Oh, I did not know that. Did you deposit a load of cash? Or minimum deposit? I am thinking this might help a lot to link my accounts.
I asked the same question to the clerk today, but she said that there is no such requirement in the opening phase. I will receive card and temporary PIN at home in the following days, so I guess that it will be mentioned in the letter that comes with it whether I have to make any first minimum deposit. I will update here 
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Within a couple of days I had passbook and debit card delivered to my home, together with temporary PIN to activate online banking (app). No deposit required, so I can definitely rule this out. But of course I will have to top up something for my future Costco runs 
The instructions came in Chinese only, though. I guess that those who can’t read it can just pop by at the branch and do the activation at the counter.
I tried applying, was denied. I had a clerk at Costco check (they always have a Cathay rep there). He told me I applied for the wrong kind of card. It seems the nominal requirement is to have at least 20,000nt in your bank account. However I had applied for the unlimited card (I applied online and they really did not explain how this works or criteria for each type of card). He told me I have to wait 3 months to apply again as if I tried again they would simply get auto rejected and would hurt your credit record. But that next time to apply for the Platinum card…
Jumping in just for clarity.
The VISA debit card is issued together with a new bank account or, if you did not request for it in the past, at any time and without any further requirements. The Cathay desk available at the Costco branch only deals with the Costco-Cathay co-branded credit cards (not debit cards), which do have certain requirements. I had a chat with the clerks there once out of curiosity, although I am not personally interested in credit cards.
Based on my experience, I would suggest visiting a Cathay branch before any action. The chances of bumping into someone who knows the rules and can explain them clearly are higher than with the salespeople stationed at Costco. There were flyers on the Costco-Cathay cards all over the branch when I visited a few days ago. Knowing how sticky banking stuff can get for us foreigners, I usually avoid online applications or phone calls and rather waste a bit of time for a face-to-face (hopefully without shouting involved 
) session.
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Honestly I just wanted a credit card so I can buy some needed stuff without having to pay for it all at once. Because there are some stuff like phones you can buy with zero interest deals (something like 12 months or something). Plus I keep hearing Cathay saying if you have more than 20k in your bank account, you qualify. But the sales people said the unlimited card requires a yearly taxable income of 2.5 million to qualify.
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Did you apply at your bank? I’ve started getting credit card offers from my bank (not Cathay) after having an account for one year. Crazy good deals like 5-9% cash back on food delivery service sort of offers. I mostly only use my one TW credit card (the Costco one) for Costco purchases though, and pay it off as soon as the bill comes. I rarely buy random expensive things though. The day will come wherein I need to pack up my TW life or even move apartments, and nothing is worse than coming to terms with all the random crap you’ve accumulated over the years.
TLDR: take a page from The Minimalists: if you have to borrow money to buy it, you can’t afford to buy it.
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Get ready to change your credit card. Reports are coming out that Costco has change credit card vendors (again). Cathay is out next year!!! I will post the link soon. I had it but it disappeared from my paste function!
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Bingo
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Got this secondhand, but apparently, Costco’s new credit card relationship will be with Fubon.
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They change credit card providers every cycle like underwear. I guess margins must not be good enough for the incumbent bank to offer the best bid.
Oh no, I hate Fubon. I have gotten really bad service from them. Hope they won’t give us furriners a hard time getting credit cards.
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If that happens make noise to Costco America. They will deal with it pronto.
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Cathay used to be very anti foreigner IMO in the old days but after Costco they did a 180 in attitude. I’m guessing Fubon will follow.
As @Lost.in.space said, head office in the USA will put a fast stop to it
UK Costco accepts any credit card. So I don’t know why we have to put up with the shenanigans. However, it helps us to break into the credit card market as customers by forcing banks to open their tight fists a little more. The banks themselves may do it to widen their customer base, knowing that if they don’t renew the contract with C., they’ll likely still keep a large percentage of customers who use their ccs less. Dunno.
Australian costco accepts any too
And that goes back to my question: how about Japan Costco? Do they also accept all credit cards?
Their cobranded or Mastercard.
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Any Mastercard? Awesome.
Best I could find out. But perhaps other countries’ cobrand cards?
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