Just out of curiosity, does anyone use a foreign-issued credit card in Taiwan? What are the disadvantages of that? Is the credit card exchange rate typically poorer than that offered for cash? What other fees are applied during the transaction?
You need to check with your issuing bank. Most fees I’ve seen range between 2-4%, although I’ve seen some with 0%. I think Capitol One has a card with no fee for international transactions.
Additionally, you have to consider the source of your money that you will use to ultimately pay the bill. If you are purchasing products in Taiwan with a non-Taiwan card and paying the bill with money you’ve earned in Taiwan, then you’ve lost twice on the exchange rate. In that case, too, you need to factor in the costs of getting money back to your home country to pay the bill.
I do not think that Unoin Bank is any better than any other local bank - it’s just as Craig said that I am known, IE the branch manager sent a personal letter in with my application for the first card, the 2 others were applied for the normal way.
And - margins in my business are thin, so well, I still drive a NT$100k car. It looks good on the credit card application though.
Wonder how I would fare if I applied at another bank as well.