Experience with Citi Bank in Taiwan?

My experience is that they are not friendly to foreigners. 21 years ago they refused to let me open a savings account unless I had at least NT$100,000 to deposit. The result: they won’t ever get my business, even now that I have far more than that to deposit. My advice: bank somewhere else.

Eh, yeah. Pretty much of a muchness. In part, hobbled by arcane banking laws here, so you only get a watered down version of a US bank account. It works… but HSBC wasn’t great. HSBC was a similar story. Wouldn’t open a mortgage for us a few years ago, result after much hassle with other issues: I wouldn’t reopen my account with HSBC if you paid me. I’ve had a CB account for AGES…

Well, they must have liked you. When I inquired about opening an account with the then-new ANZ Bank (they had just acquired the operations of RBS(I think?)), they looked at me and said I needed NT$ 4M to open an account there. That wasn’t very friendly. Hmmmm, maybe they meant to tell you US$ 100,000.

I have very strong negative feelings about HSBC, too. I ended up banking with them because at that time I was transitioning from Taipei to Shanghai and I didn’t have plenty of choices of banks that operated (nominally) in English that would give me mortgages. Since I’ve returned to Taipei, I have relished pulling out every cent I have from each HSBC account I ended up opening back then.

I was helping a friend recently with talking to her HSBC branch in HK. Incredibly, HSBC Premier now offers LESS to its clients - no more toll free phone banking, even less clueless officers in the branches and online. All the aggravations came rushing back, as did my hypertension, when I was helping my friend deal with her account. More than half of my interactions with HSBC people in branch and on the phone end up with my angrily summarizing what utter bullshit they put me through. I do not miss banking there.

These days, I mostly bank with E.Sun and Taishin. I have always liked E.Sun’s people and style with one important exception: they are amazingly, consistently so slow. I later deduced this must be their way to encourage me to use online banking. I only recently discovered that E.Sun Commercial offers VIP service at their HQ next to the Sherwood (not that I qualify, I was there on behalf of my boss, who usually gets E.Sun to come to our office) - if they have English and had more branches, I would bank there)

Citi Gold? Nah, probably not enough of a baller for that. I just need plain boring banking, with a credit card and the option for loan down the road.

Fubon can do that AFAIK. The credit card might be a debit card, though, if that’s okay for your purposes. There’s not much appetite for lending those furriners cash that they could just disappear with by leaving town. And future loans might depend more on your documentable income and collateral than on some nickel and dime customer relationship, no matter how many years you’ve stretched it out over.

Back in 2014 ChinaTrust gave me a credit card with a 70K limit after showing them I had 3 months of income and a contract worth 1.3 million a year. However, this comes with a caveat that the minimum payment is 20% of the balance whereas in the US/Canada minimum payments are around 1-2%.

I’m only changing banks because ChinaTrust’s apps/online banking is shit. Literally it feels I’m back in 2004.

You’re right, I’m expecting some skepticism from most banks as I’m a flight risk.

That being said I’m going to go enquire with Citi on Monday. Will pop into another bank for the heck of it. Will report back my findings. If anything, my chit chat with the customer service reps will be a benefit to the community here!

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Hey Guys, here’s an update:

Opened an account with Citi today. No minimum deposit required for the basic Citi account, but you need to maintain an average balance of 25k throughout the month. If you want, you can get Priority/Gold if you’re a baller or are up for paying the service fees.

Applying for a credit card was no problem. All they wanted to see what 3 months of salary deposits from your job.

They also said they would consider you for a line of credit/loan after your account reaches six months of age with them. Which is good, as most banks will give you an instant NO.

I have go to Taiwan last month with my wife and i have many problem with this Citi Bank in Taiwan . They did not give the money easy to much so i have lots of face suffer in this part.

I replied to your other thread but Citibank told me today they do not do customer loans, foreigner or Taiwanese but I suspected they might be fibbing to me to be polite. They always say there is no “activity” now for loans .

Not how sure how easy getting a credit card out of them is.

I have a credit card with CitiBank and I have practically not used it in two years. I applied for it when I was traveling to Japan, as they have a deal with EVA. Now EVA also has a deal with Cathay, which I prefer.

Firts of all, Citibank mistook me for a highroller and gave me a ridiculous amount of credit which I begged them to lower, but still higher than other normal cards, which discourages me from using them. Cathay sends me a message every time the card is used, for example.

The other issue is paying there in person. I think they can discount the amount from your own account if you have one with them but not from others. Can’t be paid at post office or 7-11. So, it is a hike.

Service has been good, though I do not use it a lot and I did notice for the floor staff, it is a bit spotty. The people I dealt with a year ago are not there anymore so that gives me the jeebie eebies.

Oh and the interests are outrageous, but so are HSBC’s and many of the “foreign” banks. Overall, credit cards are a bad deal, but some in Taiwan really make your eyebrows burrow into your forehead. Emergencies only, or getting miles/other benefits are a crucial component for the choice, and that depends on the individual.

Yes, so, it’s useful that you set up autopay from a bank account and monitor spending. In this case, however, it essentially becomes a debit card (but with an option as an emergency line of credit – albeit an expensive one)

I set up autopay, so much more convenient.

And the odd time I forget to transfer the money to the autopay account, the bank sends me a text that i better cover the money ASAP.

We fortunately have some banks that will work with us foreigners. The government banks ironically are the worst in dealing with foreigners in my experience, along with being bureaucratic and slow.

@Icon what are we talking about for interest? China Trust gave me 14% with their “businessman” card which costs 4K a year.

@dan2006 what do they usually want for minimum payment? With China Trust it’s like 20% of your balance, which made for a very painful month after christmas.

Reading the topic, I would have suggested from the beginning that you don’t abandon Chinatrust.
Citibank payment amount is 10% minimum or 1,000 NTD, depends what is higher.
Their service is mediocre and giving you a loan if needed depends on the situation, but most likely not.
I am with Citibank since they took over the business from Bank of Oversea Chinese, I admit I have a pretty good credit line, but when it comes to an problem, you will be lost with them.
Their mobile app is pretty good, but if I try to pay with the mobile to the credit card account, then you see a big no go.
Seems Chinatrust would have been the better deal for you, even their app sux.

Cheers
Tom

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@tom1807 can you pay the credit card bill online?

I’ve been paying my bills online in Canada for, well, ever. Having to pay it in person at a branch is like going back to the stone age.

In my experience, you can set up automatic payment from any bank into any other bank’s credit card… except for Citibank. Why? Dunno. Am I wrong?

I wire from my bank account online to the credit card account, due I have every month 8 free transactions.
For this is I use my ATM card and a card reader.
In fact, I pay everything as much as possible online, gives me better control.
Only the loan for my car is directly deducted from my account.

Cheers
Tom

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