Hello lovely people,
I’ve got a Taiwanese credit card with citibank, and I’m looking to apply for a new one. Been in Taiwan for 12 years, have savings, APRC and residence here.
Has anyone had good experiences with any bank on that front. Looking for low transaction fees when withdrawing overseas and an english website to make online payments or just check the balance. I’ve heard China Trust maybe the easier one to apply at.
Thanks in advance,
Mr. B
Debit cards tend to have lower transaction fees than credit cards for international withdrawals.
Hiya rooftopclown,
Yeah, good point. I guess that’s more of a bonus feature for me if I can find a card with it.
Cathay tends to accept foreigners especially if you have a Costco membership.
In the past I have heard Standard Chartered and ChinaTrust to be good, and Union Bank used to be and still has been good to me but a few posts from someone here where he said they cancelled him recently for being foreign so maybe that has changed? E. Sun is another but they require you to have an account with them too.
Again this data is from years ago and might have changed, try those places and give it a whirl, but don’t apply to more than 3 or 4 in a 3 month period or they think you are credit shopping and will decline you outright.
China trust has a decent online platform for savings account, but for foreigners it does not provide you with access to check your credit card balance etc if I recall.
I’d go for Cathay as @dan2006 mentioned - never had any issues with them.
You’re allowed to mention me 
Bloody Union Bank! 
HSBC is super easy to get a credit card from, it probably won’t take you more than 15 minutes to do the account opening + the credit card application. The staff at the HSBC branch next to far eastern plaza in Taipei speak good English as well.
HSBC internet bank has the credit card balance as well, and its in English.
Are you sure that you are looking for a credit card? One simply does not withdraw money from a credit account. Any VISA/MasterCard debit card will work anywhere in the world if all you want to do is withdraw money from an ATM.
I didn’t remember who said what.
My memory is sufficiently shitty so that I remember things but not who said what. Don’t get me started on facial recognition. 
Hi all, thanks for the recommendations. I’m probably going to apply with HSBC as it’s more international for when I travel. Thanks a bunch.
To those who applied in HSBC here in taiwan, do they have english forms and english documents where you can read the card’s features?
More of a thematic question here: when it comes to credit cards, is Taiwan a lot like other developing countries, where you are treated as if they are doing you a favor by giving you this card, with that general premise also being reflected in lack of options and benefits?
Contrasted to say for example America, where you will get 5 to 10 preapproved credit cards in the mail before you are done college, And they all seem to be competing on who can give you the most cash back and perks.
They have cashback and airline points cards here, but with none of the bonus offers that the American cards get like $300-500 in point signups. They actively solicit cards at malls so they actively want customers. The difference is the American banks don’t verify income, but Taiwanese banks want 3 to 6 months of salary statements which they MANUALLY review… yes that’s right, its not done by an algorithm automatically. They still use paper forms.
Congrats! Seriously, congratulations. I’ve been in Taiwan for 18 years, PhD, university assistant professor, over 3 million tax paid total, married to a Taiwanese woman for 8 years, APRC for 10 years, and I still need a guarantor like a part-timing teenager.
This is not accurate, at least not at hsbc.
I applied at hsbc a few months ago and got approved without showing any income proof.
Documents required were arc, passport + they wanted me to deposit the the minimum account balance prior to processing the card application.
All in all it was super easy, not what I would have expected reading all the complaints here.
Only complaint is that the approved credit limit is very low so I need to payoff the card weekly for it to not max out.
I guess I can get the limit raised after a few months
So this is a welcome change.
I got my HSBC card 5 years ago. They first demanded a guarantor and said that unless you have HSBC premier status, all cards for foreigners needed a guarantor.
I contacted China airlines their partner to object since I collect their points and fly with them regularly and asked if they tolerated their partner company refusing to allow their customer to apply like anyone else.
They made an exception where I had to deposit 1M NT into the account for 3 months locked in and they would approved the card guarantor free. After 3 months I took the money back. I’ve had no issues with them since, good service and friendly, I would recommend them.
Sounds like they have dispensed with all that bull for foreigners now. Good.
Only thing I wonder is, does your pay go in that account? And/or have premier status? No bank I’ve ever applied at skips the income verification part. Unless perhaps you have a few mil in that account or have premier status.
In addition…Their website still says a ‘sponsor’ is needed. As with anything in Taiwan, it depends on what mood the person is in when your app crosses their desk.
For foreigners:
Starting late 2019 HSBC has a mastercard debit card that works like a global ATM in 12 currencies with no fees.
No, I do not have premier I went with their advanced status(requires 700k balance) as the card I wanted required it.
About income, no it’s not deposited at hsbc. I’m self employed so it’s kind of random the funds I receive, besides most of the funds are deposited at my company account at taishing.
It’s possible I gave them a copy of my company bank book, but I doubt it.
If you deposit an amount into your credit card account then you gain more credit.
For example your credit limit is usd3000/month and you transfer usd2000 into your account then your credit limit is elevated to usd5000.
So that’s kinda similar to what I had to do then although they wanted 1M 5 years ago for 3 months.
They want to see the money, honey before they will issue a card. But at least the procedure seems more simple now.