Tag Archives: Easycard

Join the National Central Library with your EasyCard!

Posted on by

Do you feel like subtweeting your arch-enemy isn’t quite enough for you? The solution may be going through their master/doctoral thesis to point out minor spelling errors and format issues (if it’s good enough for the KMT it’s good enough for me). Now you don’t even have to squeeze your National Central Library card into your already overstuffed wallet to gain access to the ivory tower and your enemy’s vulnerable sentence structures.

All you have to do is bring your ARC or passport and your EasyCard (including virtual Easycards) to the registration counter with an application form (available in the registration area). They’ll take a quick photo and tie your library card account to your EasyCard. You’ll also get a library card, but you can use your EasyCard in its place for all functions. They’ll give you a small sticker for your EasyCard to remind you about your library membership:

The library card has been updated from the laminated one of old, and now looks like this:

And away we go…

(Love you really)

But… more seriously, if you need access to a doctoral or masters thesis and it’s not online, you can click 點閱 beside the paper thesis listing and a number will be assigned to your query. You can then check your collection number by swiping your EasyCard on the computer beside the collection counter and a screen will tell you when it’s ready for collection:

BTW President Tsai Ing-wen’s thesis is real.

Use your phone as your EasyCard with Samsung Pay: Update

Posted on by

Now you can use a virtual EasyCard in your Samsung Pay wallet for all your EasyCard needs, including MRT turnstiles, YouBike rentals and mobile payments by EasyCards. First go to your Samsung Pay app, and click the EasyCard option on the front page (if you don’t see this, you should do a software update on your phone or check if your model is compatible):

Continue reading →

EasyCard Wallet Mobile Payment App (finally) Foreign Resident Friendly: Update

Posted on by

True to their word, just as all the introductory offers are ending, the EasyCard Corporation have held their noses and finally allowed foreign residents to register for their EasyCard Wallet app at the end of May (they should probably add this in English on the Play Store too):

The May 29th update, includes registration being opened to ARC holders in Taiwan, along with under 20s and resolving some other small issues.

You can either click on 「悠遊卡付專屬」 or 「我的」 as below:

Continue reading →

Digital Receipts in Taiwan and Lottery Winnings to your Bank with an Alien Citizen Digital Certificate

Posted on by

money-1144553_1920Do you want your Alien Citizen Digital Certificate to hold all your receipts online so you don’t have to check them every two months (except the old ones that change colour every two months)? You can also get your winnings from the receipt lottery deposited directly in your bank account.

If you don’t have an Alien Citizen Digital Certificate yet, you can find out how to apply for one here. If you don’t want one, you can still get digital receipts and your winnings automatically deposited in your bank account, by checking out my previous post on mobile barcodes.

Continue reading →

Easycard Wallet: Not (yet) for Foreign Residents? (March 26: Update)

Posted on by

The Easycard Wallet which could previously tell you your card balance and display your receipts has had a revamp. You can now use the app to make purchases instead of fishing out your Easycard. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to register for the pay function without a Taiwanese ID until the end of May according to a Customer Service representative (ARCs do not meet the required format and no alternative is given for foreign residents to sign up.)

90560343_211054943575330_931557116349513728_n

A customer service rep sent the following message, saying that foreign residents will be able to register for the app starting at the end of May. They’re phrasing it like it was a planned rollout as opposed to just bad programming and lack of forethought, but hey… it’s something:

您好：

謝謝您的來信。

有關持居留證者申請悠遊付一事，本公司預計5月底開放，屆時歡迎提出申請。

或建議您可加入本公司facebook粉絲團或LINE官方帳號或留意本公司官網的最新消息，日後您即可接收最新資訊。

以上說明，謝謝~

Thanks to Slava for the tip!

June 3 Update: The app was updated on May 29 to allow foreign ARC holders to sign up as the company promised, more details here.

Updated: Top Up Your Easycard Automatically From Your Bank Account

Posted on by

If you haven’t already tied your electronic receipts on your Easycard or with your mobile phone barcode to your bank account, you can check out my previous how to blogpost.

For those that have already done that, you might want to set up your Easycard so that when the balance hits zero, NT$500 is automatically transferred from your bank account  (see participating banks below*) to the Easycard. The service can be cancelled if you lose your card, and you can recoup the balance of your Easycard when you cancel the card.

*Participating banks: Fubon; Shin Kong; Mega Bank; Taishin Bank; CTBC Bank; COTA Commercial Bank; Union Bank of Taiwan; Jihsun Bank; Chang Hua Bank (UPDATE: as of March 11, 2020 – see here for updated info!)

Currently banks like E. Sun offer a debit card with an in-built Easycard, if your bank supports this service then great. If not, you can follow the instructions below to tie ordinary Easycards to your bank so that you never have to top up your Easycard with cash:

Step 1: Register your name to your Easycard at the following website:

Website Link

To do this you need to click on 「記名申請」（Apply for name registration)

1233333

Several terms and conditions will be listed on the next screen and you can click 「確定」 (Confirm), as below:

Untitled

After this you’ll be asked for the Card No. of your Easycard, generally found on the bottom right of the back of your Easycard. It asks you to enter it twice. You’ll also have to complete a captcha puzzle and press 「確定」(Confirm) again:

Untitled

The next screen will ask you to fill in some details, including your name, email and phone number. Following this there will be a screen telling you to upload a photo of your ARC (and sometimes the front and back of your Easycard). When you’ve done this, you’ll get a screen telling you that it’s processing.

It takes 3 working days to process.

2. Go to your bank

Once you get an email notification, confirming that the name registration process is complete, you have to go to your bank and fill out a consent form. You’ll need to bring your ARC, your bank card and your Easycard with you.

3. Go to a Famiport

Once your bank has processed your form, they will allow you to activate the automatic top-up function. You can do this by going to a FamiPort and clicking the 「悠遊卡」 option, listed under the purple print section:

111223
111223

Under this you should see an option called 「帳戶連結設定」(Account Link Settings). It will ask you to put your Easycard on the sensor and then it should activate your automatic top up service.

Note: All of the banks listed below allow you to incorporate your Easycard into your debit card. So the method listed above is just for those that didn’t opt for that service, are with banks that don’t support these services, or are just very attached to their current Easycard:

111223
1233333

When you’re issued with an combination Easycard/Debit Card, you’ll have to activate the automatic top-up using a Famiport too, but you choose a different option under the Easycard menu as below:

111223

Then, as with the account link settings, you’ll have to put your Easycard to the sensor and confirm that you want to activate the service.

Post was updated March 11, 2020, to reflect the other banks who have since joined the scheme!

Taiwan’s Receipt Lottery: Get Virtual Receipts and Connect to your Bank Account

Posted on by
21441369_10103494891358479_602871138_o

The receipt lottery in Taiwan – whereby you can win varying amounts of money if the invoice number of your receipt matches certain numbers announced every two months – is great. However, I firmly believe that many of my winning NT$10 million receipts have been victim to my washing machine, to sun damage or to falling down the back of the sofa until they’re out of date. There’s also the minor hassle of going through receipts for everything you’ve bought in the past two months receipt by receipt with the risk that you’ll not actually have won anything.

UPDATE – There’s also a special prize reserved for virtual receipts of NT$500!

E-Receipts vs Traditional Receipts

There’s nothing you can do about the older receipts – the ones that change colour every two months, like the one below. You just have to check them every two months with that dwindling sense of dread that you haven’t won anything again and you’ve just wasted an hour of your life.

21441603_10103494901533089_877307070_o

The receipts issued by convenience stores, chain stores and an increasing number of other retailers that have two QR codes on the bottom, however, you can do something about.

Continue reading →