Currency Exchange in Taiwan: Airport vs Bank vs ATM

Last verified 25 Oct 2026

The three options at a glance

This is an official-source comparison, not a rate test. Nobody has logged live rates for this guide, and exchange rates move through the day.

How Bank of Taiwan board rates work

The English rates page has two groups of columns: Cash Rate and Spot Rate. Each has a Buying and a Selling rate. Buying and selling are from the bank’s side. When you sell your foreign banknotes to the bank for NT dollars, you are on the bank’s buying rate.

The page defines neither cash nor spot. It does carry this warning: “The Information provided here is only for your reference, and does not represent any real price in transactions.” The bank adds that counter prices follow its quote at that time.

So the board is a benchmark, not a promise. Ask for the NT dollar total before you sign anything.

Airport exchange machines

The airport’s currency exchange page lists Bank of Taiwan’s machines at Taoyuan. The table is from a notice dated 20 May 2024. Every cash exchange machine below converts NT dollars and foreign cash both ways, for USD, JPY and CNY only.

Terminal 1 also has two foreign-currency ATMs: one in the check-in hall 1F near counter 11 and one airside towards gates A and D. Both pay out foreign currency (USD, HKD, JPY, CNY), not NT dollars. The page also lists Mega Bank, but its details were not readable for this guide.

If you carry another currency, such as EUR or KRW, these machines will not take it. The page gives no hours or fees for the machines, so check the screen before you insert notes.

Late arrivals are the main risk for anything staffed. The late-night arrival guide covers what else is open. If you only need NT dollars for the first hour, budget for the train or bus fare in Taoyuan Airport to Taipei.

Bank branches

Bank of Taiwan’s foreign currency cash page gives standard hours of Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 15:30. Some branches have extended hours, listed on the bank’s service locations page. The page itself is in Chinese.

Fees are in a separate fee schedule, published as a PDF on the bank’s fee standards page. That PDF was not read for this guide, so no fee amount is quoted. Open it before you queue.

ATMs and exchange machines

Bank of Taiwan lists a foreign-currency ATM page and a page for foreign currency cash exchange machines. The pages read here do not give locations, limits or fees. A withdrawal with a foreign card also involves your own bank’s fees and rate, which no Taiwanese official page can state. Check your card terms.

Cash declaration limits

Taiwan’s customs rules apply when you enter or leave. You must declare if the total value of what you carry exceeds:

Source: the Ministry of Finance regulation, amended 2025-01-13 as shown on the page. Under the Money Laundering Control Act, if you do not declare, Customs confiscates the amount above the threshold. If you declare less than you carry, the undeclared part is confiscated.

Customs provides a bilingual declaration form and an online declaration page. The Central Bank’s cap on taking NT dollars out of Taiwan was not stated on the pages read, so confirm it on cbc.gov.tw if you plan to leave with a lot of NT dollars. Mainland China currency (RMB) has its own cap under a separate law, which the regulation page does not state.

Common mistakes

1. Assuming the board rate is the rate you will get. The bank says it is reference only.
2. Comparing a spot rate with a cash rate. For banknotes, compare cash with cash.
3. Arriving late and finding the bank branch shut. Branch hours end at 15:30 on weekdays.
4. Ignoring totals. The thresholds are aggregate values, so add up all the cash you carry in that currency group.
5. Counting on card-only. See the EasyCard guide for transit, but keep some NT dollars for small purchases.

Rules change

Rates change daily and regulations are amended. Check the Bank of Taiwan rates and the cash declaration regulation before you fly. For the rest of the trip, see the first-time visitor hub.

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