No Debit Card for Round-eye
November 29th, 2005 by MarkWell, I won’t be moving to my own host anytime soon. The reason? I don’t have a debit card. My US debit card expired last month. I’ve ordered a replacement, but I’m still waiting to get it. It seems like this is as good a time as any to bring up the fact that my ongoing efforts to get one in Taiwan have failed.
A debit card, for those of you who don’t know, looks like a credit card. It can be used like a credit card to buy things online, but it’s NOT a credit card. Debit cards don’t involve borrowing money or buying things on credit, they just charge money out of your bank account. If the bank account is empty you can’t buy anything, but on the good side there are no interest fees or any other fees involved.
About two and a half years ago, I went to 10 or 15 banks trying to get a debit card. Some didn’t offer debit cards at all; they weren’t that popular in Taiwan at that point. However, China Trust and Taishin have them. Unfortunately neither will give them to foreigners. The question is why not? Since they don’t let you borrow money, there’s no risk to the bank. One clerk said that since I’m American I “could just leave Taiwan at anytime”. So what? I could leave Taiwan, and then the bank would lose nothing since I couldn’t have borrowed anything from them. In fact, after I left, whatever balance remaining in my bank account would be theirs.
After huffing and puffing and complaining, I got China Trust to send me a written explanation. The funny thing is, they lied to me in it. They said that due to a problem with their system, foreigners temporarily couldn’t apply. That was two and a half years ago. I went in last week, and I’m still not allowed to apply. I showed them the letter and they just said, “Oh, the system still has the same problem.” Does two and a half years count as temporary?
December 3rd, 2005 at 10:07 am
Many hosting companies will let you pay by Paypal.
December 4th, 2005 at 1:35 am
How do you fund paypal with no credit card? I’m assuming they don’t have branch offices where you can walk in and depost cash, like banks do…
December 5th, 2005 at 2:20 am
My friend is Filipino and he got his debit card from Taipei Fu-Bon Bank. Maybe you should ask them. It’s true!
December 5th, 2005 at 6:17 am
I already tried at that bank unsuccessfully two years ago. To be honest, I’m skeptical. However, next time I have a chance, I’ll try again. I’ll post my results up here.
Is your friend of Chinese-decent by any chance?
April 26th, 2006 at 10:20 pm
JT, I tried yesterday and was denied once again for my foreignness. Could you help me get in touch with your friend so I can find out how he managed to get one?
September 2nd, 2006 at 7:26 pm
[...] If you’re not familiar with the term, it frequently shows up on racist websites or websites that play up the East/West divide (but not on certain ones—more on this below). It is also used seemingly innocuously at times. It’s supposed to be a term that Asians use for non-Asians. [...]
October 24th, 2006 at 2:36 pm
I have the same problem as you guys. I come from Guatemala and have been in Taiwan for 2 months. however, Guatemala doesn’t offer paypal account, so I’m kinda stuck because I have to issue a debit card in Taiwan too and I faced the same problem. If any of you already have had one plz help me!
March 4th, 2007 at 5:54 pm
[...] the counter. Electronic transfers have always been time consuming and frustrating in Taiwan, and I haven’t managed to get a debit card in three years and trips to dozens of different banks. Maybe getting stuff done on the mainland, or [...]
December 7th, 2007 at 12:35 am
[...] a very exhaustive search in 2003, and then again in 2005 and came up with no success. Automatic refusal of all foreigners, including long term residents seems to be the [...]