You say Taipei is China?? CTBC (China Trust) is based in China if you say Taipei is in China. It’s a Taipei based bank. HSBC is HQ’d in London like Standard Chartered, but both have large Hong Kong operationa.
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@frank_hnd I meant that 5% would be an optimistic goal. I’m pretty new to Taiwan so not sure about how foreigners go about investing here. Would really appreciate more information about dealing with ETFs here and which banks support investing in US based stocks/ETFs.
I’m supposed to deposit 15k monthly? I didn’t know that, and they didn’t mention anything during account opening except for the 1k initial deposit.
Do you know what happens if I don’t - is there are fee, or do I just not get free transactions at other ATMs?
You just don’t get free transactions at random ATMs.
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Yeah, I’ve been using it for around a month to make a few online payments and check my balance, without experiencing the issues you describe. My app is in English (not perfect English of course, but understandable). I believe they might have more than one version of the app (not sure why) - the one I’m using is called “中國信託行動銀行 Home Bank”, from the Google Play store.
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Oh ok, that’s good to know. Thanks!
Damn lady from CTBC downloaded the one I am using and doesn’t have a single word of English, thanks for letting me know there are 2 apps…
Civil servants used to get 18% per annum interest on their savings. I think it’s been cut to 7%.
Yeah, I remember in the branch that they had a contagious-looking laminated sheet with the QR codes for at least two apps. I’d already downloaded the one mentioned above, but I think you need to activate it in the branch, so might mean a fun little trip for you. 
The app isn’t perfect and I’m not sure whether it’s suitable for stocks and stuff, but I was pleasantly surprised by how it works for the limited stuff I do.
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you can ask your bank to open a stock trading account, and purchase ETFs or mutual funds. however for foreigners it is a pain in the butt due to residency status, taxation and money laundering regulations, you need to fill a lot of forms and many banks will try to avoid providing this service to you since they don’t want to complicate their own lives too much.
many on this forum either invest in their home country (e.g. if you are from the UK, through a UK bank) or open a brokerage account with an online broer like interactive brokers and buy ETFs through them.
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Unfortunately sometimes you are stuck with a particular bank.
Your employer may require you to open accounts at banks you don’t normally deal with. This is common in Taiwan.
If you do anything with paypal, especially receiving money, you must open an account at E Sun Bank.
But most banks in Taiwan, including the post office, offer debit cards. English interface is not a given however. All of them will offer NTD/USD accounts.
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I opened local stock trading at Megabank , not too difficult if have ARC.
Opening a US and HK trading account was a pain , eventually I got it done in Firstbank but be warned, they charge 25 USD per US stock trade- so 50 bucks for any individual stock ultimately (by the way they never once told me that it will be minimum 25 USD a trade while you may use an app a broker still seems to overview the process somehow )!
I have posted about the whole experience, also loans.
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I set my cards to auto deduction from the account I choose, that way you don’t need to run anywhere to pay it
I asked around a few years ago and most banks will say it’s not available to foreigners. Only Taishin and Fubon said it was possible.
I know its available also in first bank and e sun bank, both of them agreed to open a stock investment account for me.
first bank was a little struggle to insist, e.sun was smooth.
the one obstacle I havent been able to overcome was having a joint account with my wife.
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I’ve heard ancedotally the ‘Americanized’ banks are the only ones that will do that like Citibank and Standard Chartered but I haven’t needed to test it out for myself. Seems local banks don’t seem to have the concept of a joint account. Usually the wife holds the purse strings in Taiwan generally.
I have the most basic account ( no arc) at CHB and i have twd and usd divided.
I went to 30 banks as a non arc holder and American only only CHB gave me an Account.
I have Not asked about investing or interest , i think im limited as a technical tourist
You don’t need an ARC to open an account, that is a bunch of BS. What you need is an ID number that can be requested without having ARC.
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That’s true but starting about 3 or 4 years ago banks started to refuse to accept that paper whereby years ago they all accepted it. So newbies find that many banks turn them away demanding an ARC.
To those people I recommend going to a branch near a university where foreign residents attend as they tend to know the procedures better and are familiar with that paper (record of ID in the ROC)
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The post office bank accepts that paper without issues, most foreign students (especially scholarship students) open their banks account there before having ARC.
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