Can I still maintain my bank account here while I will be living in a different country? This is a very basic account, nothing fancy if you know what I mean. It will be useful for some transfers that I will need to do for some time. I am not going to be back for a long time, if ever. Hence, the question.
The bank will eventually try to catch up with you, usually when the documents you’ve given them copies of (ARC, for example) expire.
In my case, they called my ex-wife to try and get in touch with me. I was unbelievably pissed. Don’t bother trying my cellphone, my office number, my email or my address, go back to the initial application and call my ex-wife. WTF?
I did just that with my Huanan and Post Office accounts. Both were opened with a passport (no ARC). I used them for some time and then left Taiwan for a year. During all that time they were all working well, I even earned a NT$4 Visa cashback from Huanan and an NT$1 interest from the Post Office.
Now that I went to Huanan again with my ARC to update the defined transfer account list though, they were trying to close my account altogether, because the remaining validity of my (new) ARC was less than one year. When I pointed out that I had originally opened said account without any ARC whatsoever, after intense, half an hour-long consultations with other staff over the phone as well as in the flesh, I was allowed to keep the account for the time being. That is perhaps until I want to update the account list again.
So, as usual with the banking system here, It depends. I wouldn’t keep any money here if I were leaving. Also don’t make the mistake of taking the Taiwan peso in cash, as they only have a collector’s value abroad.
Like always, it depends on the person you talk to or what rule they made up that day … :s
I didn’t tell them and I was fine… so just hush. If you give them no reason to check, they’ll never notice!!!
A friend of mine opened up a bank account without an ARC the other month, just used his old ARC number (currently on a visitor’s visa, no ARC). Apparently it wasn’t a problem :loco:
I still have the Post Office account I opened in 1993, and I’ve been living in the States since 2004. I return once a year to swipe the bankbook and spend the proceeds. Erm, I mean, to brush up on my Mandarin skills for professional purposes. So far no problems. Someone one year commented that my ARC had expired and I just kept offering my passport and saying that the taxes had been paid on that money. They went ahead with the withdrawal, no problem. (Knock wood it continues…)
Thank you all for your comments! We keep the account and will see, of we can use it after the ARC expires. 
I’ve just replaced my ARC bit haven’t yet informed the bank. They have already automatically blocked international transfers so that the money is now effectively locked into Taiwan.
Likewise, when i opened the accounts i have with Taishin Bank and Post Office Bank in 2009, i showed them my passport and a document with a special ID number that i had gotten from the immigration office for that purpose. In 2010 i came three times to Taiwan and spent a total of about 3 weeks here. The banks will perhaps not care about this matter at all until i apply for a debit card, at which time they’ll get hold of my ARC and establish a “time to end the service”. OTOH, since i am aiming for a permanent residence certificate, their theoretical “time to end the service” is a risk i am not too concerned about.
Yes you can, I don’t know which bank you are using but I do not need an ARC to open a bank account. Some banks accept passports as legal documents.
My first account was opened without an ARC, the second and third with an ARC. I plan to move to Cambodia at the end of July, but don’t plan to tell any of them. Why should it matter?
My credit cards, on the other hand, are going to self-destruct when my ARC expires. I’m a little sad about this because they were so hard to get and if/when I decide to move back here from Cambodia, I’d like to have a local card.
Craig, for your credit cards, how do they know you are going to Cambodia?
Or does the bank have your ARC and just kill the cards at the end of it?
[quote=“dan2006”]Craig, for your credit cards, how do they know you are going to Cambodia?
Or does the bank have your ARC and just kill the cards at the end of it?[/quote]
My cards all expire when my ARC expires. I’ve always had to renew them at the same time I renew my ARC, showing my new ARC expiration date.
[quote=“CraigTPE”][quote=“dan2006”]Craig, for your credit cards, how do they know you are going to Cambodia?
Or does the bank have your ARC and just kill the cards at the end of it?[/quote]
My cards all expire when my ARC expires. I’ve always had to renew them at the same time I renew my ARC, showing my new ARC expiration date.[/quote]
Then renew you ARC for three years before you leave. It may cost you NT$3K but you get to keep the CC.
This would require my employer keep me on the books, including any quota limitations and tax liability that might entail. I don’t think they would agree to do it…