Yes. My point was obviously that it is possible for one to obtain a CC in one’s own name without the necessity of having one’s wife/husband act as a guarantor. That is, it is possible to have a CC that is not a fuka.
Yes. My point was obviously that it is possible for one to obtain a CC in one’s own name without the necessity of having one’s wife/husband act as a guarantor. That is, it is possible to have a CC that is not a fuka.[/quote]
I just got off the phone with a rather large bank in Taiwan. They will make an exception to give me a credit card based on assets.
So I can confirm as well that it seems to be all about talking to the right person.
[quote=“dan2006”]
I just got off the phone with a rather large bank in Taiwan. They will make an exception to give me a credit card based on assets.
So I can confirm as well that it seems to be all about talking to the right person.[/quote]
How much ? Which bank ? The debit card that I got from Bank of Taiwan which is a Visa card works nowhere (no internet payments, no international withdraw) even I can’t buy a HSR ticket at the machine in the train station, it did work once, not twice. The Taoyuan branch and City hall employees of BOTS are nice but totally stupids: they asked me why I couldn’t pay my HSR tickets with cash and why not change money before going abroad (I travel abroad almost every week for my work) ?!
They refuse me to apply a CC in their bank saying I need one complete year in Taiwan.
I’ll try some other banks again… This is really a pain compare with mainland where you can have a Unionpay card for 1 euro deposit that you can use everywhere in the world !
Try the secured card with Mega Bank. You can decide the limit, and Mega Bank is usually a delight to deal with.
I’ve lived and worked in Taiwan for over a decade. I went to open an account at Citibank today and I was told that I could not open one because I cannot speak Chinese or read Chinese characters. I have many accounts in Taiwan including Standard Chartered. I believe they are discriminating against me because I’m a foreigner. All other banks have either the paperwork in English or someone to help you fill them out. Citibank’s discrimination is a disgrace.
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Try all the other banks. No issues.
Did they actually say to you no bank account because you can’t speak Chinese??! Wow
I sympathize man. I’ve never had this problem, I started learning the language as I stepped off the plane.
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Not boasting just saying. In hindsight I would have not bothered learning. I believe one can do better sticking to English here. Crazy theory but I’ll lay it out for you all one day
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Yes, I was told by the bank representative that they could not open an account for me because I can’t speak or read Chinese.
The hell with them. Opening an account there is a must? Business transaction requires it I take it. Bite the bullet and drag an indigenous in
Don’t bother.
Record and sue them!
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Citibank tends to have a high ratio of retards in its ranks. Odd, since it’s a large international bank.
The account contract they give you is in English. I can show you a copy later. Their banking UI/UX is in English. God allmighty.
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Apart from in Taiwan, it’s not. It’s a franchise, with a licencing deal to use the name and logo. Just like that McDonald’s down the street, only McDonald’s corporate standards for franchisees appear to be higher 
I has similar experiences trying to open an account (existing customer in another country), but found less frustration and better service at a ‘local’ bank in the end
I would like to know if this requirement is only pertinent to Citibank or if there is anything in Taiwan´s banking law that makes it so?
They are probably covering their ass, don’t want any foreigner claiming later he was signing something they couldn’t read.
I went to the nanjing sanmin branch in Taipei, they were ok with helping me read through the text (I read most of it, they helped with characters I didn’t know), but insisted I fill the forms myself, despite having terrible Chinese hand writing.
In other banks, like first bank, I gave them my info and they copied everything themselves.
Yup if you see my earlier post from 2012 they did the same to me. Ironically I have their credit card now.
The way to sort em out is complain to their Taipei head office and they will call back and say it’s OK to open the account. Or better yet take your business to a better bank.
My take on those foreign banks is that they want to deal with overseas businessmen floating millions of bucks and not Jimmy foreigner with a savings account
When I opened my initial account here in Taiwan, they insisted that I read through the entire contract. However, they had a clerk come sit down with me and walk through it - she didn’t speak English but explained each section to me. However, I’ve never needed to do anything outside of sign in a few places for the ensuing dozen accounts that I’ve needed to open.