I have heard that the bank charges is very high to do a wire transfer to Taiwan. The charges by the intermediary bank is like a 'black box' where you only know how much they charge after the recipient receive the money. Heard that some got charge as high as >10% of the total amount of money they transfer! Would be grateful if anyone of you who have done it before can share your experience on transfer money to Taiwan. I would like to transfer money from Malaysia to Taiwan but am trying to figure out the most cost effective way to do so. Thanks!
Depends on the bank and the amount of money. Taiwan banks that I have dealt with do not charge a percentage of transaction, usually a flat fee. If it is a percentage, I do not think it is anything more than 0.25%. Yes, that’s less than 1%.
You should be in touch with your bank in Malaysia to make sure they give you the best “deal” (charges) when wiring out (I know the banks in HK charge a cheap flat fee, and not a percentage, for outgoing wires), and then go to a private bank in Taiwan (not a government-controlled bank) and talk to the bank salesladies there in the financial management department. Because you are a foreigner, they will likely expect you to be a bit more “wealthy” than locals, and as such the financial management departments give you better charges (wire charges, currency exchange rates) than a walk-in up to the teller desk.
You can ask them directly their charges and how much you expect to bring in. These banks will want your business if you are staying here longer-term, because they finger you might do a bit more currency transactions than normal Taiwanese, which is a good business for them. Pick a few banks (leading ones are Chinatrust, Taishin, E.Sun, Fubon. Maybe even try HSBC Taipei, because in Hong Kong, HSBC website is very user friendly for currency transactions) and compare prices.
Make sure you ask what kind of exchange rate you can get for changing into NT$, before giving go ahead to exchange. Try to haggle just a bit.
You will have to open up 2 bank accounts: 1) an NT$ only bank account and 2) a foreign currency bank account (which can hold all kinds of different currencies at the same time.
To get the NT$ from that money in Malaysia, you first bring it into your foreign currency account and then get the favorable rate to exchange into NT$.
I sent money from US to Taiwan, so my experience may not be universal. What I did was, I got a hold of the phone number of the bank in Taiwan that my relative has an account. I called the bank and asked for options. I found out that the cheapest way for me is to send my relative in Taiwan a US personal check. My relative deposit this check in his local branch in Taiwan. The bank charges him 1100 NTD. Wire transfer would cost me more in total fees. The downside of depositing a personal check in the bank in Taiwan, is that the bank holds the money for 3 weeks.
From the UK it is expensive. My bank charge GBP25 to make the transfer from their end to the intermediary bank. On one occasion they took a further GBP20 that had supposedly been levied by the receiving bank (in Taiwan). I asked them (the Taiwan bank) about the extra fee and they told me they make no such charge. My bank stalled for months when I queried it until I eventually gave up, but I’m sure the second charge was fraudulent. If you do go ahead, I suggest checking with your Taiwan bank first to ask if they have a receiving charge (Bank of Taiwan definitely does not) and inform your own bank what you have been told, just to avoid any similar scenario. Since their big “oops” in 2008, banks are looking for any opportunity to scrape in a few extra $.
Transferring from Taiwan is cheaper (about NT$500 IIRC), at least for modest amounts.
If you’re only talking about a couple of thousand US$, just use an ATM.
Thanks for the sharing :thumbsup: As per finley's experience, that's exactly what I'm worry about. We're clear about the fees charged by sending bank, we're also clear about how much the receiving bank charge (in my case they told me that they do not charge). But the problem is the intermediary bank(s) charges which is unknown. The sending bank nor receiving bank is able to tell us how much these intermediary bank(s) charge. As per I understand, the money goes thru more than one intermediary bank before reaching the receiving bank and they take some fees in the process. One of my experience in the past (sending money to Canada), the sending bank do mentioned to me that my money will go thru intermediary bank and the only way to know how much they charge is by seeing final amount the recipient received - which will be too late if we found they charge too high.
I have been warned by Taiwan friend that few occasion where the total bank charges is about 7% of the amount transfer to Taiwan bank. If the amount transferred is few hundred thousand NTD, imagine how much the bank going to charge! I also ask one of the Citibank branch in Taiwan. To send money from Citibank Malaysia to Citibank Taiwan, it will first go to Citibank New York first before goes to Citibank Taiwan. For my case, I need to transfer a moderate amount of money to Taiwan local bank which can't be done thru ATM :frowning: Imagine that Citibank to Citibank also need to go thru Citibank New York, so if local bank in Malaysia to local bank in Taiwan, may need to go thru more intermediary bank(s). :ponder:
I have heard that the bank charges is very high to do a wire transfer to Taiwan. The charges by the intermediary bank is like a 'black box' where you only know how much they charge after the recipient receive the money. Heard that some got charge as high as >10% of the total amount of money they transfer! Would be grateful if anyone of you who have done it before can share your experience on transfer money to Taiwan. I would like to transfer money from Malaysia to Taiwan but am trying to figure out the most cost effective way to do so. Thanks![/quote]
Standard bacnk charge is usually NT$400 for an incoming transfer or about US$12. I dont know who told you its up to 10% thats just rubbish.
I think the intermediate bank charges a flat fee , could be around 20-30 USD. One of citibanks main cash cows is interbank clearance. It’s funny if they use that in their own international transactions!
I have an overseas HSBC account, they charge a flat fee but they also charge another fee for wiring money specifically to Taiwan. Then the intermediate bank and the host bank may also apply a fee and you cannot be sure about the exchange rate. So check the small print.
I’m thinking of opening an account (two actually, foreign and local currency) with the Bank Of Taiwan because their transfer charges are acceptable low (400NT$) … at least for outgoing transfers, I didn’t query for incoming.
You’re right. Just done my transfer thru HSBC and it’s a flat fees. I believes the person who told me that it charges >10% is not because the bank charges. It’s due to bad conversion rate for some banks. I found that some local banks give really bad conversion rate. If I choose those bank to perform my transfer, I could lose up >10% for my amount transferred!
I guess this example would work by writing a check to oneself from own account in the US (or other country) and deposit in own local account (if have a local account).
What is the best way to either one time or reguarly transfer money to Taiwan or to a Taiwan bank account?
Depends on your account status with HSBC HK. I used to get charged HK$100 for a TT to Taiwan now I dont get charged anything. You can confirm the exchange rate you will get with any bank here. PS who says you should transfer to HSBC here? Try another bank. Taiwan cooperative charges me NT$300 for an incoming TT
For me its online banking with one of my overseas accounts to my local bank. I do not need to go to local bank with chop for my personal account they call me and tell me funds have been received and deposited to my account.
Yes online accoumt transfer can be very quick, often completed within a few hours. It’s best to
Lock down your account and specify only one or two accounts as being allowed to accept transfers out, cuts down on risk of hacking, but they give you little number generating security devices too which also helps.
I think the cheapest and fastest way to move money from the US, and perhaps other countries is to have an account with Citibank in the country the money is coming from and open an account here with Citibank. It’s NT200 flat fee per check and takes a week or so. The problem maybe you don’t have an account with Citibank in US and can’t open one now remotely. Maybe ask a family member to open it for you and mail the bank card and check later. I got the info from talking with Citibank persons and their checking account contract.
I’ve only ever done a wire transfer here once, out of Taiwan to the US. There were fees from the originating bank, the receiving credit union and an intermediary bank, adding up to about US$40.
I just went back to my bank transaction history and fund out that using Changhua bank’s ATM to withdraw cash with my ATM card issue by an US bank is the cheaper than China Trust’s. I think China Trust charge you NT100 per withdrawal, and $5 by my US bank. I just found out Citibank can move money from one country to another if you have accounts with it in that two countries, without a fee. IT’s called Global transfer or something, I’ll post again when I have more.
American Express Bank (American Express Federal Savings Bank) in the U.S. permits free transfer of money from and to up to 3 (I think) designated accounts (domestically and internationally) so long as all accounts ar ein your name. I do not think there is a minimum balance requirement no any other cratively labeled fees. I have checked their website and called the bank and have not seen anything like hidden fees etc. Looks pretty good - but I have not tested it yet.
Ok, so after a year back to Taiwan from the US, finally I figured out the cheapest and quickest way to transfer fund from the US. You need to open an account with citibank in the US and another citibank account here in Taiwan. Then, it’s easy to move fund online from one citiback to another citibank, and fast, within the same day or the next business day, depending the time you do your transfer. The exchange rate in citi bank is as good as can get. I have my mom deposit my paycheck back in the States (I work for a US company remotely) and move it to my citibank here in Taiwan and then, it’s your money to spend. The transfer itself is free, and if you use citi’s bank ATM, it’s free as well. On a non-citi ATM, it’s just a few Taiwan dollars per withdrawal.
:discodance:
[quote=“mei0319”]Ok, so after a year back to Taiwan from the US, finally I figured out the cheapest and quickest way to transfer fund from the US. You need to open an account with citibank in the US and another citibank account here in Taiwan. Then, it’s easy to move fund online from one citiback to another citibank, and fast, within the same day or the next business day, depending the time you do your transfer. The exchange rate in citi bank is as good as can get. I have my mom deposit my paycheck back in the States (I work for a US company remotely) and move it to my citibank here in Taiwan and then, it’s your money to spend. The transfer itself is free, and if you use citi’s bank ATM, it’s free as well. On a non-citi ATM, it’s just a few Taiwan dollars per withdrawal.
:discodance:[/quote]
Are you sure about the “free” part? Aside from HSBC’s program for people with very high account balances, I’ve never heard of any bank offering free international transfers, even if the name of the bank is the same in both countries. Is the Citibank program also for those with high account balances?