The Financial Supervisory Commission has set a goal to make all banks in Taiwan bilingual by 2030. Many banks have launched recruitment drives for language talent.
By the end of this year, First Bank plans to hire 115 staff to work at its 37 bilingual branches. It will offer a monthly salary of at least NT$45,000. Formosa News reporter Stephany Yang has the details.

Stephany Yang
Formosa News reporter
The Financial Supervisory Commission is working to make all banks bilingual 2030. There are currently 172 bilingual banks in Taiwan.
A teller communicates with customers in fluent English, assisting them with transactions.

Since 2020, First Bank has established English consultation counters at the general service counters and foreign exchange counters. First Bank says that as of the end of July, approximately 38% of its workforce, or 3,000 bank workers, have taken the General English Proficiency Test.

Terry Tsai
First Bank executive vice president
At present, the percentage of staff that has taken the test has exceeded 30%. We will greatly increase the number of bilingual talent that we have. Applicants will have to score over 800 points on TOEIC. We have already recruited a large number of talent this year – a total of 115 people, of which 100 are proficient in English, and another 15 who are proficient in Japanese.

The bank says it’s seeking 115 hires with language talent this year. Applicants need a score of over 800 points on the TOEIC or equivalent levels on other tests. First Bank plans to set up 37 bilingual branches by the end of this year, offering English, Japanese, and Mandarin services.

Terry Tsai
First Bank executive vice president
Last year, we established 12 bilingual banks. So far, 23 multilingual branches have been built, including seven trilingual branches where Japanese services are offered. We will have 37 multilingual branches in total by the end of this year, including nine trilingual branches. We''ve set up branches where tourists often visit.

At CTBC Bank, bilingual banking is not only limited to the counter. Bilingual service is also available at the bank’s ATMs and mobile phone app. CTBC says it’s working to have bilingual staff at every branch by 2030. As for Sunny Bank, it established its first bilingual demonstration branch on Aug. 2. The branch provides personnel services and forms in Mandarin and English. Sunny Bank hopes to add three more bilingual branches in the second half of the year. In the future, it will continue to improve the English proficiency of counter staff and extend bilingual services to all branches. According to the latest statistics provided by the Financial Supervisory Commission, there are currently 172 bilingual branches across Taiwan.