So I’ve started the process of opening a 有限公司 LLC. The next step is opening the company business account. In theory most banks should be okay, but since I’m a foreigner I want to choose a bank that will give me the least hassle as a foreigner, and will also be okay with me putting in a small initial capital into the account. If anyone has ever opened a company business account as a foreigner, please let me know which banks you had the best experience with. Any other tips for opening company accounts are also appreciated.
I’m not working with a lawyer or accountant yet, although I will hire an accountant later on.
Been a long time but when I opened a business account ( as a foreigner ) the bank didn’t care I was a foreigner only that I had a Taiwan business license. It is the business opening a business account not you personnaly. Banks here do not require you to keep a minimum amount so you can open an account with usually NT$1,000 then transfer funds in. Most banks nowadays offer multi currency accounts as well, Good if you want to receive funds from abroad and keep those funds in the currency you are paid in. I had some clients from the EU pay me in US$. Two years ago you might have said not great until you saw the Euro collapse and the US$ have good gains to NT$.
I had Citibank for my business account which was painful.
Now I use E Sun and they are easy to work with.
I heard there is an English service counter at one of their branches to cater to the foreign community. I would have searched that out if I had known about it.
Any bank will do but I prefer E Sun’s online and in person banking.
I’ll be opening a 籌備戶 account first, which is needed to complete the business registration. After the registration is complete, the account can be changed to a normal company bank account.
Okay so I opened a 籌備 company account at Huanan this morning. I actually hate Huanan as a bank due to past grievances with Xizhi branch, but I chose them due to them being the easiest (according to Taiwanese sites) to open a company bank account. I have to say, it was very smooth. The process seems identical for Taiwanese and foreigners. It took me about 1 hour total to walk out with my new bank book.
Great new. Thanks for your post. Yes opening a company account should be no different for anyone. I always found it the same from when I did so as a foreigner to when I did so as a citizen. What I find nuts is that I opened a company account in Taipei. But I cannot transfer that account to Chiayi. I’m like this is stupid it’s same bank. No, close old account open new one they tell me. Well I just leave my company account with the Taipei branch. Makes no difference, all my clients that pay to that account pay amounts that require company stamp for incoming funds. So I just prefill some forms when the $$$ arrives I don’t need to go to the bank to fill in the forums. It’s due to money laundering laws from the government not the banks policies.