Exactly. However, after complaining to Esun with my situation and credit score I made them change their policy.
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So the alien digital certificate is a physical card? I assumed it was, yāknow, digital.
You sure this is also true in Taiwan?
Anyway, I asked the guy more and he said he didnāt understand why I was rejected and I had normal qualifications to be approved. I said banks are mean to foreigners, but politely and not in those words.
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Yes, it is an IC card to be inserted into a card reader in order to authenticateā¦ Real hassle and so 90-00s (but TW, as its love JP love this shite. Be prepared to still use fax sometimes).
Not 100% as I donāt work in local card issuance, my company issues cards in HK but we do not rely on credit bureau data, we have our internal credit engine.
However, it wonāt surprise if it is true, and I have the feeling it is. At least here getting a debit card is straightforward, good luck in trying to get a debit card in JP bring a foreignerā¦
The only way to check this is to access your credit score.
So, I applied recently, like 2 weeks ago, for the HSBC Travellers Infinite Visa Card. The reason is mainly miles, they have probably the best accrual ratio for miles both domestic and overseas with a reasonable enough annual fee (the only better one is the Citi Prestige, but itās 24kNT per year, and the very good rate doesnāt apply for purchases made in the EU, thatās a no for me since I travel there often).
I have already an HSBC Premier account thanks to my old HSBC HK Premier account, and held many credit cards with them, all in perfect order. In the HSBC TW account now I even receive my salary, before it was at Cathay United.
I mailed the application form and all the supporting docs to their credit card centre (since cannot apply online being a dirty foreigner and last time I applied at the branch they didnāt even passed the application to the credit card centre), they were actually helpful at the beginning since I used a wrong form apparently, but they emailed me the correct one, which I filled in, and started the review. They call me then shortly after asking to provide them with an address in my home countryā¦ I skipped that part in the application form I do not own or have resided at any house in Italy since 2017, and I have never been a tax payer there since I started working abroad, so never has tax liabilities there. They were adamant and gave them my parents address, could have given any address to be honest, even the Colosseum for what they are concerned.
After 2 weeks I see the notification from the JCIC that HSBC accessed my credit report, which is pretty decent even if very recent (arrived here only in April, so the first credit card only opened in May), but with 736/800 and all bills always paid in full I donāt have any worries there.
Anyways, they sent me this morning an email saying there are some missing documents, I wonder what they would be. I call them and the very nice agent (she really is tbh, she has been following my application since the first day) tells me the audit officer would like me to get a guarantor. A fricking guarantor! I told them I am a Premier customer, my salary is at least twice the minimum for that card, which is the most premium you offer, and it is paid to your bank, my credit score is very good and will only get better, I would really appreciate not even being asked a guarantor. Made clear to them that I consider it as a discriminatory practice since I fully qualify for the card and I am labelled as a good debtor given my high score.
They will come back to me, but it is very annoying. I got approved for an even more selective card, the Cathay United Eva Air Supreme Infinite without any guarantor, same for Fubon for their Taiwan Mobile card, where I donāt even have an account!
Letās see what they come back with.
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They actually just reaccessed my credit report, just received the notification. Very random.
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HSBCs old rule was that all foreigners needed a guarantor unless you were premier. I guess they got even stricter.
Iām premiereš if they wonāt budge Iāll bin the application
Fubon said the same to me, and after I reminded them that I earn twice the amount of the average Taiwanese and have been here better half of a decade they agreed to give me a card without a guarantor. Limit was just over my monthly salary.
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I mean, I wrote to the relationship manager, and told listen, this is not good, I donāt feel premiere at all. He tried to BS it was group policy blablabla, then I said I will discuss this nonsense with their COO. The relationship manager then asked me to give him a chance to change the situation.
Also here there is some leeway for discriminatory practice, but it is tiring.
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They can make exceptions. From personal experience.
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Be tough and tell the relationship manager that you will leave and choose a bank that doesnāt have xenophobic staff in the Taiwan credit department
My salary is more than double the one requested for the card, and it is deposited in their USD account (paid from abroad in USD). Even if the FX rate is slightly worse than Cathay United, they donāt charge any credit fee (Cathay USD 6 per credit) and there are no transfer fees.
So all in all cheaper, then when Iāll finally leave for a travel next week will be able to use their FX withdrawal function at any ATM (or just send the funds to HSBC HK and use their mastercard debit card, also there free withdrawals everywhere and they debit the amount in the FCY if u have any balance).
But really, this guarantor BS is just so shite
I want to see someone use a naturalized citizen as a guarantor and see what happens
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that would short their circuits haha
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The certificate itself is digital. Itās just the medium itās held on is a separate card.
itās funny that there is actually an app for smartphones you can use instead of the bloody reader, but no one supports it. It is all so messy.
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Actually the myData platform accepts it. I use it to login to it.
See my thread:
tried, doesnāt since I do not have yet an NHI, so I canāt proceed with the bankbook verification, and the cellphone number doesnāt work since stupid mobile providers had to register me with the passport number instead the ARC number. Other verification methods require the mobile reader.
So useless.
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I donāt know whether I am asking for too much but I am back in the credit card game after I gave up two years ago.
I am basically looking for a card that gives good cashback and has google wallet, while the latter is of secondary importance.
I checked the money101 website, liked the citi offer as it comes with an oven 
and 2 percent cashback
https://www.money101.com.tw/äæ”ēØå”/ē²¾éøęØč¦?minAnnualSalary=520000
I am also open for any recommendation on good cashback cards!
When I go to the website I choose ***ę¬²ē³č¾¦ éå” å å¤åäŗŗč¾¦å” and get the form for foreigners, but i do not see an option for the oven over there. So no oven for foreigners?
Is it possible to pay the whole monthly spending at once making sure I dont pay interest in that case?
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Youāre out of luck. āNo oven for foreignersā is Citi Taiwanās slogan.
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