hi,
I’ve had difficulty with this matter like you won’t believe. No local bank in Taiwan will give a foreigner a credit card, I’ve been told. Went to citibank the other day, first open a savings acc of which the min req is Nt$250 000,00 and then there will be a time delay, like keep it for 6 months then be considered for a cc.
Where else? Who are the international banks? Is there any hope?
thanks
rits
oh by the way, i don’t have 250 thou but i have a steady income and arc
I know for a fact, because I just called them last week, an ARC holder can get an American Express credit card (the light blue one) without the need for a guarantor.
My friend at worok got a Costco Credit card with out a guarantor. Got it right from cost it self.
Ski
You can get a secured card from ICBC - no need for hundreds of thousands - u can set u’r own credit limit.
I gave them 14,000 and got 10,000 credit line. The 14k goes into a 1 year term deposit so it earns interest.
[quote=“rits”]hi,
I’ve had difficulty with this matter like you won’t believe. No local bank in Taiwan will give a foreigner a credit card, I’ve been told. Went to citibank the other day, first open a savings acc of which the min req is Nt$250 000,00 and then there will be a time delay, like keep it for 6 months then be considered for a cc.
Where else? Who are the international banks? Is there any hope?
thanks
rits
oh by the way, I don’t have 250 thou but I have a steady income and arc[/quote]
hi,
it feels great to know there’s a way around this. i’m gonna look into ICBC first, then American Express. much appreciated.
Please post an update with your results!
Thanks! 
I had a relatively painless time getting a card with ChinaTrust. Not a huge credit line, but i don’t spend a lot.
their service is the best i’ve seen in taiwan of any business anywhere by a longshot.
[quote=“Jack Burton”]I had a relatively painless time getting a card with ChinaTrust. Not a huge credit line, but I don’t spend a lot.
[/quote]
Di d you need a Taiwanese guarantor? If not how much is your credit line?
Obviously most banks will make the decision based on the size of your account and size of your paychecks.
I got a VISA with no trouble and no guarantor at Taipei Bank.
I was able to get an ICBC gold card, but only after politely reminding the manager that I’ve given him eight years worth of business. About a month later, they upgraded it to a platinum card with a huge limit. The only condition I had to give was that the card balance be automatically withdrawn from the account every month. Guess this is meant to enable them to decline any purchases if I exceed the balance in my account, but so far this hasn’t been an issue; it actually makes it easier because I don’t have to make monthly trips to the bank to pay the balance!
Cheers,
CK
Ditto for me. Got a First Bank credit card where they take the balance every month, and then based on that I got Citibank gold card with a limit larger than I need, but handy just in case. First Bank wouldn’t give me the gold card because it said that I didn’t use my card enough. Citibank was great though, online banking in English is also a very handy thing. No guarantors or huge deposits required. Shows it is possible but not for everyone, I guess. Length of time at a job, address, etc probably is an important factor.
hey. went to ICBC today, they confirmed with taipei that I will need a guarantor.
CitiBank insisted I have to open a savings acc first that need 250K as min.
Chinatrust took a couple of weeks to process my application, school wrote a certification of my income and then I was phoned 9pm on a Fri night, just to let me know that they don’t issue cc to foreigners unless you have at least one million NT$ in your account.
I’m running out of options.
Last try will be American Express next week.
Any tips, maybe my bedside manner is ticking people off or what?
You people with cc’s obtained in Tw, are you teaching or professional workers.
I may just have to let it go… 
[quote=“rits”]hey. went to ICBC today, they confirmed with Taipei that I will need a guarantor.
[/quote]
That is only if you apply for an ordinary “credit” card not the secured one. The service desk isn’t going to know anything (a common occurance worldwide). I applied at the branch behind the Mitsukoshi at the Taipei train station - go to the second floor and ask there to talk to somebody about credit cards. Remember your after a secured card so tell them you want to put money into the bank that they hold onto and issue you a credit limit based on that. A girl there handled my case - she was less than 30yo.
Do you speak Chinese?
I have cards from Chinatrust, Citibank and American Express, although the latter was a simple transfer of my existing card, the others were obtained whilst here. I have no guarantor. These are not secured cards either, nor do i have a money with Citibank, hell i do not even have an ordinary bank account with them.
Chinatrust was more of a problem, but in the end they allowed it, after much discussion and persuasion.
So there, Chinatrust eventually DID give me a credit card! Applied thru COSTCO and now I have 50K limit. hehehehe, I’m incredibly satisfied right now smirk, smirk
Congrats, ritz. Welcome to the persistent club of cardholders that simply refuses to take no for an answer!
Good for you!
CK
Did you need a guarantor?
Exactly how did you do it?
Brian[/i]
I just signed up for a card with Chinatrust, and to my surprise, they told me a guarantor wasn’t necessary. I insisted that it was, and that I wanted to fill out the guarantor form along with the application, in order to save me the hassle of finding out why I was rejected, then making another trip. They kept reassuring me that it wasn’t necessary, and after I filled out an application, sent me on my way.
We’ll see what happens. I’ll post the result both here, and in the Guarantor thread.
The Chinatrust card came in the mail just now! No guarantor needed!! 
Hehehe, unbeknowst to Chinatrust, the floodgates are probably opened now.
By far the most pleasant credit card application experience in Taiwan to date. I encourage all of us to give Chinatrust more of our business!