Hello Everyone,
I moved to Taiwan just recently and I need to open a bank account, what bank do you recommend? I would like one that would let me either transfer my money or access my money from the United States with either no fee or as little of a fee as possible.
I was thinking HSBC, but maybe some of you here got a better idea, thanks.
You might want to read some of the existing discussions of banks over in the Business and Money area.
You may find that the bank you choose will not be compatible with the bank that your prospective employer uses (if you are working, that is), so you will need to open an account with their own bank. I think I am up to my 5th bank account at the moment. One thing I look for with a bank is if they issue a visa debit card. Some do, a lot don’t and they do make life a lot easier. To my knowledge, Taishin Bank, HuaNan Bank and Taiwan Co-operative Bank all issue visa debit cards when you open a new account, but you do have to ask for this.
Yes if you plan on working in taiwan then you’ll want to open a bank account with whatever bank your school/work uses. for some reason direct deposit only works using the same bank.
It should be possible to link a paypal account to both your US and Taiwan Banks and transfer money as cheap or cheaper than doing it at the bank. but as far as I know you if you want to transfer NT from your Taiwan account to your US account (USD) there is going to be a fee. But I’ve never seen a straightforward number on the amount. I think 3-4% but I haven’t done it before. I think paypal is 2.5% with free withdrawals to you US bank account after that.
Thanks for your help guys, I will talk to my employer first thing Monday. 
[quote=“Abacus”]for some reason direct deposit only works using the same bank.
[/quote]Employers can transfer funds to other banks but they prefer if you have a bank account with the same bank because it’s easier, faster, and it’s free.
[quote=“RobinTaiwan”][quote=“Abacus”]for some reason direct deposit only works using the same bank.
[/quote]Employers can transfer funds to other banks but they prefer if you have a bank account with the same bank because it’s easier, faster, and it’s free.[/quote]
Perhaps in the corporate world. Buxibans will wax lyrical about how impossible it is.