yeah, so either in person at the branch or phone banking. Give it a try pls, might be interested too indeed.
I kept checking my app for the designated account to appear - only to find out that it only shows in the online bankingā¦
I then tried calling HSBC yesterday - only for no one to pick up the phone after going through the phone banking system.
I just called again and after some hiccups (they first transferred me to the credit card department after I chose that I want āonline banking servicesāā¦) and some more wait time, I was able to make the transfer.
Unfortunately, the employee confirmed that the FISC transfer is indeed only available for USD - my EUR transfer needs to be routed through SWIFT.
I decided to proceed with the transfer despite that there will probably be an intermediary bank fee applied (in addition to NT$200 charged by HSBC and around NT$ 200 charged by E.SUN). So overall, it probably does not really make sense to go this way as the fee in the end will probably be more than what I am saving through the exchange rate differenceā¦ 
Still, I at least want to try out this way once to see. Iāll report back when I know the resultā¦
But in the future, Iāll probably go back to just using Wise etc. to wire the money directly to E.SUN instead of using the āfreeā HSBC Global Transferā¦
Do you send USD using Wise to a multicurrency account at E. SUN?
a clarification to make though: HSBC Global Transfers are transfers among HSBC accounts worldwide held by the same person. They donāt apply for transfers outside the HSBC-sphere.
No, I send EUR.
Yeah, I am not expecting to have free global transfers to any account.
My point was just that what you save in transfer fees, HSBC will more than claim back by giving rather bad rates for currency conversion.
So for me, although I can send money for free between Europe and Taiwan using HSBC, it doesnāt really make sense for me to use this - overall itās cheaper to pay for a transfer to E.SUN to use their rate instead. And as I found out, sending EUR from HSBC to E.SUN within Taiwan is similarly priced (might even be more expensive) than sending EUR from Europe to Taiwanā¦
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The money arrived yesterday at exactly 5pm at E.SUN. I still had to approve the remittance - this wasnāt possible yesterday because of bank opening hours (they close at 5pm 
).
Today, I āapprovedā the remittance using the app - I also had to choose a remittance code (I used ā693 - Foreign exchange transferred from another domestic bankā).
Now for the numbers:
- Amount sent: EUR 8100
- Amount Received by ESUN: EUR 8094.12 (TWD 200 fee at HSBC)
- Amount credited to my account: 8090.07 (TWD 138 fee at E.SUN)
So despite E.SUN telling me that there would be a NT$200 minimum fee, they only charged NT$138. And despite HSBC telling me there would be an intermediary bank fee, there wasnāt any. Maybe I just got lucky in that regard 
And now comparing the exchange rate at HSBC vs. ESUN (checked the rates within 1 minute of each other): Did I exchange EUR 8100 at HSBC now, I would receive NT$ 274,920 (exchange rate: 33.94). With E.SUN, exchanging 8090.07 yielded me 275,628 (rate: 34.07). So even after transfer fees, I saved NT$708 
(Of course, had I exchanged with HSBC just before the LNY-holiday, I would have received a 34.1 exchange rate with them as the EUR slightly peaked at that time. But you never knowā¦)
I went to HSBc to add my Cathay usd account to try out the FISC transfer. I forgot I actually already added it in the past, but the teller warned me a TWD 200 fee will apply, no intermediary, but Cathay may apply a credit fee for foreign currency credits. So, not really worth for small-ish sums.
Yeah, so not really that much of an advantage of the FISC transfer. Especially considering that my non-FISC transfer also didnāt incur any intermediary fees last timeā¦
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This time, I am trying to get HSBC to offer me a better exchange rate. After all, that āPremierā status has to be good for something, rightā¦?
I am off to a bad start, however, I feel:
Now waiting for the āaccount managerā to call me (not sure how long that will take). All I want is to exchange some moneyā¦
HSBC is pretty bad for fx rates. But I get the value with the free transfers, withdrawals etcā¦
domestic banks have pretty good fx rates, but they charge for everything (no monthly fee though)
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Yeah, but somewhere in this thread I saw people mentioning that they might offer better rates when you ask. I just wanted to try that.
So far, no one has called me back, thoughā¦ 
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That tends to work when you visit a branch.
And leave the house for thatā¦? 
ā¦ on a cold day with bad air pollution.
Unless you are converting a large amount, itās probably not worth it.
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As expected, no one called, so I called them:
They told me that they can only give better exchange rates for transactions USD >20k - and this depends on the discretion of the bank branch (so one also needs to visit a branch / contact a branch employee directly).
I then proceeded to transfer my EUR to E.SUN (hoping that this will work without an intermediary fee again) 
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Iām considering dumping HSBC because for my transaction amounts, paying the wire fee with a better exchange rate is better than free HSBC Premier transfer.
As I mentioned earlier: You can make a SWIFT transfer from HSBC TW to any bank in TW. This might be (a bit) cheaper than a SWIFT transfer from abroad to TW. This has been true for me in the past - but thereās no guarantee / predictability as intermediary banks might change without noticeā¦
Or you need to wait until you have reached the 20k USD and visit a branch. Curious what rate theyād offer 
But yeah - itās the opposite of a āsimpleā solutionā¦
For small amounts, HSBC is great (then the exchange rate difference wonāt matter much) - for large amounts possibly, too (if the āspecialā rate is comparable to E.SUNās normal rate)ā¦
Personally I make the exchange at a local bank, transfer the foreign currency into HSBC then use HSBC for the international, free, transfer. Even at >20K and āspecialā rates, HSBC rates are really bad.
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Is there a way to transfer US$ from an HSBC TW account to another Taiwanese bank from the HSBC TW App? When I try to add a payee, it looks like only TW$ accounts are allowed.
I also looked up US$ bank buying rate.
Cathay United Digital: 31.31
HSBC TW Telegraphic: 31.293
E.Sun App: 31.311
(31.311 - 31.293) / 31.293 = 0.0575%
If you are exchanging US$10K to TW$, youāll get US$5.75 less from HSBC than from E.Sun, which is not too bad. Am I doing this right?
you need to add the beneficiary by paper form first at the branch. After that you shall be able to transfer via app and online banking. However this will be considered a foreign remittance if done online/app which will imply crossborder fees and potential correspondent bank fees and longer processing times.
HSBC supports FISC USD domestic clearing, but this can only be done either via phone banking or at the branch. Never tried though, so not super sure what fee will be applied, but the processing times are real time net if submitted before cutoff times.
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