I need a bank statement to prove my name and residence in Taiwan.
I went to my bank yesterday(Taiwan Cooperative) to get a printed bank statement. They wouldn’t give me one.
First, I went to the information desk and asked for a “bank statement”. In Chinese it’s called a 銀行對賬單/銀行報告/銀行結單. The lady there was just completely unhelpful. She said that banks don’t do that and that there was no such thing as a bank statement in Taiwan. I said, you know those statements that banks send out to their customers every month, I just need a print out of that. Again she protested that there’s no such thing. I explained that all I needed was ANY type of printed document which shows my name, address, and account number, that’s it. She again repeated that Taiwanese banks can’t/won’t do that. She further stated that in her 30 years of banking, no one has ever made such a request before. She was absolutely incredulous.
This was going nowhere and I still had other business to handle with the bank teller so I left the area. And when I left ,the lady immediately did the typically Taiwanese thing where they complain, rant, and rave to their colleagues. She basically repeated everything and again said in her 30 years working in the banking industry, she has never heard of such a thing.
After I had handled everything with the bank teller, I again attempted to get some sort of print out. The guy working the counter was just as dumb and incredulous as the lady. He was also dumbfounded by my request. He said that he can’t print anything for me. I again said that all I needed was anything which displayed my name, address, and account number. He said no, there is nothing he can do for me. He went on to say that if I wanted all this info, I should just access my account online and print it out myself, sigh. You just can’t counter that type of logic.
I really don’t think that banks here understand the concept of someone needing printed documents to prove a name and residence. No doubt things are done much differently here, but I refuse to believe that banks here have no idea of what a bank statement is. All I need is a printed document which displays my name, address, and account number. I don’t think that’s too much to expect from a bank.
Can anyone shed some light on this? Do banks here really not know what a bank statement is?
You’d better change your bank. The document does exist, although it’s usually just (like you said) a statement of your balance, name and address, rather than a record of transactions. I’ve seen various Taiwanese people get them, usually for visa purposes or buying property. I’ll try to find out what it’s called and PM later, if your bank staff are too dumb to figure it out.
I get a mailed monthly statement from HSBC showing all debits and credits during that statement period.It also shows my name and address and I can print it from online.
Changing banks sounds like good advice. The Direct Account has no counter service except in an emergency or a problem with the account. I don’t find that inconvenient as I don’t like to wait for counter service anyway.
But your dealings with the bank do remind how many Taiwanese banks don’t bother to give you a pin to use outside of Taiwan. It took me two years to find out that I needed a special pin and had to ask for it.
So I asked around and apparently it’s true, there’s no such thing as a bank statement in Taiwan.
There is only what you mentioned, which is also known as 財產證明 or 存款證明. I went to a different bank today(Megabank) and asked for one. It’s a pretty serious affair, you have to fill out a document and also state a reason as to why you want it, and it costs 50nt.
To my surprise, the document doesn’t even have your address on it! WTF?! You have got to be kidding me. It’s got my name, my account number, and my balance but no address. So basically in Taiwan, banks cannot print for you ANY document with your name, address, and account number. Sigh this is just too sick, oh Taiwan what am I to do with you.
It is a paranoia thing, not necessarily a ‘whack’ Taiwan thing. The Taiwanese are bred and raised in a bizarro world where everything is dangerous except for a handful of things which, by a cruel shade of irony, are extremely dangerous (i.e. helmet-less scooter riding, helmet-less scooter riding for children, crossing streets without looking, eating fried food, chewing betel nuts and smoking for every meal, anything and everything related to fireworks) So when it comes to money and banking, any transaction outside of the ordinary is immediately suspect and considered to be the scary workings of a scam artist. Most often in this situation the little Taiwanese robots are programmed to fail-safe and close down all communication ports entering or leaving their brains. Shaking of heads, condescending stares and/or exacerbation will likely have no effect on said robot(s).
Where did you find those terms? How about 銀行證明 or 銀行證明 or 存款證明 or 帳戶餘額證明書 or 證書的帳戶餘額 or 賬戶餘額證明聲明 or …?
There are so many terms… How are we to know what fits the mental slots of the bank staff? It sounds like you have to play word lottery with those people…
(maybe i’ll try this one on my bank one day: 勘定残高証明書 - hint: it’s Japanese )
Where did you find those terms? How about 銀行證明 or 銀行證明 or 存款證明 or 帳戶餘額證明書 or 證書的帳戶餘額 or 賬戶餘額證明聲明 or …?
There are so many terms… How are we to know what fits the mental slots of the bank staff? It sounds like you have to play word lottery with those people…
(maybe I’ll try this one on my bank one day: 勘定残高証明書 - hint: it’s Japanese )[/quote]
對賬單 is indeed the correct term for a statement of account. It can be used in general business, for example a supplier’s monthly statement to their customer.
月結單 is specifically used for an end of month statement and is closer to what the OP was asking for. However many local banks don’t offer these.
帳戶餘額證明書, 證書的帳戶餘額 and 賬戶餘額證明聲明 are not gramatically correct.
存摺餘額證明書 would probably be understood best by a local bank - it means a passbook savings certificate.
Not necessarily possible. Recently I wanted to open a stockbroking account with the same UK bank I have used since I was 14. Despite many people in the bank knowing me personally for over 10 years they will not let me open that account without a signed and stamped ID verification from another bank. I got a Taiwanese lawyer to authenticate and notarize my ID for $4000 but they would not accept that. The problem is that not a single bank in the world is willing to do this because it’s outside their remit and potentially creates serious legal issues. Out of curiosity I called my bank asking if they would authenticate my ID and they firmly said no. What a fucking joke.
I’m not surprised - the first two are imagined (the second one ended up “backwards” by the way: it is supposed to read 帳戶餘額的證書) - so what is needed to make those items grammatically correct?
And the third item is actually two items presented in compact form - somehow the needed slash did not get in there where i had meant to put it: 賬戶餘額證明/聲明 - indicating 賬戶餘額證明 (known in China or Hong Kong?) or 賬戶餘額聲明 (for the printed out document i should actually add one more character: 賬戶餘額證明書 or 賬戶餘額聲明書) - does any of this make any sense at all?
So I asked around and apparently it’s true, there’s no such thing as a bank statement in Taiwan.
There is only what you mentioned, which is also known as 財產證明 or 存款證明. I went to a different bank today(Megabank) and asked for one. It’s a pretty serious affair, you have to fill out a document and also state a reason as to why you want it, and it costs 50nt.
To my surprise, the document doesn’t even have your address on it! WTF?! You have got to be kidding me. It’s got my name, my account number, and my balance but no address. So basically in Taiwan, banks cannot print for you ANY document with your name, address, and account number. Sigh this is just too sick, oh Taiwan what am I to do with you.[/quote]
So there is NO way we can get a statement with our name and address at ANY bank in Taiwan?
It depends on the bank, Citibank send me one in the mail every month. Chinatrust send one every quarter when I banked with them. Taishin don’t send a statement but they have been happy to give me a proof of savings on deposit and stamped transaction lists. It’s just not standardized like it is with western banks, a lot of people don’t like receiving paper statements because they’re worried about fraud or family members knowing their business. The passbook is still king in Taiwan.
How about 銀行證明 or 銀行證明 or 存款證明 or 帳戶餘額證明書 or 證書的帳戶餘額 or 賬戶餘額證明聲明 or …?
How are we to know what fits the mental slots of the bank staff? It sounds like you have to play word lottery with those people…
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