Sinopac Bank Intends to Cancel my Cirrus Overseas function on Debit Card - What do do, advice needed

Business Money
1

Oh joy of joys.

I opened an account at Sinopac the other month and after filling out all the paperwork, the girl checked off the form that my overseas function was disabled. I asked why and she just said I cant give it to you. I complained and she erased that line and checked that it was enabled. They said to come back in a week to pick up my debit card (not VISA debit)

Fast forward to the week after, I came to pick up the card and they said the request must have got misplaced. The girl filled in the forms again and checked off that international use was allowed. I then picked up the card.

Tonight I just got a call from the bank and was told that they had made a horrible mistake. The “foreigner” cannot have overseas access to their money, only in Taiwan. I reiterated that I need the access and that it will be mafan for me to take the money out of their bank, and walk it over to Mega or First Bank, or even the freakin post office where I have international access, each time I go on vacation. She said she was sorry but this is bank regulation and the bank manager said she has to disable my access.

I stood my ground and she kept giggling nervously and saying “i know but its regulation”. I said I will speak to her manager and she told me to come in tomorrow with my card. It seems they want my card so they can encode it as no international access, since she kept reminding me to ensure I bring it, and when am I coming. It appears they cant just fix it on the computer, they need my card too.

Now the branch has been helpful for other things so I dont want to crap all over them, but this really takes the cake. i was quite happy as of late to get my financial things in order here, and then this crap gets pulled on me.

I am not normally one who likes to fight, but I’m not sure of how to deal with this when I go in to the branch. I mean what can I do when they say, tough titty, we are disabling your access now. I live in Kaohsiung so I don’t have the ease of being able to walk into their Taipei office and raise hell.

Any suggestions anyone?

2

place a paper bag full of dog poo on the counter, light it, and then walk away.

then come back in half an hour and say you’ll do the same every day IN AN UNSPECIFIED BRANCH unless they allow you access to that function.

I’ve used that method in the past to great success.

3

[quote=“urodacus”]place a paper bag full of dog poo on the counter, light it, and then walk away.

then come back in half an hour and say you’ll do the same every day IN AN UNSPECIFIED BRANCH unless they allow you access to that function.

I’ve used that method in the past to great success.[/quote]

I think the kindly security guard at the door would nab me before I got the dog poo lit :smiley:

4

Did you get this sorted? I also have a card from Sinopac but I have no idea if mine is setup to allow overseas withdrawals.

5

Sorry for not replying earlier, I didn’t see your post after mine.

No it wasn’t sorted out. I just didn’t bother going back to the bank to argue.

If and when I am ready to go overseas for travel, I will call them and if they have disabled it, I will just transfer the entire balance to another bank at that time and close the account.

6

What made you choose Sinopac Bank?

Why did you not choose a better bank? E.g. Chinatrust / Cathay / First Commercial Bank ?

7

post office bank has visa debit cards that work internationally…

8

Do you just apply for a post office account and they give you a debit card automatically?

9

When you apply for a post office account you have your choice of ATM cards. One is a post office bank card, the other is a visa debit card. For the visa, you need to set two different pin numbers. I put a sticker over the security code on mine so that if I use it at a convenience store, etc., the clerk can’t note the security code and then use my credit card online. The downside is, as I understand it, if someone is able to fraudently use your card, your account can get cleaned out. You may wish to clarify this with someone more knowledgeable than I am.

10

When you apply for a post office account you have your choice of ATM cards. One is a post office bank card, the other is a visa debit card. For the visa, you need to set two different pin numbers. I put a sticker over the security code on mine so that if I use it at a convenience store, etc., the clerk can’t note the security code and then use my credit card online. The downside is, as I understand it, if someone is able to fraudently use your card, your account can get cleaned out. You may wish to clarify this with someone more knowledgeable than I am.