Sorry for saying this, but you have not given all the data clearly. It may be that in Hua Nan Bank a foreigner cannot apply for a Visa card, but from the six bank cards I have, 3 are Visa. Heck, I have Visa and Mastercard from the same bank -Mega.
As said, JCB has limited use, no problem in department stores. Diner’s here in Taiwan? haven’t even seen it/noticed it.
Yep, the point system here works very well, you get nice, useful prices or discounts -My E.Sun card gives me back 1% with every purchase. Oh, and the Costco card eventually pays the year fee by itself -meaning I make so many points I go over the anual 1200 nts fee, so it’s “free”.
I just booked a round trip first class ticket to the US courtesy of air miles earned from 6 months of business purchases charged to my Amex. Ticket is worth at least US$10k while the best cashback offer would only be worth around US$1400. Even if you only charge NT$20k/month on most of the airline cobrand cards you can redeem a roundtrip ticket to Hong Kong or Macau every year, not too shabby and again worth more than the $2400 you would get with a 1% cashback. Oh, and between the 3 cards I get 60 days free airport parking and 5 free limo transfers to the airport every year.
I think it depends largely on where you are/where you apply and which bank you go to. I’ve heard from several foreigners that they have this and that credit card that they got in Taiwan, but every single time I’ve tried to get one at a bank in Taiwan I’ve been met with the exact same response: Sorry, we don’t give credit cards to foreigners.
I’ve even tried to use my wife, her mother and her brother as guarantor, but I’ve still been denied every single time at every single bank in [color=#FF0000]Tainan[/color].
So perhaps the golden rule of real estate is in play here: location, location, location?
I’ve had very similar experiences to what Bismarck has had too. I’ll be talking to Mega Bank to get a secured card and contacting Partrick Coswell on how best to get Chinatrust to give me a credit card.
Let me just clarify the only things that are of interest to a Taiwanese bank when you apply for a credit card:
tax statements - for self employed that would be last year’s income tax statement, or for everyone else your last 6 months withholding tax statements
proof of employment and preferably in a large company (although I am self employed and still get cards)
proof of regular income on the same date each month, preferably deposited at the same bank you apply for the credit card (caused me problems since I don’t get paid regularly)
maybe proof of deposit or real estate in Taiwan but that’s not as important as 1 and 2
They are not interested in:
foreign bank statements
other credit cards
references from your dog
vague statements of earnings without proof as specified above
Banks that can and do give cards to foreigners without guarantors (e.g. banks that I hold/held cards with or personally know people who do):
American Express (my personal favourite, super easy to deal with)
Citibank+
HSBC+
Chinatrust*
banks that I know have given cards to foreigners in the past but have strange/inconsistent/strict requirements about income and employment
banks that charge service fees or refuse cards for people without a minimum income and/or deposit level
[quote=“llary”]Let me just clarify the only things that are of interest to a Taiwanese bank when you apply for a credit card:
tax statements - for self employed that would be last year’s income tax statement, or for everyone else your last 6 months withholding tax statements
[color=#FF0000]proof of employment and preferably in a large company[/color] (although I am self employed and still get cards)
proof of regular income on the same date each month, preferably deposited at the same bank you apply for the credit card (caused me problems since I don’t get paid regularly)
maybe proof of deposit or real estate in Taiwan but that’s not as important as 1 and 2
They are not interested in:
foreign bank statements
other credit cards
references from your dog
vague statements of earnings without proof as specified above
Banks that can and do give cards to foreigners without guarantors (e.g. banks that I hold/held cards with or personally know people who do):
American Express (my personal favourite, super easy to deal with)
Citibank+
HSBC+
Chinatrust*
banks that I know have given cards to foreigners in the past but have strange/inconsistent/strict requirements about income and employment
banks that charge service fees or refuse cards for people without a minimum income and/or deposit level[/quote]
That is a very useful post! When I look into this again in the future I’ll definitely be using this info. Cheers.
However, I think that no. 2 may be a problem, as buxiban/ESL employment may not be seen by many banks as “good” employment…
Unfortunately you are right, it’s the equivalent of walking into a western bank and trying to get credit as a temp employee. If you worked there for a long time and can prove you get paid a decent amount regularly every month then it shouldn’t be an issue.
I think the big company bit might hold water. I went to my bank just to get a Visa debit card and the manager kept asking me why I didn’t want a full credit card and that it would be no trouble to give me one today.
If you are earning money here, but using an overseas card to pay for your local purchases, unless you have a pile of money overseas to cover the bills, you will lose money each time you exchange from your hard earned NT dollars into US dollars to pay a bill where you lost money when the charge that was made in NT dollars was converted into US dollars. Then, unless you travel back home often enough to carry money with you to replenish your funds there, you will lose money again when you wire it back to cover the bills. That be the reason I wanted a local card.
It took me 3 years and as many rejections, even with a guarantor, to get my first card, ironically without a guarantor. It was with First Bank, mainly because I think the branch manager pulled strings for me. I recently applied for an aPower card (to get the discount on gas for my gas guzzling car), with a guarantor, and the application is being walked through the process by a friend who used to work in that department. The moral of the story is that you just have to find the right person. From my observation, there hasn’t been any bank that has stood out as one where there was a clear path for foreigners to get a card. Everyone seems to have had different results.
OK, I have gone without a credit card for many years, however I have tried to get one at my local bank for some time.
Note that I run a business with a turnover of double digit million NT$ per year, and my bank know exactly how much I earn. I complained a lot, and suddenly they gave me a snippet of info.
When the branch sends in your credit card application as standard, they will judge it as standard in the credit card department. At least Union Bank has 3 levels of sending such application, standard, department manager sending, and branch manager sending. If you like I did complain enough, and go there a few times every week anyways for other business so they know you very well, you wight get lucky and get one.
They sent in a standard application 2 months ago, it was rejected by SMS. This time they lodged one for a platinum card, and sent it in as a branch manager level letter, IE I did an interview at the branch where I explained my economy and they got a lot of extra info. The day after the credit card department calls and ask me when I go overseas next time, so they can expedite the into - one hour later they call and ask for a copy of my passport. I think I might have a chance this time.
Not true. My first credit card here was a secured credit card from Mega. They wouldn’t give me a card without a guarantor, and I didn’t want to use a guarantor, so we worked out a secured credit card instead. It’s simple – you take out a time deposit (CD) with the bank and fill out a form pledging it to the bank as security for the credit card. You get to keep the interest on the CD (they keep rolling it back into the CD), and you get a fully functional credit card from the bank. The only stipulation is that you cannot withdraw the CD until you are ready to cancel the credit card. (Which, in my case, I did when another bank agreed to give me an unsecured, no-guarantor credit card a few years later.)
In my experience Cathay will only give you a credit card if you make over NT$1 million a year and I was told I needed a signed letter from my boss stating this… but it might have changed since then.
Not true. My first credit card here was a secured credit card from Mega. [/quote]
Yup. A friend of mine got a card here this way as well. If getting a card is important, and you aren’t having any luck, offer to put a couple hundred thou in a term deposit.
If you look through this forum, there are several threads where people are trying to make sense of the credit card issuance policies and procedures for foreigners in Taiwan. The bottom line is that it all depends on who you talk to, when and where. It’s hit or miss. There is no set path you can follow.
This is exactly why I finally gave up my US based credit card. I have both a credit card and debit card from local banks that I use for everything now. There was a time when doing overseas purchases over the internet that the overseas companies wouldn’t take Taiwan credit cards – but that is hasn’t been the case for quite a while now. Once I could start using my Taiwan credit cards over the internet without any hassle, it no longer made sense to keep my US card.
Oh, and the Costco card eventually pays the year fee by itself -meaning I make so many points I go over the anual 1200 nts fee, so it’s “free”. 
When I look into this again in the future I’ll definitely be using this info. Cheers.