Just turned down again for a credit card

[yuli]

@CraigTPE

you lose twice on exchanging currency from NT$ to US$ back to NT$, assuming you are using income earned in Taiwan to purchase goods in Taiwan. Then, you also have the expense of getting money back to the US to pay the US credit card bill. (Or wherever your home country may be.)

Understandable - if such expenses outweigh the benefit of using a credit card then one would keep using cash. In my own case, using credit cards from home is not an issue since my income comes from there at the moment, but i recognize the issue people have whose income comes from Taiwan - but the solution to that expenses problem is the debit card: that’s why i was so keen on seeing that problem with the VISA debit card not being available to foreigners resolved.

A guide to Taiwanese VISA Debit Cards

~ ~ ~ Posted in January 2011; last edited/updated on August 19, 2013 ~ ~ ~ This post, which is meant to be a resource and may therefore be updated from time to time, contains information found in the thread at forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopic.ph … &start=100 and in subsequent messages in this thread. VISA debit card: how to get it Typically you need to apply at your bank (some banks may automatically issue such a card to a new customer). Successful applicants have in almost all cases mentioned t…

All credit card debt is unsecured. It is a signature loan, only as good as your credit. If a person has a good credit history, a stable job and income, that is all that should matter. On the other hand, foreigners who have preceded us and absconded with bad debt have made it difficult.

I would think the last point is important: banks and loan companies everywhere consider not only a person’s personal credit history but also the “group” they perceive that person to belong to (rightly or wrongly). And then, even if someone has 4 years of good credit history and a stable job in Taiwan today - if they suddenly leave the country tomorrow and leave behind an unpaid debt, the bank has little recourse. So i can understand their general reluctance.

What one can generalize from my case is there is no clear, rational path for the average foreigner to get a card in Taiwan. There have been countless threads already, from which it is clear that it is hit-or-miss and depends largely on who you know or who at the bank you deal with.

Yes, that was my point, as well…