So, today I was going to set up my rep office and my personal bank accounts.
As my GF works in the Xinyi district and my Chinese is anything but good, we figured we’d use a bank near her office.
China Trust seemed like a good option as they have ATM’s in every 7-11 and apparently their online banking is also very good (albeit in Chinese).
So we go there, try to get some help, stand around waiting for a bit as people panic because it’s a foreigner wanting something and after a few minutes we get to talk to a clerk.
She asks us where the company is located and then rather quickly informs us that it would be better to open up the accounts close to that address.
My GF asks her why we can’t use this branch and the woman repeats the same message about opening up the account in the branch closest to the address where the rep office is registered.
My GF tries to explain that I’d very much like to use this branch and is again meet with the same reply.
Suffice to say that we left and went to another bank that was more than happy to accept me and my rep office as their customer.
What a load of crap…
Has anyone else been meet with the same kind of apathy trying to open up bank accounts here?
[quote=“TheLostSwede”]Suffice to say that we left and went to another bank that was more than happy to accept me and my rep office as their customer.
What a load of crap…
Has anyone else been meet with the same kind of apathy trying to open up bank accounts here?[/quote]
Yeah - I tried several HSBC branches and got nowhere. Tried UBOT and got an account and even the visa debit/ATM card/bank book within about 30 minutes.
ubot.com.tw/english/Default.htm
I don’t know why but some banks here actively don’t want foreign customers.
That is a common rule, using the local bank branch to rep. office or home, applied zealously by some banks.
Yes, but it’s not convenient and why doesn’t I as the customer have the right to chose which branch I want to bank with?
Besides, it’s not like back home where I can open up an account anywhere and get full service from any branch, as here if there’s anything “special” I want to do, I have to go back to the branch where I opened the account.
The rep office is registered at my GF’s parents address and I don’t live anywhere near there and we’re not in that area during the week, so why on earth would I like to have a bank account there?
I just don’t get it.
Truth be told, the bank I did get my accounts with (which is Cathay btw) started on the same spiel, but was more than happy to accept me as a customer once they found out that I was going to have money transferred from abroad into the business account on a regular basis. At least they were willing to listen, unlike China Trust that obviously didn’t need another customer.
Fubon weren’t terribly interested in having my company account either, but at least I was at the branch next door. Eventually had to get my accountant to talk them into it and it went all the way up to the branch manager before they would agree. I would tend to agree that Taiwanese banks do not really want foreign customers. Probably because most foreigners are poor and will never have mortgages so what’s the point?
I went in to my China Trust branch to make my monthly transfer to pay my rent, but the paper with the landlady’s accoount number had got slightly wet and one digit was obscured. So I asked the teller if he could look up the account number from my records (I only make one transfer each month, always to the same number).
He said they don’t keep records of where money is transferred to. :eh: Complete nonsense, but he stood his ground, and so I did the same and wouldn’t leave his desk until he looked for me. Eventually he went out back and returned with my landlady’s account number, taken from my banking records.
Silly people. 
Customer service huh? :loco:
I just don’t get it, they’ll make money out of you, yet they seem to be totally and utterly interested in having you as a customer.
I used to have an account with CHB and I thought they were utterly useless, but I guess there are worse banks out there…
[quote=“TheLostSwede”]Customer service huh? :loco:
I just don’t get it, they’ll make money out of you, yet they seem to be totally and utterly interested in having you as a customer.
I used to have an account with CHB and I thought they were utterly useless, but I guess there are worse banks out there…[/quote]That’s because the person servicing you gets paid whether they do the job or not. If they service you incorrectly, they get yelled at and possibly demoted or fired. If they refuse to service you on a bullshit technicality, they are facing no possible repercusions. Did you write a letter complaining to the bank about the poor service? I never have.
My friend who works for the govt explained to me that they know how to do the job they just don’t want to do it the wrong way and get fired, yelled at and/or demoted. The system promotes this kind of thinking.
No, I just took my business elsewhere, their loss really.
Still, I guess that’s why most Taiwanese companies isn’t and never will do as well as they could…
[quote=“Okami”][quote=“TheLostSwede”]Customer service huh? :loco:
I just don’t get it, they’ll make money out of you, yet they seem to be totally and utterly interested in having you as a customer.
I used to have an account with CHB and I thought they were utterly useless, but I guess there are worse banks out there…[/quote]That’s because the person servicing you gets paid whether they do the job or not. If they service you incorrectly, they get yelled at and possibly demoted or fired. If they refuse to service you on a bullshit technicality, they are facing no possible repercusions. Did you write a letter complaining to the bank about the poor service? I never have.
My friend who works for the govt explained to me that they know how to do the job they just don’t want to do it the wrong way and get fired, yelled at and/or demoted. The system promotes this kind of thinking.[/quote]
True. The process for foreigners to open an account is long and complicated, as they must determine your taxation category at the same time, along with the rest of the burocratic procedures they must report to the G’ment.
When I opened my account there it took them almost an hour. Copies for this, copies for that, sign here, and here, and there, wait, a couple more signatures there…
And since Chinatrust does not pay its employees well, there is no incentive to try harder.
Yeah, took me over an hour in the end, but that was for an account for the rep office as well as a personal account with an electronic only use visa card.
Apparently Cathaty only issue credit cards to foreigners that make in excess of NT$1.5 million a year…
[quote=“TheLostSwede”]Yeah, took me over an hour in the end, but that was for an account for the rep office as well as a personal account with an electronic only use visa card.
Apparently Cathaty only issue credit cards to foreigners that make in excess of NT$1.5 million a year…[/quote]
I finally got a credit card with my bank after meeting their insane requirements. After I got it, I found out they made it a debit card instead of a pure credit card and they call my wife’s cellphone every time i use it. :fume: :fume: :fume:
There is no such thing as customer service in Taiwan. Doesn’t exist. Opportunities for us to exploit.
Well, anyone willing to open a bank? I’m sure it can’t be much worse than the local options 
[quote=“TheLostSwede”]So, today I was going to set up my rep office and my personal bank accounts.
As my GF works in the Xinyi district and my Chinese is anything but good, we figured we’d use a bank near her office.
China Trust seemed like a good option as they have ATM’s in every 7-11 and apparently their online banking is also very good (albeit in Chinese).
So we go there, try to get some help, stand around waiting for a bit as people panic because it’s a foreigner wanting something and after a few minutes we get to talk to a clerk.
She asks us where the company is located and then rather quickly informs us that it would be better to open up the accounts close to that address.
My GF asks her why we can’t use this branch and the woman repeats the same message about opening up the account in the branch closest to the address where the rep office is registered.
My GF tries to explain that I’d very much like to use this branch and is again meet with the same reply.
Suffice to say that we left and went to another bank that was more than happy to accept me and my rep office as their customer.
What a load of crap…
Has anyone else been meet with the same kind of apathy trying to open up bank accounts here?[/quote]
There has been a law passed in Taiwan for a couple of years at least now that is supposed to prevent people from opening accounts outside of their area of residence unless for business purposes in which case you are required to show a letter from your employer or business information which proves that the account is for purpose of wage or company financial transfer.
So far some banks I have heard can ignore this at times, but it is most likely these days that the majority of banks turn people down from opening accounts outside of their area of residence. I have heard the same complaints from a number of Taiwanese friends who are registered in the South of Taiwan and cannot open personal accounts anywhere else.
Yes, its very stupid!
What I find more frustrating now is that no foreigner in Taiwan opening a new account anywhere is supposed to be allowed to make withdrawals abroad using a Taiwan cash card. Another new brilliant rule introduced by the government no less. All banks I have asked in have told me exactly the same thing now. Only old accounts are supposed to work. I haven’t yet tried my old ones to confirm this however.
After you’ve been here a few years like me you’ll have gone through everything posted above…
Taiwanese ATM cards for foreigners seem to be default with no cirrus, however it’s no problem to ask them to open this function so that you can withdraw while overseas. You MUST ask them, they won’t tell you anything! Plus they don’t understand you need a pin number (either 4/6) in many countries, ask them to give you this.
I recently got a Taixin debit card but they refused to issue me in Taichung and instead I had to get in Miaoli many many kms away as I wasn’t registered there. Yes ridiculous but what can you do. Don’t get too attached to Taiwan and you won’t be let down…
I have just opened an account in HK HSBC, just need passport and proof of address and some cash to deposit…that’s it!
It is a good idea to have some money banked regularly in accounts in Taiwan to create a credit history if you want access to credit to buy a house etc.
I got a Changhwa bank Cirrus card a few years ago, I still have it. They asked me if I wanted to use it abroad, when I answered in the affirmative, they opened it and asked me to set a 4 digit code.
I recently got a visa debit through Union Bank, and they told me to go to the nearest ATM and det the overseas 4 digit pin. Union Bank states that a foreigner can’t get a visa debit. It would appear to be the rule, unless you have an ARC, in which case you have to ask.
I have yet to try the Union bank debit card overseas, as I have not been overseas since I got it.
[quote=“TheLostSwede”]Customer service huh? :loco:
…True. The process for foreigners to open an account is long and complicated…[/quote]
But getting zillion credit cards is NO problemo.
I am with BOT. My company ‘guided’ me there 5 years ago , having their own account there.
What went wrong was indeed something about Customer service crap and resulted in taking a pair of scissors and cutting my provide Visa card in several pieces in front of the branchmanager.
Taiwan banks ? :raspberry:
Walk in and say you got 5MM to put in stocks and they will 
1000 times while bringing in the Champagne and firework.
Well, the card I got has visa/plus (plus should be similar to cirrus), I had to enter a 4 digit and a 6 digit code in the ATM (after entering the initial code), but I dunno if it works abroad or not, forgot to ask.
The matter of the fact isn’t the issue about my personal account, I wanted to set up a business account for my rep office and I wasn’t even asked a single question by China Trust, I was pretty much just told to go away. That’s what pissed me off as there were no kind of explanation, just a robotic “we advice you to use your local branch” reply. :fume:
Unless of course there’s another rule that forbids foreigners to open business accounts in a bank/branch of their choosing…
The idea is that I’m meant to be getting payments not only from Taiwan, but also from abroad put into this account, but I guess as I wasn’t wearing a suit and aged 60+ I wasn’t the kind of customer they wanted…
Do you have some link to the law in question? From what I know of the law I think that is not correct, but I am prepared to be proven wrong. I have certainly opened accounts quite recently in Taipei and Taichung City while my hu kou and ARC are both in Taichung County. It is certainly true that some banks use the law as an excuse because they either don’t know how to open the account or can’t be bothered.
Again I would like to see a link to the legal text because I have used the same accounts mentioned above to withdraw money on business trips to the US and SE Asia.
Mad rush to become a first world nation and TW has gone mad. Stop furriner discrimination !!! Just say NO Mr. Tw govt.
Up to a decade ago I had no trouble at all getting an AMEX card (cept they kept insisting I get a Gold card at extra cost) and I had no trouble getting several bank accounts as well as a post office account. And I had no trouble getting a drivers license by virtue of having a CALIF drivers license. And I didnt even have an ARC. I just was living there on a tourist visa. Working , living, doing normal stuff like opening bank accounts, getting drivers license, etc. No restrictions really on what jobs I could get either (other then teaching english where I think already a college degree was required and TAiwan govt jobs and a few others maybe).
Whats up with this New TW??? Its not the right direction to take.