American Express/money

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
1

So, I have no money other than what my very forgiving roommate is lending me, and no credit cards other than the temporary one AmEx gave me (I don’t know why Visa couldn’t have done that–grumble). AmEx isn’t too useful here, it seems. Can you think of anywhere I could use it, off the top of your head? How about foreign places like Warner Village cinema, Ruby Tuesday’s, TGI Friday’s or Chili’s? (Actually, I did use it at King Join…)

Being wallet-less really bites; I can’t even cash my traveler’s checks (which were not lost/stolen) without my (lost/stolen) passport.

2

Swensens, TGI Fridays all those kind of places take AmEx. So does Julianas if you need to drink/dance

3

Do many places accept AMEX now?

4

Yes, many places. Off the top of my head:

  • Carrefour (not self checkout)
  • McDonald’s
  • KFC
  • Simple Mart
  • LAYA
  • JIT Cuts
  • Starbucks
  • Mrs Fields
  • Nitori
  • Watsons
  • CitySuper

If you see this kind of card machine “National Credit Card Center”, it likely accepts AMEX:

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Notably, PX Mart, 7 Eleven, and Family Mart do not accept AMEX.

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5

Thanks!

6

Where did you dig up this 20-year-old thread, @bahasa? I didn’t even know Forumosa has been around for that long. :joy:

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7

All the big dept stores take it. A lot of good joints. Amex is my primary card when I’m in Taiwan.

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8

Since 1998, I believe, making Forumosa 24.

9

haha I just did some deep searching

there were a few times I created a thread on a question only to find it merged with another existing thread by the mods, which makes sense

so I try to do a good job now to see if there’s already a thread discussing what I want to discuss first

10

Hi-Life - their stores have a differently branded credit card machine at each till, only one till with the right machine accepts Amex
Li Bao land in Taichung, Big City in Hsinchu and all the Showba stores accept Amex too :slight_smile:

I also pay my insurance (Taishin) and phone bills (Taiwan mobile) with my amex

Seeing the National credit centre symbol is the easiest way to tell. Sometimes the tellers have to swipe my card (a few times) instead of tapping.

Often they need to press enter after swiping but can’t figure that out by themselves :joy:

Side note I really love that credit card surcharges aren’t really a thing in Taiwan. In Australia everyone pays with card (either debit or credit) but over the last 10-15 years most places have started charging you extra to pay by card.

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