My experience: just went to the branch and asked for the application form, mailed in all docs, no issues and fuss given from them. No guarantor was ever mentioned.
Even taishin still says on the website that a guarantor is required (at least this seems to me from how they wrote that in Chinese), but just sent the docs via post and all was good, they never asked about it
I guess everything is becoming a hit and miss. I am also thinking of buying a new car end of year and those 60 months with 0% interest payment plans Toyota offer look tempting…
Just 10,000NTD a month for a new Corola cross. I wonder how my “foreigness” will play out on that one. (By then I will be on the TARC though)
I got a manager override many years ago but it was quite the argument with them back then
Where do you find the details on that?
Went in to the dealership. They explained they are doing 30 months interest free on some an 60 months on others
They don’t have it advertised anymore. But they were offering 60 months interest free on some models and 30 months on others (on their website to last week). Today when I checked it was only 30 months so 20,000 a month. But still not too bad I guess
Company: Fubon
Card applied for: Costco Titanium w/o membership info
Credit score/history before applying: meh, barely 700
Date of application: 6-Feb
Date of follow up call: 1 follow up call on 10th Feb
Date of credit report check: 12-Feb
Date of approval: probably on 18-feb-23
Date of arrival: 23-feb-23
Guarantor required? No
Secured deposit required? No
Apply where? sent application form via post
Credit limit given: NT$280,000
Supporting documents provided:
They called me once to tell me that my application will be processed, no news for 2 weeks, then I called them once to check what’s up, they told me to be patient as the card is on the way.
Supporting documents provided:
After a week called to check progress, but said it was processing. Two weeks after that called again and they said it was rejected but didn’t even bother providing a real reason (“uh, I guess because no guarantor, go try again”). Complained via web feedback form and someone called back a week later. Turns out needed passport scan (didn’t include originally) and also another bank statement (the HSBC one). Week later get the card.
I just had a big fail with my CTBC credit card. Tried to book a flight and they refused to put the payment through. Once I’d got past the bot to a real person the reason given was they protect foreigners from people who may have stolen their credit cards. They will phone me tomorrow, by which time my flight will probably be fully booked.
This has never happened before. Previously I would be sent a code by text message, entirely in Chinese, which I would input as confirmation. Absolutely fucking ridiculous. I really need to get over my inertia and change my CTBC bank account. They are beyond a joke. They’ve actually managed to make things worse for foreigners who hold accounts with them.
That’s the most stupid excuse ever… Jeez
Company: Shin Kong
Card applied for: Mitsukoshi Visa Signature card
Date of application: Mar 2023
Date of approval: Mar 2023
Date of arrival: Mar 2023
Time from application to card received: about 3 weeks
Guarantor required? No, eventually after FSC complaint
Secured deposit required? No
Apply where? by post
Credit limit given: $200,000
Supporting documents provided:
Scan of ARC (front and back)
Scan of passport
Scan of driving licence (front and back)
Scan of 3 most recent bank statements (HSBC TW does not have passbooks)
Copy of employment letter
After 1 week I applied they requested me to provide the guarantor’s details, I complained with them I won’t since it is discriminatory practice to require that by default only from foreigners (clearly stated on their application forms and website), they said this is our policy. So I complained to the FSC, after 2 days they called me back and said they will waive that for me but I have to resend the application form since it was incomplete, they will send me the correct one via post to my house.
Received that, filled that in (no further supporting doc was required), sent it out, approved after 3 days.
Have you had to complain to the FSC about the guarantor requirement every time?
I only have 3 cards but none requested a guarantor. One of them has a low limit of $30,000 though
only if they request it. Taishin technically requires foreigners to have a guarantor too for their cards, but when I applied to the Everrich card I wasn’t asked and they approved straight away.
The most stubborn so far has been HSBC, which I had to resort to the financial ombudsman.
It is painstaking, but I’m doing it more for science and industry research. I’ll close most of these cards soon tbh, and I actively use only 2 (HSBC and Cathay, then Fubon from August onwards for the Costco card).
Thank you though. It is also beneficial to the general immigrant population. If just a handful of us do as you do, they will have to change their ways.
I just don’t like being lied, teased to. I know the rules, and I’ll use them against them to get what I should get without hindrance. You are most welcome!
I had a similar issue with my Taishin VISA card. However, after talk to the bank and inquiring about the matter, they reassured me that the card was functioning correctly,
Later, I discovered that the problem was with the third-party website I had used to book my flight ticket. I realized that the best solution was to book directly through the airline’s website to avoid any issues.
I booked through the airline website. CTBC chose to block the cc payment because I’m a foreigner. Apparently to protect me from online fraud.
I cannot comment on this, I have a Gold Card, and I applied with Mega only to check this “special” arrangement indeed. Got the card, spent the min required to get the sign-up gift (a nice cabin size luggage), immediately cancelled.
well, having many of these issues with my company too, we issue our own credit cards in HK, and many websites, even big ones, just randomly block cards or don’t process the payment, we literally don’t receive anything. So random.
One of my lowest limits is 10k
mine is 20K with the line card from CTBC, I applied for an increase there though to 100K, let’s see haha.