I have a few questions regarding costco credit card (read some similar articles on the forum, but answers are not clear).
Do you have an experience getting costco credit card? If yes, please describe your experience.
Where did you go to get the card - Cathay or Costco? Which one you would recommend to make sure I get the card?
Is the application for the credit card in English?
What are the benefits of having costco credit card? Can I use it anywhere just like any other credit card?
If you had struggles to get the card, what were the struggles and if you had to fight back to get the card, what were the excuses from Taiwanese side? Why they refused to issue the card in the first place?
Any other suggestions where I can try my luck and get a credit card? I have an account in First Bank and E.Sun. Tried to apply for their credit cards, but failed to get. When I ask why? The answer was " I’m a foreigner and will one day leave Taiwan". Kinda stupid excuse if I have a job here and stable salary…
agree with you, my same experience. The only reward of the costco card is that if you spend enough, you get enough “points” to offset the annual costco membership. that’s it. Some marginal extra benefits which I don’t even remember, like so strange upgrades on HSR, but that’s basically it. Applied and got Amex, which is by far the most foreigner friendly institution. Will apply soon for the Eva Air Cathay Visa card and the China Airlines CTBC Visa card. On the side also the Fubon TW mobile card, just due to the discounts and cash rebates on TW Mobile plans.
You can apply at Costco or at Cathay Bank. I applied when I had no credit history and they declined me. Fubon Bank and American Express accepted me though. American Express Taiwan is the easiest first card for foreigners, and you can apply online.
I got the Cathay Costco card 5 yrs ago and just applied there in-store and they were happy to help. Eventually I got a call from the bank regarding something, perhaps income verification, but too long ago to remember want was required. It was pretty painless.
The advantage is that you get 1% back when shopping at Costco and 0.5% back when purchasing elsewhere.
The only other advantage is that you will be able to buy on costco.com.tw which does have a few “online only” stuff and of course the ability to have things delivered to your home.
I think that’s referring to the cashback from the Executive Membership card itself? Presumably that stacks with any cashback from the Costco credit card (?).
You do have to spend a fair bit in Costco for the Executive Membership card to be worth it, though. I think it’s NT$3,000 per year compared with NT$1,350 per year for the regular membership, such that making back the difference alone would require spending NT$82,500 per year (or NT$150,000 per year before the card pays entirely for itself).
They give you a handy chart online to show yearly cashback. Laoban Level 5 to hit the maximum yearly cashback of NT30,000
Executive membership is NT3000/yr
Didn’t know that. Thanks. I could probably manage NT$82,500 per year but it would be a struggle - I’d have to go there a bit more often I think.
My budgeting app says I spent NT$73,700 there last year, so I’m still a bit short to make it worthwhile. Maybe as food prices continue to increase… (it was NT$85,900 in the last 12 months)
Generally speaking, its shouldn’t be a big problem to spend an extra 10K in Costco. Arrange a bbq with friends, buy the steaks and drinks in Costco, then split the cost with your friends…
Yeah, but that would still be spending an extra NT$10k just to break even and start getting a handful of TWD back, so it’s not really saving anything…
The limitation is really that I don’t have a car so have to take a cab or the MRT back, and it becomes a pain when I have more than say 30-35 kilograms to lug back and up the stairs. Plus I don’t really have the time or motivation to go there more than once a month as none of the stores are very convenient for me.
I walked up to a Cathay representative at Costco and asked if I could apply for the Costco credit card and the Costco membership at the same time, and have the membership fee charged to the card, and she said yes, so we started the process right there. She asked me some questions, photocopied my ID, had my photo taken, and had me type in some information on the application form (in Chinese) at their computer. I am Taiwanese, but I don’t have any local income, so she asked if I have any local bank accounts or credit cards. I have one local credit card, which I got last year, and two local bank accounts, which I have had for years. She sent me a link to upload a screenshot of the cover of one of the bank books, and a screenshot with the balance of that account. I did it right there. I asked if I should provide the same for the other bank account, and she said it was not necessary. Then I applied for e-billing, she gave me a brochure, and sent me my way.
That was 5 days ago. Two days ago I got an email saying that my e-billing application had been approved. I checked the credit card application status - it showed that the application was still being processed, which I thought was funny. Today I checked again, and the application has been approved… I have not received my card and don’t know the credit limit yet, but felt that the application process was painless and efficient. I don’t know whether it was because I am a citizen or my established banking history - the account I showed them has a balance of about NT$200K.
Man, for citizens they throw cards at u. You can apply online, they get all you data from the JCIC, u don’t even need to type your details. They approve almost straight away.
