Hi Everyone,
I’m wondering if anyone knows if I can pay my Canadian VISA Credit Card here in Taiwan?
Up until now, I’ve been sending wire transfers to my bank in Canada, and its getting pretty costly (TW Bank fee = NT$360, and CAD Bank fee = CAD$5).
Any info. or any cheaper ideas would be greatly appreciated!!!
Thanks,
Shawn
A few years ago I decided I should use a US Visa card, as well as my Taiwan one, so I’d have credit if/when I return. At first I simply had the statements sent here and paid them by wire transfer, but that method is no good. Have to pay the wire transfer fees, and by the time the statement arrives here, I make it down to the bank and wire payment, it’s already late, so additional charges have accrued that I need to pay off next month.
But I finally worked out a decent system. I put a few thousand dollars in a checking account in the US and have my Visa, which I got from that bank, paid by auto deduction from that account. I still have the monthly statements sent here, but I don’t have to do anything to make the payments except ensure that I’ve always got a few thousand in the account. An additional bonus of this method is that I also have the US checks, which I use on occassion (not in Taiwan). It works just fine.
I paid mine with Internet banking. Works great, but depends on your situation.
I have a very simple solution which is not available to everyone:
Before I left for Taiwan, I signed a proxy agreement with my mother agreeing that she can conduct all of my financial affairs. She pays my credit card bills for me when they arrive at my permanent address (her house) stateside. Easy as pie.
I pay mine online. The card company deducts the payment from my bank account in the US.
[quote=“superemma”]I have a very simple solution which is not available to everyone:
Before I left for Taiwan, I signed a proxy agreement with my mother agreeing that she can conduct all of my financial affairs. She pays my credit card bills for me when they arrive at my permanent address (her house) stateside. Easy as pie.[/quote]
For you; not for her. I’m tired of burdening my almost 80-year old mom with opening my mail for the past 7 years, inquiring with me about it, and responding or forwarding it as requested, as if she were my secretary. She’s a good sport and would never complain but it doesn’t feel right, so I try to minimize use of mom for such matters as much as possible. In the end, though, there’s no more logical or trustworthy location to list as a US address, so she’ll have to continue such duties indefinitely.
Good ole mom. :flowers:
See, for me the extension isn’t indefinite - I have about two more months that I plan to be in Taiwan, and then I will be visiting mom for a month or two in the summer, during which I will be filling my usual role of all purpose lackey. Mom deserves it, and all the stuff I can do for her will never even equal out to changing one of my poopy diapers long ago. :flowers:
I too pay for my credit card on line, still have to send money to my Canadian bank account though. It’s just the cost of doing business. Only option is to send larger sums of money home so you can do fewer wire tranfers.
Hey everyone, thanks for all the great replies. But alas… I already send wire transfers back and use Internet banking to pay the monthly minimums. I was just hoping that there might be a bank here in TW where I can pay directly at the branch with NT and not have to suffer any extra charges! Has anyone asked around, or has everyone just assumed so far as I have?
Credit cards are bank specific. To my knowledge, you can’t pay a TD Visa bill at the Royal Bank, even though Royal issues Visa cards.
So, unless your card’s issuing bank has a branch in Taiwan, I think you’re out of luck.
Hey,
Just wondering what bank you are with in Canada. I, too, have been wiring money back home to pay my credit cards…but I get charged 310NT (First Bank) and $25!!! (TD Bank) :fume: . TD is only suppose to charge me $10 so Im assuming someone is taking $15 in between…
Who do you bank with in Canada? and Which bank do you use here to wire it? Thanks
Someone is. There’s a “middle” bank somewhere along the way that takes a cut. I had it briefly explained to me when I was sending money back one time. It has to do with the logistics, and possibly the laws, of international money transfers. Essentially, the TW and CA banks need a middleman, he takes a cut, and there’s no way around it. :s
Hey Pokey… well, I use Shanghai Bank to remit to TD Canada Trust, and I get charged like $30 on TD’s side!!! Those jerks! And I used to work there…
Have anyone given Paypal a look? I don’t know if it is possible to transfer NT to your PayPal account and withdraw the money in US/CAD?
Hmm… that sounds interesting… I’ve got to check it out…
I also worked for a bank in Canada.
For me, I actually have my credit card statements mailed to me here in Taiwan now. BUT if you are from Canada you can get many different bills (credit cards, utilities, Canadian bills basically) mailed to you through EPOST. It is through Canada Post and they would just email you a copy of your statement so I didn’t need to pester any family to check my statements.
I do wire money home every month or 2 just to keep money in the bank and when needed I just use my online banking to pay.
I don’t think we will ever get away from paying charges on both ends. The bank here, our bank where the money ends up, and the intermediary bank all get a cut of what essentially ends up being about 30 CAD $ on each end.
So the best plan is work out how much you need and send it in lump sums every 2 or 3 months.
One way to save a bit of the charges is if you have someone on the other end who will pick up money at a Western Union - or actually you can even check out if your credit card company accepts payments via Western Union. Some companies do …
Good Luck to all!
You could try mailing traveler’s cheques to your Canadian bank to pay your credit card bills. Sign your name at the top and bottom and write the bank’s name in the middle. Then write “For deposit only” and your account number on the back of each one and send them to your bank by registered mail, along with a copy of your bill.
But why don’t you just get a Taiwanese credit card? I got a Mastercard from First Bank, and it was simple to apply for it, and it’s a platinum card! Also, it has lots of benefits like free accident insurance if you use your credit card to buy a plane ticket and you get free parking at the international airport for up to one week. (But if you have a credit card from HSBC, you get free parking at the airport for one month! So my wife got a credit card from HSBC, and I’m thinking about getting one too.)