Postal savings accounts

I’ve had a postal savings account for years now (since about 1993, I think) and it certainly didn’t “disappear” even when I left the island and had no visa status whatsoever for almost 2 years during that period…

Now a friend of mine is being told that he needs not only a student ID and proof of enrollment from the school (a Chinese language school) but also a letter from the police in order to open a postal savings account.

When he argued strenuously (after having provided the proof of enrollment) when they then asked for a letter from the police, they finally opened an account for him, but refused to use the chop he furnished and also refused to give him an ATM card. They are saying that he must personally come to the same post office branch to withdraw money if he wants to do so.

This smells vaguely discriminatory to me…does anybody have any particulars on the requirements for this kind of account? If you can have an account, seems you ought to be entitled to an ATM card to access your own money, right? Anyway the reason most people like postal accounts is that the ATMs exist all over the island, in places where your bank might not have branches – why restrict him to only one post office for all his transactions?

I’d like to have a “chat” with the manager of this particular post office, but I’d like to go in armed with the correct documents or regulations (Chinese or English). Anybody have similar experineces? And have the requirements been changed in the past few years to add these restrictions? Seems to be things should be going the other way (i.e., increasing liberalization) instead. At the very least, it’s not what their own web site says in English (you don’t even need a residence in Taiwan, let alone to prove student status or anything else…)

prsb.gov.tw/eng/servius/postal.htm

They are saying that he must personally come to the same post office branch to withdraw money if he wants to do so.

No way. He can get money from anywhere with his book or card. But to get a new card if he loses it , maybe he has to go to original PO.

Do they truely understand his questions?