I’ve been looking at these threads and wondering if there is a possibility of perhaps opening an account w/ a bank that has branches in Taiwan as well as the US (for my purposes) such as HSBC.
I have a Taiwan passport but no ARC, I believe in reading some of the info here that I may still be able to open an account. I was wondering if money was deposited in Taiwan, if I could just use my debit card to withdraw cash when I’m in the US or have money transfered (w/out exorbitant fees).
Thoughts?
As has been pointed out in many threads, although the banks may have the same name in Taiwan as they do in the US (or any countries you want to name), they are in fact separate entities. They are not branches of each other, in the same way branches operate within the same country.
You don’t need an ARC to open an account in Taiwan. Not sure why you wouldn’t just use your Taiwan passport, but if that’s not an option, you take your US passport to the NIA and get a local ID number printed out on some letterhead that you can give to the bank for tax purposes.
Most local banks can give you an ATM card that is useable overseas. Just make sure they activate that feature. The fees for using an ATM overseas are less than a wire transfer, but will depend on your bank here, and the bank whose ATM you use overseas. HSBC Taiwan to HSBC US may be lower, especially if you have a pile of money in either one.
Thank you for your response, CraigTPE. I will open up an account with my Taiwanese passport. There is a concern now about money received being taxed as I have no RC, perhaps the question is for a different forum (?).
As the heir to some property usage rights, I can receive income generated from this- but the concern is how to file Taiwan taxes w/out being a resident. I will scour the board but if anyone can point me in the right direction, it would be greatly appreciated!
it seems like inheritance and such are important enough for a trip to the tax office for a definitive answer.
Sage advice, on my to do list.
[quote=“CraigTPE”]As has been pointed out in many threads, although the banks may have the same name in Taiwan as they do in the US (or any countries you want to name), they are in fact separate entities. They are not branches of each other, in the same way branches operate within the same country.
You don’t need an ARC to open an account in Taiwan. Not sure why you wouldn’t just use your Taiwan passport, but if that’s not an option, you take your US passport to the NIA and get a local ID number printed out on some letterhead that you can give to the bank for tax purposes.
Most local banks can give you an ATM card that is useable overseas. Just make sure they activate that feature. The fees for using an ATM overseas are less than a wire transfer, but will depend on your bank here, and the bank whose ATM you use overseas. HSBC Taiwan to HSBC US may be lower, especially if you have a pile of money in either one.[/quote]
If you have US$100,000 in any HSBC anywhere, you can open multiple HSBC accounts and all will be ranked as ‘Premium’ which allows you to transfer or get your money without fees. It’s a great bank!
[quote=“Joschka”]
If you have US$100,000 in any HSBC anywhere, you can open multiple HSBC accounts and all will be ranked as ‘Premium’ which allows you to transfer or get your money without fees. It’s a great bank![/quote]
In my experience, HSBC is run worse than (or just as badly as) the local banks. The service I got with my credit card was terrible and the offers/deals/points were much worse than those my wife got on her card, even though we used mine more often. HSBC in Taiwan is definitely NOT an international bank!
You can file taxes without even setting foot in Taiwan, in fact there are a few situations when that is required - for example earning rental income while being non resident.
Do you have overseas Chinese status or something else? Have you ever had household registration?
When you say money received do you mean wire transfers or dividend income or salary or something else?
[quote=“teggs”][quote=“Joschka”]
If you have US$100,000 in any HSBC anywhere, you can open multiple HSBC accounts and all will be ranked as ‘Premium’ which allows you to transfer or get your money without fees. It’s a great bank![/quote]
In my experience, HSBC is run worse than (or just as badly as) the local banks. The service I got with my credit card was terrible and the offers/deals/points were much worse than those my wife got on her card, even though we used mine more often. HSBC in Taiwan is definitely NOT an international bank![/quote]
I’ve had nothing but top service from HSBC, and if you are going to have multiple currency accounts and do online banking and investing, local banks are not comparable.
You don’t need a $100 000US Premier account, you can do it on a NT500 000 advance account. International debit card, multiple currency accounts - up to 4 currencies. Your card can be used in any country and if it’s from a HSBC ATM anywhere, no fee.
Of course it isn’t. I have premium accounts in Japan and Hong Kong. When trying to do anything here with HSBC it’s useless so I never opened an account here. HSBC in Taiwan is separate from the rest of the world.
[quote=“teggs”][quote=“Joschka”]
If you have US$100,000 in any HSBC anywhere, you can open multiple HSBC accounts and all will be ranked as ‘Premium’ which allows you to transfer or get your money without fees. It’s a great bank![/quote]
In my experience, HSBC is run worse than (or just as badly as) the local banks. The service I got with my credit card was terrible and the offers/deals/points were much worse than those my wife got on her card, even though we used mine more often. HSBC in Taiwan is definitely NOT an international bank![/quote]
Well, I suppose if you consider the quality of a bank to be it’s ‘offers/deals/points’ on credit cards, then I don’t have much to say that would be of use to you. I almost never use credit cards. HSBC here has some kind of thing where various purchases are automatically posted with 12 equal monthly payments with zero interest. Works for me.
Personally, I’ve encountered various problems while in the US, Taipei, Hong Kong, and the UK. I can walk into any HSBC branch (including branches not my own in Taipei) and they have always done whatever it takes to solve my problems. Even though my ‘qualifying deposit’ is in the US, the other branches-especially in Taiwan-make no distinctions I can detect.
I have a daughter now living in London and she is the joint holder of the HSBC account in the US. She has her own HSBC account in London and they grant her Premium status too even though it’s my IRA funds that qualify us. So she gets the Premium treatment too.
If this doesn’t make a bank ‘international’ then I don’t know what does.
Citibank 
how do you get premier status in other countries if the balance doesn’t meet the requirement? they will check if you have account in other countries and if you got premier they just give you permier in another country also?
for premier account do they assign a banker/financial adviser specifically for you? like his number, email, direct line and whatever you need you just contact him/her?
So sounds like HSBC is the best for premier account, what other banks in Taiwan also offer good premier accounts? thanks
They need to be joint holder on the account to get other premier account in other countries huh? any other ways to let your siblings have premier privileges? not sure if I want to let my brother as a joint holder to my account hehe
[quote=“Joschka”][quote=“teggs”][quote=“Joschka”]
If you have US$100,000 in any HSBC anywhere, you can open multiple HSBC accounts and all will be ranked as ‘Premium’ which allows you to transfer or get your money without fees. It’s a great bank![/quote]
In my experience, HSBC is run worse than (or just as badly as) the local banks. The service I got with my credit card was terrible and the offers/deals/points were much worse than those my wife got on her card, even though we used mine more often. HSBC in Taiwan is definitely NOT an international bank![/quote]
Well, I suppose if you consider the quality of a bank to be it’s ‘offers/deals/points’ on credit cards, then I don’t have much to say that would be of use to you. I almost never use credit cards. HSBC here has some kind of thing where various purchases are automatically posted with 12 equal monthly payments with zero interest. Works for me.
Personally, I’ve encountered various problems while in the US, Taipei, Hong Kong, and the UK. I can walk into any HSBC branch (including branches not my own in Taipei) and they have always done whatever it takes to solve my problems. Even though my ‘qualifying deposit’ is in the US, the other branches-especially in Taiwan-make no distinctions I can detect.
I have a daughter now living in London and she is the joint holder of the HSBC account in the US. She has her own HSBC account in London and they grant her Premium status too even though it’s my IRA funds that qualify us. So she gets the Premium treatment too.
If this doesn’t make a bank ‘international’ then I don’t know what does.[/quote]
[quote=“suiken”]how do you get premier status in other countries if the balance doesn’t meet the requirement? they will check if you have account in other countries and if you got premier they just give you permier in another country also?
for premier account do they assign a banker/financial adviser specifically for you? like his number, email, direct line and whatever you need you just contact him/her?
So sounds like HSBC is the best for premier account, what other banks in Taiwan also offer good premier accounts? thanks[/quote]
Do you hell! The Premier account HSBC people are awful. I once had to fax the same document 17 times. Yes, fax. No, I’m not exaggerating.
I’m sure having to fax the same form a few times was annoying and we’ve all had that bad experience before, but fortunately HSBC does have more than one employee so I’d still say that they are the best choice for banking if you qualify for their accounts. No bank is very good to be honest, so it’s really about choosing the best of the whole crappy lot, and HSBC is miles better than Taiwanese banks in terms of service.
My advice is not to ever consider using a financial advisor connected to any bank directly. There’s just no way they will have YOUR best interests in mind when giving advice and putting your money to work.
Yeah, sure, just unfortunately, all the ones assigned to the waiguoren Premier Accounts were painfully crap. They just giggle and fuck up in Chinglish. Painful experience. They kept sending me a credit card with three months’ validity then made me fax my ARC multiple times every time it expired. I got tired of it and stopped dealing with them. Life is too short. It was likely they’d read about banking and customer service, they’d just never seen it action before.
This was a few years ago, though. They can’t still be that irritating.
The best service I got was from a local bank whose name I can’t even remember. No ‘services’, no English, but they did what I asked. No simpering giggles calling me at work to ask me to re-fax my ARC.
yeah good idea, financial adviser they just want commission. thanks for that
So HSBC premier in Taiwan is very shitty huh? you guys don’t like it and closed it? won’t recommend others to open one up?
I haven’t use my costco credit card in a long time, and they never mail me statement or anything. It’s like I don’t exist anymore if I don’t use it. anyways I am going back to the US for awhile can I freeze the card? actually I might not come back for a long time maybe I should cancel the card? what do you guys suggest?
Just my opinion, I guess.
[quote=“suiken”]yeah good idea, financial adviser they just want commission. thanks for that
So HSBC premier in Taiwan is very shitty huh? you guys don’t like it and closed it? won’t recommend others to open one up?
I haven’t use my costco credit card in a long time, and they never mail me statement or anything. It’s like I don’t exist anymore if I don’t use it. anyways I am going back to the US for awhile can I freeze the card? actually I might not come back for a long time maybe I should cancel the card? what do you guys suggest?[/quote]
If you have a Taiwanese friend, you can ask if you can use their address to send the statement, that way if you come back the card is still active. If you cancel it, it will likely be a b**** to sign back up later.
The costco credit card is being cancelled at the end of the year and being replaced with a card called Super Life anyway.