wow what a interesting topic here in the forum, i enjoy reading all of this you guys wrote.
check out this web site
relbanks.com/rankings/top-banks-in-asia
there u can find that the best asia bank ranked is
47 Taiwan Cooperative Bank Taiwan 76.39 3.18
i do some business with them and after going into a new branch in kaohsiung i was told anyone can open a account with no problems, i even asked for about what if other people have no ARC and they will also open an account for you as well. U can then transfer money from USA or EU via a wire transfer what they call SWIFT for only 400nt and it should take about 4 days for ur money to come. On average usa and eu banks charge about 15usd to send money this way. The min balance to open the account is 1,000nt but right after u open it u can use ur new atm card to withdrew the 1,000nt, if ur account is at 0nt there is no penalty. U can also use their ATM card at stores to buy things as long as u have money in ur account of course.
hope this helps others
anyways my one friend made me interesting article that might help a lot of u
jsphfrtz.com/no-taiwan-arc-no-problem/
"If you’ve read my past blogs, you know that I talk about all kinds of random trouble in Taiwan, from banking to shopping to dealing with the government of the ROC. One of the most common frustrations with people without a Taiwan ARC is hearing the words, “No ARC? No…no…” Because of the simplistic way Taiwanese bureaucracy operates, most people are trained enough to handle most situations; this means that, because of the ever-present paranoid CYA attitude, most don’t even know how to deviate from the norm. Most Taiwanese think that foreigners must have an ARC, and most foreigners think so, too
Think about it: why do foreigners need an ARC to do things?
I always thought it was to prove the person is a resident of Taiwan. It’s not. What is important is your Taiwan ARC number. Every Taiwanese citizen has a number attached to them, sort of like how the USA has social security numbers. When a Taiwanese person goes in to apply for a membership card to their local grocer, just like in The States, they’d tell you, “You must have this government-issued number, to apply.” Foreigners are issued that number along with their resident visas; visitors to Taiwan are rarely here long enough for them to need this number, so this system almost always works fine for almost everyone.
What about the rest of us?
Lots of people visit Taiwan often, but are never residents. Others spend long amounts of time in Taiwan without having a resident/working visa. Those people are never issued numbers, and they all believe that they are screwed. They’re not. We are not. Getting an ID number is so easy, it’s scary.
Grab your passport; make a photocopy of the front page and your “stamp page.” Find the nearest Ministry of Foreign Affairs office. You want the Bureau of Consular Affairs – the office where they issue visa extensions and other visa-related stuff. Take a number. Over in the stacks of forms, you will see the following form:
Fill this form out. It will take very little time. Then, when your number is called, hand that form and your passport to the person behind the counter. You probably won’t even have to speak, unless they run a search (which they will) and see you have already been issued an ID number in the past (if you previously had residence) – if that is the case, you still have your original ID number, and don’t need a new one. In either case, they will print out and stamp a piece of paper that looks like this:
That paper is as good as a Taiwan ARC. You can use it to do anything that you would otherwise be told that you need a Taiwan ARC to do. Some people might give you flack for it, but stick to your guns – the only reason people don’t want to accept it is because no one knows that this official government service even exists. This official document confirms that you have a government issued ID number and specifically states that it is to be used in-place of a Taiwan ARC.
And that’s it – it’s that simple. It doesn’t cost anything, it lasts forever, and it’s extremely useful for everything from banks to cell phone operators. I’d recommend this to anyone staying in Taiwan for more than a month at a time; you can save money by doing on money transfer from your native account to a Taiwanese account, potentially saving you hundreds of dollars in ATM fees. You’ll be able to get a Carrefour discount card (more valuable for those who plan to stay in Taiwan long-term or who return often). There will be more options to buy SIM cards, as well."
I’ll check whether the original list needs another update…