If your purpose is online purchasing, I would suggest applying for a debit card from Tai Shin bank. Show them your passport and your ARC and they will give it to you the same day – no questions asked.
Is it really working for online purchases? I understood that websites such as yahoo only accept credit cards.
It has always worked for me – even international purchases. Since it works just like a credit card, how would a site know the difference, anyway?
I don’t know, but Yahoo won’t take my Chinatrust debit card…
There are two types of debit cards, so if you don’t have the kind with your name on the front and a three digit number on the back, it won’t work online at all.
It doesn’t have my name on it, but there are the three digit numbers on the back -_-
Anyway, do you know if it’s possible to apply for a credit card in a bank where you don’t have a savings account?
The kind I was recommending – which you can get at Tai Shin bank – have your name on the front and a security number (3 digit number) on the back. They look, and work, just like a credit card.
If your purpose is online purchasing, I would suggest applying for a debit card from Tai Shin bank. Show them your passport and your ARC and they will give it to you the same day – no questions asked.[/quote]
That card will be a VISA Debit Card; for more info see A guide to Taiwanese VISA Debit Cards
Nope. Never. 
I think I might check them out next time I go up to Taipei. Thanks for the heads up, Icon.
There have been upteen threads on what a foreigner has to do to get a credit card in Taiwan. So far, in my own experience, that of my own friends and acquaintances, and that of the people who’ve posted on this forum, I’m still convinced that there is no clear path at any bank for a foreigner to get a credit card in Taiwan unless you have a pile of money in that bank, or have a management level job in a top 500 corporation. Every other experience is anecdotal.
It took 3 years and as many rejections before I got my first card. The only reason I got it was because the branch manager started a conversation with me one day when I was in there getting travelers checks for a trip home, and he asked if there was anything else he could do for me. When I told him my troubles getting a card, he said he’d take care of it, which he did. I got the card with no guarantor and a spending limit about equal to my monthly income. Two years of perfect credit history later, I applied for a card at Taipei Fubon, with a guarantor, and was rejected, no reason given. It took one of my clients who used to work there to call the manager of the credit card division and vouch for me to finally get the card.
Looking for a clear path to a credit card is an exercise in futility. Make some connections at the bank, however, and you may have some luck.
The contrast here in HK is absolutely amazing. Open an account in HK and they throw the damned things at you. A recent “trick” has seen several top tier card services sending people in the finance industry cards they haven’t requested! The irony of that is, a couple of years ago as the financial world melted, and jobs were tumbling like the stock markets, friends applying for cards were refused as workers in the financial sector were deemed too risky! Oh yee fickle finger of fate.
When I was living in Taiwan, I had an Australian credit card, and the ex-wife acted as guarantor for a local card. Ironically, getting the Taiwan card was a curse, as I loaded up on credit in a crisis and ultimately had to leave for a better paying job in HK to pay the damned thing off.
HG
Well, after weeks of courting and bowing, I finally got the a-miles credit card from the Taipei Fubon bank!
The funny thing is that the first time I asked for this specific card, nobody there knew they even offered it (although they display it on their website).
Perseverance, my friends!
[quote=“Kawa”]Well, after weeks of courting and bowing, I finally got the a-miles credit card from the Taipei Fubon bank!
The funny thing is that the first time I asked for this specific card, nobody there knew they even offered it (although they display it on their website).
Perseverance, my friends![/quote]
That’s good to hear. I’m applying for the same card, and so far it’s been slow going.
They didn’t know it existed either; I had to show them the website to prove it existed. 