I transferred $4000 usd to Chunghwa Post office according to their instructions and it’s been 5 business day and they still haven’t received. The bank I transferred from didn’t receive a rejected transfer so I assumed Chunghwa matched my name and account and receive it. I ask them and they just say I need to ask my bank, which is kind of bullshit considering once it’s transferred it’s not their problem. What can/ should I do? Considering it’s Swift and everything is correct, I wouldnt think they just lost my money…
5 business days is too short a period to get worried
They said 5 days. 5 days for a single transfer in my opinion is very generous to be honest. It shouldn’t take that long… at least where I am from it would be done in 2 days max.
That’s because Chunghwa Post is only in Taiwan. Has to go through multiple channels to get to it, I’m guessing.
My overseas bank transfers take overnight, because both banks (the one in Taiwan and the one in my home country) have overseas branches.
1 Like
Your are dealing.with governmen run.services, 5 days isnt slow yet. Mine.usually takes 4 to 7 days to a bank from usa
Mine is also overnight and it goes through one intermediary.
Next time do it through an actual commercial bank like taishin, china trust, cathay, e sun, etc.
1 Like
If you have a ‘normal’ bank account, it takes 2-4 working days. No idea why. It just does. But if the transfer hasn’t been rejected and you’re sure you got the account details correct, you probably don’t have anything to worry about even at 5 days.
Taiwan, I’m afraid, is not where you are from. Banking generally is backward as hell - I suspect partly because of the hoops Taiwan has to jump through to engage with other countries, but it’s partly feudal-era protectionism.
If you do this regularly I suggest getting an account at Bank Of Taiwan. They seem to be the intermediary that all other Taiwan banks rely on.
1 Like
Maybe you need to contact the 中間銀行 Intermediary Bank ?
Also last Friday was bank holiday in Taiwan ,so maybe you can check again within this week?
From Post office website :
受款人何時可收到款項？
受款人收到匯款時間須視中間銀行處理時間而定，本公司收到匯款電文後核對資料正確無誤，未達新臺幣50萬元之匯款，將電話聯繫受款人並查證後即解款入帳；若結匯資料不全(如英文拼字或帳號不符)，須透過匯款人，請匯款銀行發更正電文，待資料正確後，始得入帳。另結匯資料正確，但超過新臺幣50萬元(含)以上之匯款，將以電話及書面「匯入匯款通知單」通知受款人至任一國際匯兌業務經辦郵局臨櫃辦理結匯申報手續後始得入帳。
https://www.post.gov.tw/post/internet/Download/index.jsp?ID=1494288131909
A point to remember in case it applies to you: unless you have a legal Chinese name here, your bank is probably referring to you officially as lastname_firstname. Make sure it’s in this order in the wire transfer.
I had my first wire transfer rejected due to such a stupid reason ( even though the bank employee said that name order doesn’t matter)
1 Like
And also make sure the address specified in the SWIFT transfer matches your address in Taiwan. If not, some banks won’t release the money immediately and you’ll need to fill out a different form.
Regarding duration of the SWIFT transfer: In my case it usually the money took about 3 hours to arrive in Taiwan from Europe (using Transferwise - if sent during bank hours) and then 1-2 days until the bank released the money.
However, I wouldn’t worry if the money takes longer - I feel like the 3 hours are exceptionally fast when it comes to SWIFT transfers.
Our companys weekly transfer was sent today. Ill het you it arrives next wednesday 
Deapite long waits, in some ways i am glad taiwan keeps it old school. We dont get phucked like iceland for example because the government keeps a tight grip on cobtrol. Probably why dgb, citibank and such end up screwing their customers here and bail. But that should make you feel good.
Customer service from government affiliated banks however need to get taken out the back alley for a lesson or 2. Thats for sure.
Government banks don’t need to rush. Old people will wait hours to be served thinking they are more ‘secure’ than private banks despite the government insurance backing all banks and government workers get paid the same whether they help 10 customers all day or 100 so why rush. Heaven forbid you ask them to do something unusual for you… head explodes
SWIFT US$ transfers clear through its New York partner bank, which means that when you send money from your bank, the clearance will hop through some intermediary banks to New York, where the Recipient Bank (eg., Chunghwa Postal Bank) has an account, and then your Recipient Bank will push the money to your Recipient’s account.
If your bank doesn’t have an account in the SWIFT partner bank in New York, then it has an account in a bigger bank that does. At the SWIFT partner bank in New York, the instructions that began in your local bank are used to transfer US dollars to the Recipient bank’s account in the SWIFT New York partner bank
This all typically takes 3 to 5 days - someone posted 4 to 7 days and that’s a fair estimate, too
Here is how SWIFT works, it’s history, and recent troubles…
When you use Bank Transfer to send via TransferWise, that website acts as a facilitator, enabling LOCAL transfers that do not have to clear through New York. This is why it is faster and cheaper. You just have to trust TransferWise – and most of us do. Very much (it’s awesome!)
This explainer video does a good job - jump to the 5 min mark to get to the part about using your bank to send thru TransferWise
I do NOT yet know how to send via TransferWise to Taiwan (except via their Debit Card, which you need to request separately after you set up a TransferWise account). I’ve been having money sent to my HSBC account in HK and then I send it for free to my HSBC Taiwan account using their internal “global banking” transfer system
1 Like
Weird it’s called SWIFT but it’s anything but swift.
1 Like
It’s junk 30’yr old technology peddled by bank monopolists who think they know better. Give the backend infrastructure to companies like PayPal and we’d have worldwide transfer within seconds.
But nooooooo. Some old bearded guy sitting in NYC will have issues over technology.
1 Like
PP is crap, for other reasons. 
You may also be expected to answer a phone call from some terribly worried AMLO clerk desperate to confirm that you personally know the sender and are aware that there’s an attempt to put the tiny amount of money in your account (speaking from experience with a “normal” bank).
3 Likes
A few years ago I transferred 10nt from my main account to a seldom used account I had , the intention was to keep it active and prevent dormancy.
This generated a call from AML to ask why I made such a small transfer. I told them why and the woman said it was because scammers often send a small amount to test the account is working.
I mentioned this story to an acquaintance who is manager at a bank who said that routinely large transfers came in from big clients and it was implied nudge nudge wink wink to never ask these whales where the money came from or risk losing the client
That’s when I realized the hassling of me over 10nt was just window dressing to show federal agencies they are trying. See how much we follow up on those dirty foreigners. After the woman called me a week later an invasive letter came wanting to know all my personal details
I can’t speak for all the banks but it was the case at acquaintances bank and hearing that shocked but didn’t surprise me.
1 Like
Ofcourse. All over the world, the rich never have a problem with the following:
- Money transfer
- Border control, IDs
- Buying real estate
Only the poor do. All the talk about money laundering and preventing terror financing is so stupid, it’s laughable at this stage. As have been proven a number of times in the past the maximum money laundering happens thru the biggest banks, using standard channels. And they get away with it every time by paying fines.
Nice article here:
https://qrius.com/6-of-all-our-swift-transactions-may-fail-during-money-transfers/
2 Likes