So anyway, early next year me and my Taiwanese wife are on our way back to Taiwan from Scotland (having lived with her in Taiwan for a couple of years up until 2010). I’m a writer, and I get paid by my publisher in UK£ into a UK account. Back when I was last living here, I just did my banking through my non-international UK bank, with all the difficulties and hassles that could sometimes throw up. Now I’m looking on coming back for a good while - by which I mean ‘years’ - and I’m thinking about transferring my account to someone international who offers ‘basic’ accounts, by which I mean hopefully doesn’t require the regular deposit of £XXX per month (not the way writers get paid), and doesn’t charge an arm or a leg or, preferably, anything at all. Something basic with a debit card and a branch in Taipei I can visit (if necessary, with my wife in tow to help with the translation) for me to withdraw from, and my publisher to deposit funds into. I’m not particularly interested in overdraft facilities or anything like that.
I was about to check out HSBC, which seemed the most obvious choice, but then I wondered if someone on Forumosa might have dealt with similar circumstances - living in Taiwan, freelance work based in UK, international account - and had other ideas through experience. Anyone?
My experience is that there is really no such thing as an “international account”. The offshore accounts you’re referring to are a complete waste of time and money. I also tried HSBC, but they don’t co-operate in any meaningful sense with the Taiwan-side HSBC. For all practical purposes, they’re separate entities.
Frankly, your best bet is to open a Taiwanese bank account here, open a joint account over there (or assign power of attorney to someone you trust) and have money wired over periodically by a helpful family member.
The good thing with HSBC is that if you have the premier service $3000000 nt dollars in Taiwan, or whatever the basic minimum is in the UK, you get instant transfers between the UK account and the Taiwan one at no fee and can see the balances on both immediately. I have not used this service but I have heard others say that their conversion fee for currency is higher than local banks so be sure to check that out.
The lower account is called the advance account but the problem is you need a minimum amount of funds in both countries to qualify for advance in both countries. There is also immediate access to transferring funds to the UK but you pay a small fee. HSBC does not do a basic account anymore for no fee, they got rid of that, and besides the basic account cost more in fees transferring things in and out than just transferring from a local bank to the overseas bank.
I personally think you would be best to keep your account in the UK, and wire money in to the local bank as need be.
The only other international banks are Standard Chartered and ANZ, but it looks like they do not operate in the UK, Citibank offers UK and Taiwan service, and advertises transaction fee free international transfers, so you could check with them.
HSBC Premier or Advance is probably the best, however they are not good in Taiwan as implied before. I have an HSBC Account in the UK and opened a Taichung Bank account here. Easy to transfer funds but there is a small charge. Strictly speaking you may find it hard to retain a UK Bank Account if you notify them that you are not a resident of the UK, so best to not mention it IMO,in case. Just a Bank rule in some cases.Of course some have “ex-pat” accounts.
Study the rules before notifying them
I looked into these, but all things considered, they’re a bit of a scam. If you maintain that sort of balance, it’s more effective to keep most of your cash in an interest-bearing account and just pay the standard fees for transfers. Unless you’re really bad at managing your money, you’ll only be doing it a few times a year.
I suggest getting a Bank Of Taiwan account here - that way, you avoid the UK bank stinging you with “intermediary fees”. BOT seem to be the intermediary for incoming transfers for all other Taiwan banks.
As long as you have a UK contact address, they don’t seem too bothered. Again, this is where you need a helpful family member, and/or a joint account.
I looked into these, but all things considered, they’re a bit of a scam. If you maintain that sort of balance, it’s more effective to keep most of your cash in an interest-bearing account and just pay the standard fees for transfers. Unless you’re really bad at managing your money, you’ll only be doing it a few times a year.
I suggest getting a Bank of Taiwan account here - that way, you avoid the UK bank stinging you with “intermediary fees”. BOT seem to be the intermediary for incoming transfers for all other Taiwan banks.
As long as you have a UK contact address, they don’t seem too bothered. Again, this is where you need a helpful family member, and/or a joint account.[/quote]
I see…the attitude from HSBC in the UK seems to have changed towards me a little. in my heyday of Fame and Fortune, the Manager used to invite me to all sorts of Dinners and introduce me to varied “investment” opportunities. Now I just use the account as a “current” one, the invitations seem to have mysteriously dried up They love to lend money out…but only to People who don’t need it.
[quote=“garygibson”]So anyway, early next year me and my Taiwanese wife are on our way back to Taiwan from Scotland (having lived with her in Taiwan for a couple of years up until 2010). I’m a writer, and I get paid by my publisher in UK£ into a UK account. Back when I was last living here, I just did my banking through my non-international UK bank, with all the difficulties and hassles that could sometimes throw up. Now I’m looking on coming back for a good while - by which I mean ‘years’ - and I’m thinking about transferring my account to someone international who offers ‘basic’ accounts, by which I mean hopefully doesn’t require the regular deposit of £XXX per month (not the way writers get paid), and doesn’t charge an arm or a leg or, preferably, anything at all. Something basic with a debit card and a branch in Taipei I can visit (if necessary, with my wife in tow to help with the translation) for me to withdraw from, and my publisher to deposit funds into. I’m not particularly interested in overdraft facilities or anything like that.
I was about to check out HSBC, which seemed the most obvious choice, but then I wondered if someone on Forumosa might have dealt with similar circumstances - living in Taiwan, freelance work based in UK, international account - and had other ideas through experience. Anyone?[/quote]
I also write for several clients in the UK and get my money paid in £Sterling. I just went into my bank Sinopac and opened a foreign currency account. Very simple. I got burned the first time though as I hadn’t figured in the charges that I would pay to receive money but it was only a tenner so every time after that I just take that into account when billing a client. The money sits in your foreign currency account for as long as you like and if you want to transfer it to the local currency account just pop in and sign a slip and it’s done. The benefit of that is that you can build up the sterling in your acc then transfer it when the rate is good. There was a US$100 deposit to open the account but obviously that’s your money. Oh and you can hold several currencies in the account at the same time.
The bank are obliged to notify the tax office if any deposit from overseas exceeds NT$500,000 but if you’re an amazing writer and get cheques that big then split them up
I would maintain a UK account. As finley says, although banks say in their T&Cs that you must be UK resident, it’s easy to open such an account providing you maintain UK address only on that account, and don’t tell them you’re abroad. This has worked for me: whenever I have to call them, I just tell them I’m out in Taiwan (again!) visiting family.
What you want, above all, is an account that allows free overseas withdrawals with their debit card (worldwide, not just Europe). That’s no charges, either straight-up by the bank, or embedded into the exchange rate. I still have the Santander Zero Account, although that’s now closed to new business and you do need to pay in x a month.
Most banks (e.g. Barclays) will screw you here. On a withdrawal of $10,000TWD, say £200, they’ll charge 3% commission (£6) + £1.50 Fee.
I don’t see any need to have a Taiwan account linked to your UK bank. ATM withdrawals here are easy, usually no further than the nearest 7-11.
Get your wife to open a Taiwan account, and then just withdraw from UK via ATM, and deposit into Taiwan account as needed.
Thanks for the advice. Guess I’ll pass up HSBC and the like and open up a local account when I get there. Funnily enough, my wife mentioned the same thing to me this afternoon - move large chunks of money (£thousands) at a time into a Taiwanese account and pay a small transfer fee each time.
Which is not far off what I did last time I was in Taiwan, so I guess the old way is the best way, more or less (and there’s some interesting suggestions here I’m going to take my time with). Last time, I didn’t tell my bank where I was. This time, I’ll keep my old account, although I guess I’ll have to give them a new address to send the bank statements to - probably one of my folks, both still in the UK (I rented my house to people I knew last time, so it wasn’t a big deal having my bank statements turn up there while I was in the East).
+1 for the HSBC thing not really working. Tried in more than one country. HSBC have an ‘English service’, but they are real fking clowns, the Taiwan customer service phoneline. Actually, maybe they are just trying to provide an authentic British phonebanking service?
Make sure you have your internet banking and phone banking set up in Britain, then regularly transfer cash back to that account to pay for stuff. Or, use your internet banking in the UK to transfer money to your account in Taiwan. Usually the best way.
My bank doesn’t offer this facility - bizarre, eh? To do a wire transfer, I have to be physically present in the UK branch.
If anyone knows of a bank that does have support for international transfers online, please post details![/quote]
Lloyds TSB does it. Oof, now if you know my mother’s maiden name, the road my junior school was on and my second cat’s middle name, you can access my riches.
You have to set this up in the UK though: their customer service are dicks and they have hair trigger ‘suspicious activity’ systems: ‘Our systems indicate that your card was used to buy a chicken and mushroom pie in Rochdale instead of your usual steak and kidney in Stockport. We have therefore frozen your assets until you recite the Magna Carta and provide four of your left eyelashes in your local branch.’
Yeah, you’ll probably also run foul of bank security, if you’re making a lot of ATM withdrawals from Taiwan. It normally takes a few patient phone-calls (yes, I’m in Taiwan: yes, I visit here a lot because I have family here) before they correctly set the flags on your account. Even then, I try and avoid paying for anything in Taiwan with a UK debit card, as non-ATM transactions tend to ring the alarm bells again.
I figure it’s all worth it, to get the free withdrawals from the UK account.
[quote=“Nuit”]Yeah, you’ll probably also run foul of bank security, if you’re making a lot of ATM withdrawals from Taiwan. It normally takes a few patient phone-calls (yes, I’m in Taiwan: yes, I visit here a lot because I have family here) before they correctly set the flags on your account. Even then, I try and avoid paying for anything in Taiwan with a UK debit card, as non-ATM transactions tend to ring the alarm bells again.
I figure it’s all worth it, to get the free withdrawals from the UK account.[/quote]
I think that happened to me last time I was living there, but when I spoke to them (via Skype) and confirmed I was “travelling” for “an extensive period” in Taiwan, they made a note of some kind to the effect I’d be making future withdrawals from there.
Thanks to whomever mentioned about switching off paper statements - I’d forgotten about that. Only ever really needed them for my accountant (obviously).
You can also open an account in HK for off shore type transactions, operate it online. Of course depends on whether your clients are willing to wire you.
+1 to that. I have a basic HSBC account in HK and it is amazing, compared to my UK HSBC and various Taiwan accounts. Multiple currencies, easy transfers, and zero bullshit. I had to go there to open it but not once have I been asked for physical paperwork for anything else – unlike UK HSBC, who need it regularly.
Also, FWIW, I’ve told HSBC in the UK that I don’t live there, and it didn’t seem to be a problem. They gave me a form to fill in stating that I’m not a UK resident for some tax reason I forget, and put a flag on my account and it hasn’t been frozen since.
I bank with HSBC UK and HSBC HK. I would think that they are the same servicewise, all can be done online. They are having issues with details, such as address changes and the like, but apart from that OK.
I would not know about HSBC Taiwan, and I am happy with my bank here overall.
My bank doesn’t offer this facility - bizarre, eh? To do a wire transfer, I have to be physically present in the UK branch.
If anyone knows of a bank that does have support for international transfers online, please post details![/quote]
Aaaaand…I got the same response earlier today when I called my own bank to find out the details of transferring money abroad from my own account. They wont’ do it unless I’m physically present in a branch, which leaves me with the problem of how the hell to access my money in the UK from Taiwan…which was what led me to make the query about HSBC in the first place. I did see someone comment that Lloyds TSB will do fund transfers online, and my mortgage is with them already (well, with TSB now that they’ve split in half). My only question now is, will they be okay about me opening an account in the UK if I’m about to bugger off?
I recall now that when I went into the HSBC branch here in the UK to enquire, they told me I’d have to deal with the HSBC branch in Taiwan, since they’re technically a separate business entity. Which is worse than useless. OTOH, someone else told me they can also do online fund transfers to a Taiwanese account via Bank of Scotland. Perhaps that would be worth checking out.
They love to lend money out…but only to People who don’t need it. 
