Banking Frustrations

I must confess to those of you who read this that I absolutely THRIVE on the positive feedback I’ve received. However, that being said, I find that I am almost afraid to blog as I feel I have nothing witty to say, or I’m quite scared that this won’t live up to your expectations…the pressure is building!!! I will keep on writing; however, I have absolutely NO idea if my insight on Taipei living will continue to be appealing, particularly as we continue to settle in. I do promise that I will make a strong attempt at sharing with you the many odd things about Taipei living that take adjusting…they’re not good nor bad…just different. This concept can be quite a difficult one for most to grasp; however, I assure you that for the most part it is just that…different.


As of late, what’s captured my attention, (or more fittingly, my frustration) is the banking here in Taiwan. Last week our realtor was generous enough to take me to my bank to help me transact an electronic transfer of funds to our landlord (in hopes of submitting it for automatic withdrawal). I had also expected to wire some funds to an account we still hold in CA. Having had much experience in transacting international wires, I knew the requisite information and was excited to complete yet another task on my ever-growing to-do list.


We went into the branch and began filling out the paperwork. All was going smoothly until…..she asked for my ID. When I provided my Taiwan ID and she compared it to my ATM, she said that I would be unable to do any banking that day. Upon seeing my frustration, my realtor translated for me that because the account was in Terry’s name, I would be unable to access any of the funds. To add more to the frustration, it turns out that there is no such thing as a joint account in Taiwan. If I want to access any money in Taiwan, I have to either (1) rely on Terry to give me cash; or (2) I have to open my own, separate bank account.


Say WHAT??!!! Are you serious? In discussing this with the realtor, apparently the laws in Taiwan are quite different. Not only is there no such thing as a joint account, the laws of community property are quite different as well. A local married couple has joint responsibility for all of their debt (even that acquired prior to marriage), but no joint privileges regarding their assets. So, if Terry were to skip town on me (and we were Taiwanese citizens), I would have to pay all of our debt and yet not be able to use any of his bank accounts, cash, retirement, etc. to pay for it! How do you like that?!!!


Needless to say that this banking system is quite inconvenient for me given that I typically handle our daily financial needs. I have now had to rely on Terry more than I had planned, much to both of our annoyances!


I am uncertain as to why there is no such thing as a joint account, or even a concept like ‘community property’, which would be very helpful, particularly for couples where one works and the other does not. However, this is just not the case here. While I wanted to blame the system on being too patriarchal, Terry kindly pointed out that if our roles were reversed, he would experience the same frustration that I had.


This is definitely a case of not good…not bad….just different. Like much of our new life in Taipei, this was just another idiosyncrasy which will require a new mental attitude. Just add it to the list!