Great info. I also really like your username.
4 Likes
multipass.
This just makes a massive difference in reality. The only thing that most of the banks asked me when I was looking for a personal loan was could I put local guarantors and local collateral (preferably property in the citiesā¦They were snobby about farmland which is more difficult for them to assess). Also all banks except one refused me point blank after initial assessment . FOREIGNER not applicable (many state in their T&Cs although not all)ā¦including my salary bank of six years where I had SUBSTANTIAL savings and cc with good credit history .
The bank that offered me a loan (China trust ) did check my bank balance and savings too. Still needed that local guarantor.
But overallā¦Agreed for mortgages itās certainly much more feasible to get one as a foreigner here, and the rate of interest is actually more related to being a collateralized loan or not. To get those super low ratesā¦You need to put up collateral. The guy above got forced to sign over the property to his wife. Very not cool in my book.
Actually I think they stiffed you on the interest rate and they still owe you an apology , because you put up collateral (as Taiwanese have told you). They are greedy muthertruckers.
3 Likes
The average banks service here is absolutely pathetic (@MalcolmReynolds 
) . I canāt stress how poor it is even though they have many people sitting around not doing much (nowhere in the world has has many humans left in a bank branch than Taiwan surely ). You literally just have to walk them through things and have an amazing EQ to deal with them . 20 years history. Fairly good Chinese, reading and speaking .
You canāt tell people (going on their looks often) that they arenāt entitled to something if you are a bloody security guard at a bank! This is what happened to you and similar had happened to me.
Then the amount of repetitive paperwork that you have to sign ito get stuff done is unbelievably bad. On top of it all get charge high fees for international transactions and stock trading.
Yep time for a good rant.
4 Likes
I agree that duration residing in the country matters a lot.
I agree that it is prejudicial to decide if someone should have different rights or services rendered based on what they look like, and I think that is the definition of stereotyping.
I agree the service of the frontline security person or greeter at the bank may not be highly proficient in banking matters, similar to how a WalMart greeter may not understand the nuances of the supply chain and logistics of the WalMart business.
The thing is, even after I showed them my Taiwan passport and TARC and explained that I already was approved for a mortgage from their specific bank, those people still said it wasnāt possible to help me open a bank account. So, I donāt know what portion of this is prejudice and what portion is lack of competence or ability to know and execute SOPs. In any case, as it escalated the bank corrected it, so the institution itself is not prejudicial, but maybe some workers within the bank (not all) are.
Actually I think they stiffed you on the interest rate and they still owe you an apology , because you put up collateral (as Taiwanese have told you). They are greedy muthertruckers.
Maybe Iāll bring you to my next negotiation. However, from my perspective, I find it somewhat amazing that I got a loan considering when I applied I was still preparing to move here and was only flying over for 1-2 weeks at a time last year, just a few times. Also, basically all of my financial info in another country. Although TARCs can be renewed, they generally have an expiration date of 3 years. Also, I havenāt done military service yet and itās something Iāll have to think about. Iām not sure they even considered that.
Then again, I find it strange that children of Taiwanese people who have been in Taiwan for multiple generations arenāt automatically given full voting and household registration rights.
Overall, Iām happy with the experience and I was able to achieve my goal of buying the home I wanted with a better mortgage than I expected. If those negative aspects outweighed the positive ones, I wouldnāt make the choice to go through with the process.
Last note:
because you put up collateral (as Taiwanese have told you). They are greedy muthertruckers.
I hope the scope of this is referring to the people in the bank who were incorrect or unfair. My family members here are certainly not this way, and I think many Taiwanese people are not, including myself.
3 Likes
They might of taken you more as a local through your passport, Taiwanese ties, language ability and family property holding. The local property holding was the key most likely. Did you have a local guarantor and you put up that collateral ?
By the way I appreciate your very reasoned argument and description of the loan process.
In reality having lived and worked and raised a family here over twenty years I am far more local than you but thatās the way the cookie crumbles.
5 Likes
Yea, I think itās possible, but actually some of the mortgage teams seemed less happy to find that the TARC had an expiration compared to a permanent ARC that has no expiration. They seemed to feel that a permanent ARC with local employment would be more valuable to prove I wasnāt going to flee the country with the money, compared to me showing up with just a handful of weeks within the country on my TARC.
I think the aspects I mentioned about a resident permit with expiration, barely any time formally residing under that permit, and little local financial info are the main reasons my interest rate was slightly higher.
In reality having lived and worked and raised a family here over wenty years I am far more local than you but thatās the way the cookie crumbles.
Perhaps, yes. But there may be some things you donāt know about my life and experience and family history that may be more local in other aspects. I donāt know if itās a 1:1 comparison.
I havenāt raised a family here, but neither has the president. I wasnāt born here, but neither was the previous president. I was born into and raised in a Taiwanese family though.
If you feel you are local from your experiences, I support that idea and I think you should be treated as local if you have significant reasons, which it sounds like you do.
2 Likes
I am no fan of Taiwanese banking, and thatās putting it lightly, but at least Iāve never been arrested for fraud based on my ethnicity.
Just sayinā.
2 Likes
Hmm, I think it was so that their premiere account(the ābest oneā) had a minimum balance of 3mil twd. But, the main benefit of that what I could see was a multi currency atm card, which is kind of useless now as we canāt travel.
The credit card I wanted(for the points) required an account with 700k balance, so I just deposited that.