Hello. I am in process of applying for SS benefits.
I fill up form SSA-1199 for Direct Deposit to my account at Mega bank.
There is a section 3 need to be filled up by bank it-self.
Which they help me to do except refused to fill up Name of Bank Official and signature.
Anyone has experience with this?
Will SSA accept form without signature of bank official or there are the way to bypass it?
Meanwhile I send email with this question to SSA office in Manila.
Regards
Why not use a US bank account and withdraw the cash using a no-fee ATM card? Have you thought about how much remittance fees monthly SS deposits into a Taiwan bank would add up to every year?
I did some research and everyone including SSA recommend to do a Direct Deposit to Taiwan bank and their remittance fee and conversion rate is better.
Do you have a different information?
Lets say I have BoFA US account. You say it will be better conversion rate if I use their debit card withdraw from MEGA bank ATM?
Schwab bank. No fee ATM, exchange rates always in the noise of daily fluctuations.
There are better options such as Capital One 360. They have no account minimum, free foreign ATM withdrawals with no forex fees for converting to TWD
The problem to open Capital One account that I don’t live now in USA and they ask for US contact number.
If they only need a number to send verification texts to (like I needed with a US credit card), I use Text Now which provides a US number for US$5 a year.
I use Google voice which is free, but I think you need an existing US number to create a new Google voice account now for verification purposes
Another option is Google Fi flexible plan, then pause the plan as soon as you get it so it stops charging you but number can still be used to receive text
I’ve used this since its inception. I don’t turn it on and off, but you could. Not only does it support the verification texts, but they have good international data roaming that can be turned on and off and used for travel. Just don’t leave it on all the time in Taiwan as that may flag the account (the want the primary usage to be in the US). Its an e-sim so it can be moved from device to device.
I would second that I just use my US checking account and debit card for banking. ATM fees are reimbursed so getting cash is no problem
I checked with my Mega bank.
They would charge 0.05% or 200NT minimum.
It doesn’t sound too bad
My experience was with YuShan bank. The bank was not willing to sign some form issued by US government. They did provide me with a standard bank form to prove my account number with the bank.
As a sidenote I had all sorts of trouble regarding getting my money deposited due to my name on my bank about used my full name….first middle last…per my passport. But funds sent from government Citibank account used my middle initial so name did not match named used on bank account. Well, hope you do not have this problem.
Are you converting to TWD after? There’s around a 0.1-0.3% forex spread, not as good as US debit cards that use actual forex rates. Up to you, it’s about the cost of a subscription to some service each month.
For what I’ve read, conversion done daily by Citibank in US. And rate is good.
Yes, my Mega bank also don’t want to sign up form and I told in email Manila SSA office about it.
Manila office asked me to forward them a copy of forms filled up by bank.
So, do you feel that Direct Deposit to a bank is a good and economical way to receive SS benefits?
As someone who has a hyphenated surname, as well as first and middle names, I’ve experienced this same frustration so many times here. They just don’t understand that middle names are usually left out or initialized, especially in longer names.
Yes Miss Banker, Jonathan R. Livingston-Seagull is the same person as Jonathan Robert Livingston-Seagull! How many other people with this name and ID do you meet here in Taiwan?!
In my interaction with the bank I was told that Taiwan bank regulations say bank accounts opened for foreigners must use the exact name shown in passport. And that any incoming remittances from abroad need to match account name exactly.
You are asking a very lazy person. I just opted to pay the fee (I think is NT$300) for the incoming remittance.
Do note that the US will exchange the US$ into NTD before payment arrives. You will not receive US$.
It would be a bank located in Taiwan that does the conversion from USD to TWD. It’s a restricted currency outside of Taiwan so I don’t think any foreign bank outside of Taiwan will be able to trade TWD.
This is false, per FSC. It’s a bank refusing to do proper risk management, which is what the regs actually require.