Job Discussion Forums

Richard · Joined: 30 Jan 2003 Posts: 33 Location: Taiwan

Can anyone tell me the best way to transfer money I earn in Taiwan directly into my home bank account - in this case in Toronto, Canada? (I do have internet banking)
Do I need a Taiwanese bank account to do this or are there other options?
Thanks.

itchy · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 28 Location: Toronto

The easiest way is to get a Taiwanese bank account. I assume you have an ARC card. That is the way I did it. It took about 24 hours and I sent home money three times while I was there, each time about $7000 Canadian. I had no problems. What you need is your bank account number from Canada, the branch number and the transit number of the branch. All of this information is available on a cheque from your account (the numbers at the bottom of the cheque). It should also be in your bank book. Beware of writing this information down. My roommate wrote the wrong numbers down on his bank transfer paper and the money got sent to someone else's account (he eventually got it back). Check and double check. As far as taxes are concerned, I found that if you send less than $10,000, no one knows you've sent it. More than $10,000 and the tax people seem to find out somehow.

Richard · Joined: 30 Jan 2003 Posts: 33 Location: Taiwan

Thanks for the info.
For the sake of argument, suppose I didn't have an ARC card?

beenthere96-2005 · Joined: 01 Aug 2010 Posts: 79 Location: St Louis

123Loto · Joined: 14 Aug 2006 Posts: 160

If you don't have an ARC you can use Western Union - just bring in your passport.

Alternatively you can have a friend send it on your behalf - using the method outlined above.

kotoko · Joined: 22 Jun 2010 Posts: 109

Does anyone use Go Lloyds over there or is that just for Japan?

s_lteacher · Joined: 12 Nov 2008 Posts: 4

I worked in Taiwan during the '09-'10 school year, in MiaoLi County which is a small place where people at the bank knew me (I was one of the few Westerners in the town where I lived and worked), so maybe that makes a difference but...

I went to the local branch of a big 'international' bank with the (to me, anyway) hilarious name of Mega Bank which was used by a lot of expats (mostly from the Philippines or Thailand) for wiring money home. The clerks spoke enough English to communicate with me and understood what I wanted. The charge was, I think, 400NTD (but don't quote me, I'm a little hazy on the details).

I didn't need my ARC - my passport was sufficient and I didn't have an account at that bank. As a previous poster's noted, it often got into my US bank account on the same day and yeah, be 100% sure of your account numbers, etc.

I sent home half my pay every month, which was well under the $10K limit, believe me...never a problem. That way, I could do my online banking via my US account.