Just gonna second the Charles Schwab option. As a US resident you have enviable access to this no-fee ATM card. It’s such a great tool and if you don’t have major ongoing expenses that require bank transfers or autopay then it can really stand in place of a local bank account.
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you can, with many cards.
THANK YOU
Do you happen to know if Fidelity Cash Management ATM card service comparable to Schwab’s?
They reimburse your ATM fees, just like Schwab, but another advantage of Schwab is that they don’t charge foreign transaction fees. I’m not sure if Fidelity has this feature.
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I do not know, tbh I didn’t dig into it 100% when I compared the two options a few years ago. But there were a couple minor things that made the Fidelity option less appealing. Iirc one of them was a lower daily limit as mentioned upthread, and the other was a limitation on which ATMs are fee-free. While Schwab quite literally says they refund on any and all ATM fees. (In practice, this has been true although I’ll note that I’ve found maybe 2% of the time I’ll get an error and won’t be able to use a particular ATM at all…never been an issue though as I’ve been able to just go down the street to find another one that works)
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Fidelity only charges the 1% foreign transaction fees if you use their debit card to pay for something. They don’t charge the fee if you withdraw money from an ATM. There are many credit cards that don’t charge foreign transaction fees and currency conversion fees. Never use a debit card to pay for stuff is in general a good practice anyway.
I have both Capital One and Fidelity - I like that Fidelity doesn’t charge wire fee, reimburses ATM fees if charged by another bank, seemingly slightly better exchange rate, and their service is 24/7. Capital One wins with the higher daily withdrawal limit.
Where you withdraw money also matters. Some say that Cathay United has the worst exchange rate.
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So you’re the one who is always holding up the line paying with cash!
I usually withdraw from my nearest ATM which is owned by Cathay United. You can select “Decline Conversion Rate” to avoid the bank’s exchange rate, and it will default to the market rate.
It shouldn’t do, unless you accept the DCC rate offered by the ATM bank, and you never should because it’s always a ripoff.
As long as you withdraw currency billed in the actual currency, the rate should be determined wholly by the home bank/card issuer.
Yes on Capital One.
@Diaspora , try to apply for Quicksilver card that has no F/X charge. It works. I’ve charged things at places in Taiwan, checked Bank of Taiwan F/X rate online immediately after, and Capital One is at that rate, if not better, in terms of USD.
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If one is willing to pay 1% fee (plus possible additional fees through a non-optimal exchange rate), then international wire transfers are ready a thing to look into. 1% of US$ 10,000 is already US$100 - a SWIFT transfer should be about one fourth of that. Plus, exchange rates of banks in Taiwan might be more favorable, too. And one doesn’t need to go to the ATM every couple of days because of some daily/weekly/monthly limits…
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It depends on what your bank in the US charges. I’m lazy with the shopping around with international transfers though. Once I had opened a bank account in Taiwan, I just transferred AUD from my Australian bank to my Taiwanese account online with the Taiwanese account’s SWIFT details. My Australian bank charged a flat $30AUD fee to send the transfer, my Australian bank covers the Taiwanese bank’s fee for receiving the transfer. Then I just converted AUD to NTD online with my Taiwanese bank.
Just to note if you do transfer this way, make sure the name you enter in the SWIFT transfer matches whatever your Taiwanese bank has put as your ‘English name’ in their system - there are often mistakes made in Taiwan with regards to middle names and double barrel surnames, it needs to match whatever the Taiwanese bank has entered, not you passport. This way you can accept the inbound transfer online easily.
This is often not the cheapest way but for me it’s the easiest and Taiwan has decent exchange rates. I’m pretty sure this is the fastest as well outside of using ATMs to withdraw.
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@justintaiwan Thank you for sharing and the ‘matching’ name tip on the SWIFT transfer.
Tying to find a network ATM machine is a bear to me. I guess I am too lazy and don’t have time for details. I prefer using credit cards instead of debit cards. So applying for a 0 foreign transaction fee credit card is a good idea. Someone mentioned Quicksilver. To me, the best way is to do a transfer after opening an account in Taiwan.
Never heard of credit card or mobile payment?
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So it’s not a good idea to pay with a debit card, but mobile payment and credit cards are ok? How are those any different?
I asked ChatGPT for you:
In addition, you earn rewards/points/discounts with credit cards and mobile payments that are not usually offered to debit cards. Some credit cards provide purchase protection, such as refund if stolen/damaged within a period of time and extended warranty.
Of course, it’s only a good idea for those who don’t carry credit card debts.
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Qualify for HSBC Premier in the US and when you open an HSBC Taiwan account, you will also qualify for Premier. It’s easier to qualify in the US. No fees and international transfers are confirmed within minutes.
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global transfers between accounts of the same holder are instant with HSBC, not even minutes, seconds!
Good info for those with the option to choose between debit and credit cards, but when using a US card in Taiwan, you’re pretty much stuck with debit cards at most places.