[quote=“2Enigma”]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.[/quote]
I know the websites in Korea and Japan are filled with foreigners that did a runner and brag about it. Or they say, “can the company catch me back home or can they ruin my credit rating back home?” for credit, phone lines, and rental contracts.
If the company was so inclined, they could get a local judgement and hand it over to the runners foreign court for enforcement. In fact I wish they would do that, so it would put a cold chill down the spine of losers like this.
As someone said before, if your coteacher defaults on the loan, she becomes stupid Ms. Wang. If you default on the loan, you become “those stinking foreigners” and just a few of those and the bank says forget it.
I applied for a Master card at ChinaTrust GuTing branch and got approved. My friend told me that the GuTing and the Tianmu branches are “generous” toward foreigners and are worth trying, and I think he was right. It took less than two weeks from application to approval.
Here are what I have submitted (mostly copies).
Passport
ARC (APRC in my case)
Tax statement (white paper)
Name card issued by my employer
Employment certificate from my employer
Employee ID card (the one you use to time stamp every day)
Bank book (you don’t need to have your bank account in ChinaTrust. I used Shanghai Commercial bank)
Recent bank transaction history including the amount of deposit (I printed it out from the web - I no longer use my bank book to log transactions)
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.[/quote]
It’s worth noting that those youngsters with a wallet full of shiny plastic often have really shitty credit card limits (equal to one or two month’s salary).
It might not look as flashy, but one card with a 300k limit is far better than 5 cards with a 60k limit.
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.[/quote]
It’s worth noting that those youngsters with a wallet full of shiny plastic often have really shitty credit card limits (equal to one or two month’s salary).
It might not look as flashy, but one card with a 300k limit is far better than 5 cards with a 60k limit.[/quote]
I would love to know which bank offers 300k limits.
My limits ranged from $20k from a conservative bank to $150,000 for the most generous. I guess they figured the foreigner cant do too much damage with a 20k limit.
But then again I never charge more than 10k a month anyway.
[quote=“isaokato”]I applied for a Master card at ChinaTrust GuTing branch and got approved. My friend told me that the GuTing and the Tianmu branches are “generous” toward foreigners and are worth trying, and I think he was right. It took less than two weeks from application to approval.
Here are what I have submitted (mostly copies).
Passport
ARC (APRC in my case)
Tax statement (white paper)
Name card issued by my employer
Employment certificate from my employer
Employee ID card (the one you use to time stamp every day)
Bank book (you don’t need to have your bank account in ChinaTrust. I used Shanghai Commercial bank)
Recent bank transaction history including the amount of deposit (I printed it out from the web - I no longer use my bank book to log transactions)[/quote]
I got a chinatrust card too but it took a lot of return calls and coaxing.
I think Chinatrust issuing rules truly depend on whose desk the application lands on. In addition the branch managers recommendation also means a lot to get you approved.
I was asked for ARC, passport, bankbook with 3 months salary, and proof of deposits in Taiwan.
Actually Taiwan’s banking system is poor and does not serve the whole community, of which permanent residents are part of. Credit should be allocated by actuarial analysis, which usually is based on income and time earned along with age and pattern of stability if I am right. I will guess that permanent residents with stable salary income fall into a much higher credit rating bracket than many if not most Taiwanese due to their higher incomes (48k/mth+). There’s no reason to separate permanent residents arbitrarily from the rest of the population and with high interest rates they should earn plenty to cover the occasional bad debtor.
I don’t think using the Japanese banking system as reference does anybody any favours.
The government has a duty to ensure non discrimination as much as possible and create the regulatory framework to allows citizens and residents to participate in society in an equal manner and not on an ad hoc case by case basis which can be affected by racial or prejudiced views.
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.[/quote]
It’s worth noting that those youngsters with a wallet full of shiny plastic often have really shitty credit card limits (equal to one or two month’s salary).
It might not look as flashy, but one card with a 300k limit is far better than 5 cards with a 60k limit.[/quote]
I would love to know which bank offers 300k limits.
My limits ranged from $20k from a conservative bank to $150,000 for the most generous. I guess they figured the foreigner cant do too much damage with a 20k limit.
But then again I never charge more than 10k a month anyway.[/quote]
Chinatrust gave me a 300k limit, just that you have a name
Yes, I mostly use it abroad. Actually BOT charges between 1.3% and 1.5% depending on the country and the bank the merchant use. I assume if they use the official BOT exchange rate and don’t over rate it, 1.3% to 1.5% is fine. I also have a China Merchants Bank card in Mainland. They charge nothing for international transactions but when you look at the statements you realize the exchange rate is a little above the official BOC one.
To go back to the OP topic, I visited 10 banks for applying, all denied without any explanation (and I have a comfortable income) and I ended up at BOT where my company account is. It all look like to me that it really depends the staff you are addressing to at first place. A funny point, I went to Citibank branch in Xinyi where they looked at me like they were NOT in the banking business. “no sorry sir we don’t do such a think as opening accounts for foreigner” they said before looking at any document I brought up with me (too bad for them if I had a 10M USD income a year). Then I remember my friend working at a senior position in Citi Wall Street branch who has never been able to open an account with them…
Jesus wept. I hope they didn’t charge you for the Vaseline, too.
Citibank has always been good to me. If you get some financial product from them (mortgage, credit card, or whatever), then you will get a Citibank bank account anyway.
Jesus wept. I hope they didn’t charge you for the Vaseline, too.
[/quote]
Please be constructive. I have no idea how it is elsewhere because I couldn’t apply. What are the fees with Citi for example ? I have now a full year statement at BOT and it might help to be persuasive with Citi and others.
Jesus wept. I hope they didn’t charge you for the Vaseline, too.
[/quote]
Please be constructive. I have no idea how it is elsewhere because I couldn’t apply. What are the fees with Citi for example ? I have now a full year statement at BOT and it might help to be persuasive with Citi and others.[/quote]
Depends which card. I think Citi alone has half a dozen or so different kinds. Mine has an annual fee of about 1,500 or so but I think it’s worth it for the benefits that particular card offers. You pick a product that matches your needs and take it from there.
Bringing paperwork from other banks isn’t going to help. AFAIK the ONLY things banks take into consideration is your employer and your current salary. I don’t know why the employer ranks so highly, but if it’s the government or one of Taiwan’s top companies, you will be approved for a card. Your current salary should then dictate the credit limit.
Hi guys, which credit card companies here in Taiwan would you recommend for foreigners? I’m thinking of getting one since I’ve been with my company for over a year and now have APRC.
I’m looking at Citi, any thoughts on them? What are the usual requirements?
Appreciate it if you can recommend those that has good English services.
I got my one and only TW credit card from Costco. It’s through Cathay Pacific and is the only card accepted at Costco. From what I remember, they said as long as I had a job for the last 2 years, then I qualified.
)