Pay Pal in Taiwan?

Business Money
1

I not long ago lost my Bank of America account due to it sitting idle for six months with about 45 cents in it.

Now I would like to start teaching online, and using Pay Pal for payment. The problem is that I can’t find a bank here that does business with Pay Pal. I tried HSBC but was told to go to Pay Pal to find out about this. A friend used his account in PP to pose this question about HSBC, but got no response.

Does anyone know of a bank with a branch in Taichung that does business with Pay Pal in US currency? Is there an alternative to having online students go through the trouble of remitting to me through a bank?

Thanks!

2

I am not sure, but since you are in Taiwan and your bank account would also be in Taiwan, any payments you receive when you withdraw money from Paypal to your bank account will be automatically converted into NTD. It might just be easier to setup a normal account in Taiwan and link it to your paypal account.

3

I’m not sure what you mean… PayPal is completely separate from any banking institution. You setup an account with them, they transfer funds to your nominated bank account.

4

Pay Pal isn’t separate from a bank when you do business with them; your bank has a contract with them. Most or all American banks do; most or nearly all Taiwan banks perhaps–this is what I’m trying to find out–do not. For example, Taiwan Co-operative Bank does not work with Pay Pal.

5

If you sign up for a Paypal account, you can have your students pay you in US dollars. Ask your bank if you can open a US dollar account with them. I have one through Fubon Bank. You should be able to link your Paypal account to your US dollar account in Taiwan and should also be able to withdrawn Paypal funds in US dollars into your local US dollar account (they do not convert to NT and you cannot link your Paypal acct to your NT dollar acct).

Clear as mud?

I haven’t withdrawn Paypal funds but at least one poster here at Forumosa has. Do a search for all the Paypal discussions and you’ll see how s/he did it.

6

Huh? :saywhat:
What contract? In the US, I thought PayPal just did an electronic debit or credit, as with almost any large vendor.

7

I don’t know where you are getting your info but PayPal sends and receives funds using the standard electronic banking networks in each region. You don’t need a contract with the receiving bank to do this.

In Europe they are now established as a bank so I guess they even route all their own payments through the SWIFT network.

8

I tried to set my Chinatrust account as the receiving account for Paypal and it won’t let me because I don’t have a credit card. Has this changed now - it was a couple of years ago when I last tried?

I can send and receive money in Paypal, but can’t add funds to it, or draw from it through the bank, which makes Paypal pretty much useless.

9

I think Taiwan is just behind the times on electronic transfers. For example, in the US your employer can deposit your pay electronically into any bank. Here it has to be the bank where your employer does business.

10

It doesn’t have to be; they just want to make it easier for themselves and maybe save that NT15 service charge :unamused:

I’ve had payments made to my account by several companies; only one company has required that I open an account at their bank.

11

[quote=“cfimages”]I tried to set my Chinatrust account as the receiving account for Paypal and it won’t let me because I don’t have a credit card. Has this changed now - it was a couple of years ago when I last tried?

I can send and receive money in Paypal, but can’t add funds to it, or draw from it through the bank, which makes Paypal pretty much useless.[/quote]

Is it a US dollar account you are trying to link to Paypal? You can’t use your NT account. I was finally able to get ‘verified’ after adding a credit card last year. I’ve never tried withdrawing money because I often spend it online anyway, or send my husband Paypal funds and have him give me cash. (I don’t know what he does with all that Paypal money; probably spends it on porn :unamused: :unamused: )

12

It’s a NT account. Maybe I need to open an US$ account and try that. Thanks, I’ll look into it.

13

Paypal is an evil corporation and has screwed a lot of people over. I would be hesitant to do business with them. Is there no alternative?

14

I have a PayPal debit card issued to my US PayPal account. I can use it in Taiwan like a credit card or ATM card.
The number is…just kidding. Perhaps you can have one issued to your home address, and they can mail it to you, then whenever you are paid, you can get it immediately.

I’m soon going to link a separate TW PayPal account to a Taiwan bank account, because anytime I use paypal I lose money in the exchange.

15

There is a lot of confusion about how PayPal in Taiwan works. Here is a quick summary:

If you open a Taiwan-based PayPal account, you can withdraw your PayPal funds in either:

  1. NTD to a local Taiwan bank
  2. USD to a U.S. bank
    You can NOT withdraw USD to a local Taiwan bank, even if you have a USD foreign currency account at that bank. The withdrawal currency is based on the country at which the bank is located.

PayPal uses a credit card to verify your identity. If you want to use a credit card issued by a Taiwan bank, you must open a Taiwan-based PayPal account.

US-based PayPal accounts cannot be linked for foreign (i.e. non-US) credit cards. However, U.S.-based PayPal accounts can enroll in their Money Market product and earn interest on their PayPal account balances (not FDIC-insured). Taiwan-based PayPal accounts do not have this option.

16

I should also clarify the actual process of withdrawing money from your PayPal account.

withdrawing to Taiwan bank accounts

  1. Link your bank account to your PayPal account. This is done within the PayPal interface by going to My Account > Profile > Add/Edit Bank Account.
  2. I believe you need the bank’s 3-digit code . This is the same 3-digit code that you use when making ATM transfers. You will also need your bank branch # and your bank account #. This information is easily obtainable from your bank and may already be printed on your passbook.
  3. You will also need to provide the account holder’s ID number. If you are a Taiwan individual, this would be your Taiwan ID number. If it is a company account, this would be the company ID number. If you are a foreigner, this would be your passport # (or whatever ID # you used when you opened up your bank account).
  4. Once your bank is linked to PayPal, you can withdraw the money pretty quickly. Processing usually takes about 3 business days.

withdrawing to U.S. bank accounts

  1. Link your bank account to your PayPal account. This is done within the PayPal interface by going to My Account > Profile > Add/Edit Bank Account.
  2. I believe you need the bank’s 9-digit routing number and your bank account number.
  3. Once your bank is linked to PayPal, you can withdraw the money pretty quickly. Processing takes a couple of business days, longer if there is a bank holiday.
17

This is really useful information! Have you successfully withdrawn Paypal funds into your local NT$ account?? And is this a recent development? I remember trying to do this several years ago and was never able to but thinking back now I probably missed something important.

18

Yes - on a regular basis (my company uses PayPal). We have been doing this for the past 5 years. It’s very convenient and usually takes less than 5 business days, although the drawback is the foreign exchange rates - PayPal adds a 2.5% fee on top of the rates they obtain (this fee is already calculated in their fx rates). So, for example, the USD to TWD rate in PayPal today is 31.560, while my local bank buys at 32.780. That’s 3.7% less right there.

Since we primarily receive funds in USD (but most of our expenditures are in TWD), we’ve found that the best way to save on foreign exchange is to withdraw the USD directly to a US bank account that is linked to our Taiwan account (it is the US branch of our local Taiwan bank). The rates (even with the transfer fees) are more favorable with our bank than with PayPal. I think this is because the bank probably has higher currency trade volume than PayPal, and so can get better rates. However, this is with fairly large sums of money. You really have to calculate both ways to see which one is more favorable for you.

19

It’s for the convenience of your employer and helps them get discounts on other banking services such as loans. And the transfers are free.

20

Blliao, thanks!! I have been wondering how best to get money into my US account, and was confused by all the back-and-forth about using paypal accounts.

[quote=“blliao”]
withdrawing to U.S. bank accounts

  1. Link your bank account to your PayPal account. This is done within the PayPal interface by going to My Account > Profile > Add/Edit Bank Account.
  2. I believe you need the bank’s 9-digit routing number and your bank account number.
  3. Once your bank is linked to PayPal, you can withdraw the money pretty quickly. Processing takes a couple of business days, longer if there is a bank holiday.[/quote]

To be sure I understand - is it correct that I can open a TWD bank account at Standard Chartered here in Taiwan, link it to my paypay account (which I originally opened several years ago in the U.S., and is linked to my BofA account), then deposit money from my TWD account and withdraw into my US bank account? It will be small sums - tops probably $500 USD at a time.

I’m looking for the easiest and cheapest way to get money from here to my BofA account, since I will occasionally need to give money to people in the U.S. and I will also need to be paying back student loans soon.

Thanks for everyone’s help!!