Banking History in Taiwan

Modern banking in Taiwan began during the Japanese colonial era with the Bank of Taiwan (臺灣銀行), founded in 1899 to issue the colony’s currency. Japan’s Nippon Kangyō Bank (日本勸業銀行) built grand branches in Taipei and Tainan, and Taiwanese gentry founded banks of their own, among them Changhua Bank (彰化銀行), whose 1938 headquarters still stands in Taichung. Credit cooperatives (信用組合) lent to small merchants and farmers in towns across the island. Rural ones such as Danei Credit Union became post-war farmers’ associations, while urban ones such as Hsinchu Credit Union carried on as credit cooperatives (信用合作社). Banks also constructed housing for their staff and executives, among which the Jiguang Street Residence and Bank of Taiwan dormitory in Tamsui serve as prime examples.