Do you need cash in Taiwan?
Short answer
Some. Convenience stores and chains take cards, but night markets and small kitchens run on cash — and on the transit card.
The transit card is a wallet
The stored-value card you buy for the metro also pays at convenience stores, chain cafés, some vending machines and a growing number of small shops. Topping it up at a convenience store counter takes seconds.
For a short trip this single card removes most of the friction. It is the closest thing to a universal small-payment method here.
Where you need notes
Night market stalls, family-run eateries, traditional markets and older taxis want cash. These are also the places worth going, so this is not a corner of the country you can route around.
Small notes matter more than the total. A vendor selling a single skewer will not enjoy breaking a large note early in the evening.
Cards and ATMs
Department stores, hotels, chain restaurants and larger shops take foreign cards without trouble. Smaller independent places often have no terminal at all rather than a fussy one.
Convenience store ATMs accept foreign cards and are open around the clock, which makes topping up straightforward wherever you are.
Good to know
- Buy and top up the transit card at any convenience store, not only at stations
- Keep the card topped up before a night market run — the queue is not where you want to discover an empty balance
Yes. Cards work in cities, but small restaurants, shrines, and rural transport are cash only.
Rarely — but a card on its own is not the answer either. Almost everything runs through payment apps, and a foreign card has to be linked to one of them first.
Some. Malls and hotels take cards, but stalls, markets and shared vans want cash — and locals mostly pay each other by QR.
Yes. Hotels and malls take cards, but street food, markets and short rides all run on cash — and the notes are easy to confuse.
Rarely. Cards and phone payments work almost everywhere, including buses and street stalls.