AboutLotta Danielsson-Murphy Expertise I can answer questions about trading with and doing business with Taiwan. I can also answer questions about traveling to Taiwan, particularly about traveling to Taipei, as well as general questions about history, language, culture, etc.
Experience
Relevant Experience I am the Vice President of the US-Taiwan Business Council, a non-profit organization dedicated to US-Taiwan trade/business. I speak Mandarin Chinese, lived in Taipei for nine months, and worked in Beijing for almost a year.
Education/Credentials International MBA (a.k.a. MIBS)-Chinese Track
University of South Carolina
Question I have never traveled outside of the United States and so I'm not sure if I should just get American Express traveler's checks or what I need to do to do business with local vendors in Taipei Taiwan and what is the currency exchange rate......... thank you because I'm considering going in August of this year and any help would be very appreciated
Answer Hi Michael.
The exchange rate for Taiwan is about 32.5 NT dollars per 1 US dollar. It generally fluctuates in the 32-34 range. You can find the exact daily rate for any currency at www.oanda.com/convert/classic.
It might not be a bad idea to have some emergency money in traveler's checks with you, but it isn't hard to access your US bank via plain ATMs in Taiwan.
If your US bank participates in the “Plus” or “Cirrus” networks, you can access your account directly from ATM machines in Taiwan. The back of your ATM card shows the networks you can access. This is a very viable option in Taipei, where ATM machines with the Plus and Cirrus symbols abound. Outside the city, however, such machines may be scarce. Check with your bank about fees for this service before you go.
You can also obtain a Visa Debit Card (also know as a “Visa Check Card”). This is sometimes part of your regular ATM card. It works just like an ATM card, but the fees may differ somewhat. Use it at ATM machines that display the Visa symbol, which also abound in Taipei.
Finally, you can use either a Visa or a MasterCard credit card with a pin-number. Using this card, you can get cash in some ATM machines (with the Visa or MC symbol). Note that it takes a fairly large transaction fee, and interest begins to accrue immediately on cash received against your credit.
Credit card use has gone up in Taiwan over the last few years, so you should be able to use a regular credit card to pay in hotels and in many of the larger stores and restaurants. However, most smaller (and more interesting) places only take cash.
If your bank doesn’t participate in Cirrus or Plus, a Visa Check Card is probably your best bet. You actually tend to get a better exchange rate by using the inter-bank system rather than using traveler’s checks. See:
www.independenttraveler.com/resources/article.cfm?AID=44&category=8
