Credit Cards for Foreigners - General Discussion

Business Money
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Hello all,
Wanted to share my experience. After 6 months of living in Taiwan, applied for a CC with Standard Chartered bank. The process was very smooth, at least for me. I just signed the application form (since it was all in Chinese), gave payslips and ARC. They filled all the details.

  • no guarantor; no discussion about it even
  • got a cash back card
  • works with Apple pay
  • credit limit same as 1 month’s pay.

enjoy!

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Good data points, very helpful, thank you.

One other, Standard Chartered wants to see a one year income statement as supposed to 3 months from other banks. (is this still true?)
Edit… I just noticed you said you were only in Taiwan 6 months to apply. Guess this rule was loosened.

I’m not sure if it is the same as 5 years ago but they used to issue a card with 2 years validity generally and renew every 2 years automatically. (is this also still true?)

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Yeah it is valid for 2 years.

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That is really good to hear, exactly the way it should work.

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Yeah I’ve had this card for over 2 years, love how you can choose when to claim to cash back. bank and credit accounts on the same app in ENGLISH!

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  1. Do you know if cards like these cover LDW for rental cars in Taiwan? I tried to see if it is mentioned in the CC agreement (all in Chinese) but couldn’t find anything

  2. Have you used it abroad? I tried to find the section on international use fees, but can’t.

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No clue about the car rental part, I don’t rent cars in Taiwan.

Yes, it charges about 1.5% of the transaction up to X amount. Not the best card to use abroad, that is what the other cards I have are for.

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So which card do you recommend for no international fees ?

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For mortals like me they all have some kind of charge for international transactions some hide it by calling currency exchange fee (cough AMEX cough), the ones that eat the transaction fees carry an expensive yearly fee or you need to have millions in assets. btw this is a great website to compare credit cards and their cost/benefits: https://www.money101.com.tw/信用卡/哩程回饋優惠

I usually use cards that give me additional miles for foreign transactions to get the most out of the purchase. i.e. AMEX gives me 1 mile per 17 NT spent abroad vs 25 NT spent locally and Fubon gives me 1 mile per 40 NT spent abroad vs 50 NT spent locally. I try to use the AMEX for everything I can, if they don’t take AMEX then I use the Fubon card.

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What are the credit lines that they offered you compared to your monthly income?

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I will try to make a timeline best I can, notice I never needed a cosigner or anything like that:

  1. Fubon Simply Cash - 50,000
    image
    I was making about 45k a month, this was my first credit card in Taiwan. Cancelled it after I switched to the Fubon Business Titanium. This was an automatic cash back card.
  2. Standard Chartered - 80,000
    I opened a bank account with them after they came to our office, it included the credit card which was more or less my monthly salary in credit.
  3. AMEX Platinum Credit Card - 120,000
    image
    This is a special credit card not cash card from AMEX for the Asian market, got a special offer at the beginning but not worth afterwards due to the 8k yearly fee for a bunch of domestic hotels and restaurants. Cancelled after switching to the AMEX Gold - Eva Air
    4.China Trust 101 - 150,000
    image
    Wife wanted the free suitcase which was only offered to new members, ended up keeping the card for the embedded easy card and discount at Jason’s supermarket located in the 101.
  4. Fubon Business Titanium - 50,000
    image
    This card has a requirement of 700,000+ a year salary but they still gave me the same crappy limit I had with the previous card. I use it only as a back up of the AMEX for the miles.
  5. AMEX Gold - Eva Air - No Limit*
    image
    The credit amount doesn’t show. AMEX cash cards usually adapt their credit limit to your spending habits. Switched to this one due to lower yearly fee and more miles with the airline I usually travel with.
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Thanks, very helpful.

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Happy to help.
Those are not the best cards but I have my reasons to have those.

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Did you get those all by yourself or are they additional from your wife’s one?

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I got them all by myself, I have actually given secondary cards to my wife.

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The credit limits seem fairly low considering your salary. I usually get about 4X my monthly salary.

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In Taiwan?

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Yes

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Interesting.
I’m usually also limited to 1x ~ 1.5x my salary

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Wow good for you. Did you get that limit on your first card here as well ?