I only have a bank account with CTBC, no credit card.
I’m just saying that I don’t consider it much of a “positive” that they’ve managed to offer a completely standard feature despite the shitty system they’ve decided to implement for foreigners.
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Besides CTBC the only other bank in Taiwan I have that still requires separate logins for account and cards is HSBC, but at least HSBC will show the card balance on the normal bank app and you can easily pay the card balance from there, the card login (which is really a separate website) is only to be used for points redemption and instalments.
All the others, even the dreaded bank of Taiwan, let me use one app and login to check it all.
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I’m actually now a Taiwanese and cannot bother to pursue this. I have already made my mark by helping kickstart the complaints against banks such as Richart and Esun.
– Richart not offering a digital account to foreigners and Esun disabling the cash advance and revolving balance functions for foreigners.
Both were fixed following my repeated complaints in particular the Esun one in which many foreigners will never know why their statement all of a sudden included a cash advanced limit and the option to pay the minimum.
Now that I am a Taiwanese I really am starting to care a lot less as it is not my problem and most foreigners can’t be bothered to spend 10 seconds to write a short complaint to the FSC. If everyone truly did it… there would be less of this shit happening to them.
However… I did get the linepay verification issue sorted and the automatic credit card lottery linking with CTBC fixed but these were just a bandaid fix and didn’t target the initial problem.
The feature to pay in the app also wasn’t there before my complaints…
Also to set up the automatic payment can be set up easily in the app for Taiwanese… but for foreigners you must either call the bank or go there lol.
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I think most people are complacent which is why the government and business has got away with it so long. To be fair I don’t care anymore either as I’ve set myself up years ago by bitching and it got tiring
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Yes even Firstbank app is easy to use these days although a visit to a bank branch is still extremely tedious.
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that bank is utter garbage. hated it and closed the only thing I had with them, a card.
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Were there complaints about that before then? I wasn’t aware. I vaguely knew that Richart had been around for a couple of years before they started offering the foreigner account in late 2022, but I thought they’d done that voluntarily.
What was the story?
Kind of funny if they only created the foreigner account because some foreigners complained, and then after they did I started complaining at them about the foreigner account. 
I suspect they probably only got a handful of foreigner signups anyway as most foreigners get whatever account their boss gives them. Plus not really being foreigner friendly
Yes there were. I launched complaints against both Koko bank and Richart bank. I also talked to my insurance broker at Taishin who also pushed for it mid 2021 and early 2022.
In fact she was actually trying to lead the whole project and was close to but she is glad she is off it lol.
It was announced late 2021 that it was in the works. Koko bank I have given up on as I assumed they would also follow. - @Satellite_TV talked me down from it as I was wasting time I could spend with my daughter writing complaints etc…
They never addressed the actual problem. The complaints were about wanting to receive equal treatment. Instead they tried to offer an “exclusive” account that basically “excludes” foreigners from many of their other features such as low interest personal loans, low cost investments, virtual credit cards and the likes. - What banks and regulators in Taiwan need to learn is that this is completely unacceptable. Foreigners also need to not accept it and complain, complain, complain even if the complaints get rejected.
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My girlfriend tried signing up. She was told that her ARC had to have at least 1 year validity left… Total BS as many foreigners only have 1 year ARCs.
Also I see very few benefits other than the fact it is needed for me to earn cashback on my gogo and gofly cards
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A few banks used to do that with credit cards. We can only offer you a card with a one year ARC but oops immigration gave you a 362 day ARC so you don’t qualify. The next year I got another 362 day ARC oops you don’t qualify again. Even if one got a full year validity you would need to sign up on that date only
super stupid like my case with Bank of TW. Opened an account with them, they were started giving me shit about my ARC expiring next year, whatever, I just said I will bring you the new one, what’s the matter?
But with the credit card… they issued to me a card valid for 11 months haha so stupid.
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This is the wrong thread, but … you know there are banks in TW that won’t give you an account as you were born overseas, yeah? Even as a citizen … 
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yep, line bank, rakuten bank and next bank won’t allow citizens born abroad to open accounts haha.
So u still have something to complain @comfy123
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Yeah but since you stopped being a foreigner and became Taiwanese you are now an invalid foreigner. You no longer get the foreigner treatment as an ROC National.
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Yup. Actually one online bank I could not enter the education as they only allowed names in Chinese for Taiwan schools. After FSC complain they changed that to allow N/A for those not educated in Taiwan and I can now apply. That was the Taishing Rickard bank.
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I’ll try to file a complaint. I see that the FOI website is in English, so presumably I can file my complaint in English or should I provide a Mandarin translation below it?
Could you share with me what your complaint consisted of please (via PM if you prefer?) I have read the first post and see there’s a number of issues but I don’t really have any experience of those points so it’s hard for me to complain on those points.
Can I provide a reference number to your complaint (if you have one) or should it be a separate complaint?
Thank you.
English is fine.
Actually I was the one who pointed it out to you 2 years ago I think it is somewhere in my Koko bank thread.
If I remember correctly @fifieldt it pushed you to make your own complaint! lol
I believe they changed that policy now. But I wouldn’t be surprised if there are now others.
Lol sure!
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