest as a fixed deposit and used it as initial security, I say they should approve the loan. If you can’t invest that much, then you are getting a credit card to over spend and pose an even greater risk. Phone bills and other accounts should be used towards determining repayment ability.
They can also pay a higher insurance premium on non-repayment from the card holder and this can be reflected in the interest rate charged. Many normal banking solutions.
Debit cards can be used abroad, and I am almost certain credit cards can also be used abroad. Many people do not know that they actually require a different pin code.[/quote]

Don’t agree. Pemanent residents in countries other than this one, are given full access to credit services. That Taiwan does not is nothing more than open discrimination, and an inability to distinguish between a visitor and someone who lives here. While I may agree that offering a credit card to someone on a short-term work contract would be risky, I don’t think there is any evidence that long-term, permanent residents are any more of a risk than many Taiwanese (who often possess foreign passports themselves).[/quote]

+1
I couldn’t imagine what would happen in Canada if the banks said “no Taiwanese” if they were a legal resident. Everyone would scream discrimination.

Again, the banks in Canada usually start foreigners out with a secured card, that after a year or 2 unsecures, or they may offer a low limit card but once you show you are creditworthy you will keep getting increases. Many banks offer credit cards for just off the boat people too.
I found a link for an example rbc.com/canada/credit/credit … C4955BEC2B

I think people on short term contracts here (1 year ARC) should also be able to apply, as most companies keep renewing people on 1 year terms but that does not mean the person is a flight risk necessary since you can easily renew again each year. 6 or so months of regular deposits of salary should be sufficient to show some stability.

[quote=“80sStar”][quote=“E04teacherlin”]Disagree, but that does not mean they should use the same criteria, that they use for a 20 year old local on any foreign application. Foreigners pose a greater credit risk. Therefore they don’t (in most countries) qualify for premium credit rates. They might need some form of security. If the banks required a 15000 NT investment, not deposit, that pays the same interest as a fixed deposit and used it as initial security, I say they should approve the loan. If you can’t invest that much, then you are getting a credit card to over spend and pose an even greater risk. Phone bills and other accounts should be used towards determining repayment ability.
They can also pay a higher insurance premium on non-repayment from the card holder and this can be reflected in the interest rate charged. Many normal banking solutions.
Debit cards can be used abroad, and I am almost certain credit cards can also be used abroad. Many people do not know that they actually require a different pin code.[/quote]

Don’t agree. Pemanent residents in countries other than this one, are given full access to credit services. That Taiwan does not is nothing more than open discrimination, and an inability to distinguish between a visitor and someone who lives here. While I may agree that offering a credit card to someone on a short-term work contract would be risky, I don’t think there is any evidence that long-term, permanent residents are any more of a risk than many Taiwanese (who often possess foreign passports themselves).[/quote]
He asked me if I agree with the current practice and I said I disagree and you don’t agree with me meaning you agree with current practices. What?
They are not given prime lending rates. Don’t try to discuss this with me, I have dealt with tons of banking institutions and bankers and they do not get prime lending rates unless they can offer security or are actual citizens of the country. You should maybe think that there are ways to “recuperate” your money of the family stays behind but less so when the non-local leaves. Since you are so clued up on banking, what is the international deposit to loan ratio for banks and does Taiwan adhere to it?

[quote=“E04teacherlin”]
Don’t try to discuss this with me, [/quote]

Then don’t post on a DISCUSSION website.

And I’m saying it’s open discrimination. It isn’t the case in other countries, where permanent residence means PERMANENT.

First point: Permanent resident is as good as local, or should be-- as in other countries. But that is just it, Taiwan (and a fair number of its people, if you are any indication) just cannot get its head around the idea of non-Chinese as actually living here as members of its society. It prefers to think of us as perpetual visitors.
Point two: The “recuperate” point alludes to thuggish things, the type of which are seldom practiced any more. Fact is, if a Taiwanese (like many do) leaves with his immediate family, you are going to have diddly squat chance of getting anything out of his second cousin (if you can even locate him).

Not relevant to anything I’ve said at all.

[quote=“80sStar”]
And I’m saying it’s open discrimination. It isn’t the case in other countries, where permanent residence means PERMANENT. [/quote]
What you guess will happen and what really happens is not the same. They get the same treatment as us. Yeah right. Just because you want to be treated like a Taiwanese citizen doesn’t mean you suddenly become an expert at banking practices in your home country. You are talking rubbish, sorry. PERMANENT might look the same as CITIZEN, but it isn’t. Must be my screen.

Here you go. Some help.

creditcardchaser.com/im-not- … edit-card/

creditcardoffers.com.au/guid … n-citizen/
Do note the massive increase in income.

Now since most people already said that you can get a credit card but they want to be treated the same as citizens, guess what, Australia and the US don’t do that. Why should Taiwan?

[quote=“E04teacherlin”][quote=“80sStar”]
And I’m saying it’s open discrimination. It isn’t the case in other countries, where permanent residence means PERMANENT. [/quote]
What you guess will happen and what really happens is not the same. They get the same treatment as us. Yeah right. Just because you want to be treated like a Taiwanese citizen doesn’t mean you suddenly become an expert at banking practices in your home country. You are talking rubbish, sorry. PERMANENT might look the same as CITIZEN, but it isn’t. Must be my screen.[/quote]

My family are immigrants to my country of origin. They were, and are, able to obtain credit services at preferred rates, based on their being permanent residents with stable incomes and good payment histories. They did not have to be citizens to be treated as equal members of society.

Why are you so quick to be insulting? Nothing I have said has been “rubbish.”

A few points i think we all would be well-advised keep in mind:

It is not “Taiwan” that is discriminating, it is specific banks that make business decisions based on their own assessments of risks and potential profits. And that is the same everywhere in the world. Being a legal resident here or in another country is irrelevant.

It is not up to the government to make laws/ rules as to how banks have to give credit to foreigners - banks are free to give or deny credit to anybody (citizens and foreigerns alike) as they please. On the other hand we are free to take our business to banks that offer us what we want/ need.

If what we want/ need is not available in a given market, then tought luck: the world does not owe us equal treatment in all markets. :slight_smile:
On the other hand, many things become possible through negotiation - whether in Taiwan or elsewhere…

The bottom line is: get to know the language and the culture and you’ll find ways where at first you see barriers. :sunglasses:

[quote=“yuli”]

It is not “Taiwan” that is discriminating, it is specific banks that make business decisions based on their own assessments of risks and potential profits. And that is the same everywhere in the world. Being a legal resident here or in another country is irrelevant.[/quote]

Agreed, it is not Taiwan that is discriminating. It is the specific banks that make [strike]business decisions[/strike] discriminatory decisions based on their own [strike]assessments of risks and potential profits[/strike] prejudiced opinions of foreigners (sorry had to do that :blush: )

[quote=“yuli”]
It is not up to the government to make laws/ rules as to how banks have to give credit to foreigners - banks are free to give or deny credit to anybody (citizens and foreigners alike) as they please. On the other hand we are free to take our business to banks that offer us what we want/ need.[/quote]

It is up to the government to make rules if the reasons for not issuing credit are blatantly discriminatory. It would be OK if they fed our info into the computer as a local and it comes up either yes or no, but if banks think it is their right to immediately trash a foreigners application or reach for the guarantor form, they need to be forced to stop that practice. Again, I am not against there being a higher standard, but systematically declining legal residents needs to be illegal. And believe me, they do not decline locals. Anyone with a pulse is being hawked at store entrances everywhere in Taiwan. Have some fun and reach for the application if you are a foreigner though and see the reaction. I bet even Satellite TV himself would get the application yanked back if he went for it. :smiley:

[quote=“yuli”]
If what we want/ need is not available in a given market, then tought luck: the world does not owe us equal treatment in all markets. :slight_smile:
On the other hand, many things become possible through negotiation - whether in Taiwan or elsewhere…

The bottom line is: get to know the language and the culture and you’ll find ways where at first you see barriers. :sunglasses:[/quote]

If what is not available in a given market is not available due to discrimination, then we as residents need to make a big stink about it. Again, equal treatment perhaps not exactly, but fair treatment.

Your last sentence is very good though about negotiation. As I stated before, there are some banks out there willing to take the risk. You just need to convince them of that. That’s where “skillz” comes in.

Actually they do.

Yes. I’ve got one from Fubon with no cosigner required. Welcome to the world of gwanxi.

Actually they do.[/quote]

I was being a little simplistic in my comments :slight_smile:

The bank that gave me a card opened a book. The only standard that might stop someone is less than $50,000nt in the bank or having a credit payment problem. But a typical Taiwanese would likely get approved if the two above conditions are met. Thus the 20 year old xiaojies with a wallet full of cards.

Fubon eh? I heard that guanxi works with them. You either get shut out completely there or you get in with connections. (as per stories I have heard).

I think Fubon is good for movie promotions? I heard they have a buy one get one free promotion there which sounds really good.

I happened by China Trust one day and had my last 10 years tax returns in the boot. I thought, what the hey.
Ariel, in Tuchen branch presented the docs to her manager. I understand enough Chinese to hear him exclaim, “fuck, he makes more than I do”. personally guaranteed with platinum.

Bottom line is
Right time
Right bank
right docs and
right person

Bottom line is
Right time
Right bank
right docs and
right person

BTW, Ariel has been promoted and is on the 2d floor of Tuchen Branch. She is the absolutely the right woman to go see.
Seems I recall a blogger a few years ago that wanted to buy a bunch of thecky crap and go to America to peddle her wares. She over drafted the credit card and couldn’t sell her wares. I think her query was along the lines of help me help me help me.
If astute people get the line of credit, I hope that they will abide by the terms. Otherwise, it just makes all of us more difficult to obtain plastic.