All Taiwanese banks are shit. Period. Even when ones that are good abroad (eg HSBC) come here, they’re shit.
Name me one Taiwanese bank that isn’t shit.
And it’s not that they hate foreigners in particular. They hate all their customers. But obviously if these people can find a way to shit on a foreigner it makes their day. But look how they treat Taiwanese people.
Of course they make huge profits. That goes without saying. What is their incentive to treat customers better?
Hexuan aka “The Irish Pollyanna” wrote[quote]All Taiwanese banks are shit. Period. Even when ones that are good abroad (eg HSBC) come here, they’re shit.[/quote]
Always look on the bright side of life. Local crapness means opportunity for imaginative foreigners. Yes, you can start your own bank! 
What is the advantage of the IC card? Six number passwords are better than four? Can I still use my card overseas? I found ICBC helpful whenever I’ve used them. I left my ATM card (which belongs to another bank) in one of their machines and got it back within minutes after producing my passbook.
[quote]I had been drugged and had no idea what may have happened when I was being robbed.[/quote] If you had no idea how can you expect a bank to help? It would be pretty easy to get your birthdate wrong considering the differnce between Taiwanese years and Western years.
Actually I managed to cancel my New Zealand credit card after it was stolen here in Taiwan but getting a replacement was a major headache and they still didn’t send it to the address they said they would.
It will have something to do with making it easier for banks to get away with selling all the details you put on your account opening application. And your credit card details.
There’s nothing Taiwanese banks like better than to sell your details to gangsters and marketers. We’ve had four number passwords and non-IC cards in the UK and Ireland for years. I have personally had a four number PIN on a UK card for 16 years. Perhaps we didn’t need the extra security because, for all their faults, banks at home took at least basic steps to protect your account information.
I’d like to bet I can buy your address, mobile phone number, ARC number, salary details, place of employment etc from a dodgy bloke in Zhong He who got them from your bank.
I moved from ICBC to China Trust when my company started requiring us to have CT accounts. I’ve found China Trust to be even worse than ICBC. What I don’t get is why they won’t give the Visa debit cards to foreigners … does anyone else out there have a Visa debit card with another bank and got it with no hassles?
Jeez, back in yer box mate! I knew I’d been robbed. It was enough for my bank in NZ to cancell my cc and Am Ex to replace my traveller’s cheques. Why the hell wasn’t it enough to just cancel a piddly little ATM card? I gave the bank a whole slew of information, they just seemed determined not to help.
What I meant by I had “no idea” is that perhaps someone could have gained my pin while I was in a drowsy state, unlikely but possible. Really BNZ and AM Ex were much more helpful than I expected. I got issued new cheques soon as arriving in Bangkok (I had phoned ahead) and BNZ advised me of my new cc number. Fortunately my cc had expired anyway so no damage there but I phoned in anyway (free of charge no less!)
I think a big problem with the banks here is that a lot of people don’t have any option as to which bank they use. Most companies require you open an account with a particular bank, so they can pay everyones salary into one bank - so no matter how bad their service, you haven’t got any choice but to grin and bear it. In normal countries, banks with bad service will lose customers to those with good service - but in Taiwan, investing in customer service is a waste of money for the banks.
This suits the CFOs of each company, as of course the banks have to give the CFO suitable ‘incentives’ to get that company banking there.
[quote=“Matchstick_man”]What is the advantage of the IC card? Six number passwords are better than four?
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The old cards are very easy to copy/forge (the magnetic strip on the bank is trivial to read and copy) - and forged cards are big business in this part of the world. The IC cards are much harder to forge. The six digit code seems a bit pointless though.