Foreigners cannot have debit cards?

Not sure what that is.
Does it mean you can use it as a credit card?

I’m using my Chung Hwa ATM card in Germany at the moment (Cirrus network). It appears to work pretty much anywhere (except in Cambodia- which was more to do with the lack of ATM’s than the bank’s willingness).

I’m using my Zhonghua ATM card in Germany at the moment (Cirrus network). It appears to work pretty much anywhere (except in Cambodia- which was more to do with the lack of ATM’s than the bank’s willingness).[/quote]

Any idea what the transfer fee on that will be?

I’m using my Zhonghua ATM card in Germany at the moment (Cirrus network). It appears to work pretty much anywhere (except in Cambodia- which was more to do with the lack of ATM’s than the bank’s willingness).[/quote]

The problem is not whether individuals’ cards work, the problem is there is no way of relying on anything the banks say. I have known foreigners who have got stuck abroad with no money or access to their money.

The bank tells me my card works abroad. Do I believe the bank? No.

[quote=“Hongda”]
Walked down the street to The Bank Of Overseas Chinese where I have an empty account and havn’t used it for about 4 years.
I show the check to the clerk and she just says she is sorry it will take 3 weeks to cash it! :bravo: No problem! She didn’t even know I had an account. Since I had just cancelled my account with Far Eas I went ahead and got a new IC ATM card with Bank of Overseas Chinese.[/quote]

Will they still charge you approx. 900 NT to cash and convert it into NT?

I run into this problem fairly often when I receive payment for international work. Some clients cut me a cheque and if it is anything less than 50USD, it isn’t worth cashing it.

I have about 600 USD worth of cheques sitting around ready to expire. The banks I go to have said that in order to cash a foreign currency cheque, they need about 3~4 weeks and charge in the region of 900 NT per cheque cashed.

Look why don’t you have an account at TDAmeritrade then you can cash your checks in USD legally, cheaply (how’s about $0) sound to you, and you can invest… you may need to setup an initial investment (say $1000 or so), but after that, cashing 3rd party checks is easy.

That’s what I do when I have a smallish check.

[quote=“seeker4”]Debit cards:
Using U.S. cards as a reference, the difference between an ATM card and a debit card is that a debit card can be used to make purchases wherever a Visa or Mastercard credit card is accepted. There is no credit account. The money comes out of your bank account. A debit card will also have a Visa or Mastercard logo on it. According to that definition of debit card, I have none here. None of my cards have ever functioned as debit cards. There does seem to be either special requirements for foreigners to get debit cards or some prohibition. I’m not very clear on that.[/quote]

According to that definition, I have a debit card from one bank (Taipei Fubon) and a Visa credit card from another (ABN Amro). I’ve never had a problem. Both have separate domestic and international PIN numbers, and I was assured they would work abroad.

[quote=“sojourner”]
Will they still charge you approx. 900 NT to cash and convert it into NT?

I run into this problem fairly often when I receive payment for international work. Some clients cut me a cheque and if it is anything less than 50USD, it isn’t worth cashing it.

I have about 600 USD worth of cheques sitting around ready to expire. The banks I go to have said that in order to cash a foreign currency cheque, they need about 3~4 weeks and charge in the region of 900 NT per cheque cashed.[/quote]

Not sure, but I won’t be surprised if it’s at least double the usual one way transfer fee of 350 N.T.
I don’t do this very often so not too worried about the fee. But it sounds like you really need to sort out your check problem somehow.
Maybe you can ask people to send it to you via MoneyGram. MoneyGram is somewhat cheaper than other transfer methods. Also alot more convenient.
www.moneygram.com

Quick update.

Well I picked up my Visa Debit/ATM card from ICBC. Tried to make an internet payment and it was rejected.
They had told me it was no problem using it for internet payments but after calling the head office to find out what was wrong—they assured me it CANNOT be used for internet payments.
So back over to ICBC to cancel yet another useless bank account.

Someone suggested I try Bank of Taiwan or Tai Shing and that they offer international debit cards.