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clever not beautiful
Joined: 13 Apr 2004
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 Posted: Fri Jul 09, 2004 7:44 am Post subject: transfering money |
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I went to the bank today (Nonghyup) to transfer money to my Canadian bank account, and they wouldn't let me. I had my ARC, passport, and banking details with me, but they insisted that I needed a copy of my contract as well.
For all the people who transfer money overseas, did you have to show a copy of your contract before the bank would let you? And is there a limit to how much money I can legally send out of the country?
This is kind of frustrating. I mean, it's my money, why can't I do what I want with it? |
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jazblanc77
Joined: 22 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Fri Jul 09, 2004 9:43 am Post subject: |
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They most likely want to know how much you make per month because there are two formulas for determining how much you can send home. They either allow you to send the equivalent of your monthly income and not a won more or they will allow you to send a total of 10 million won in one year (though, not all banks are experienced enough with foreign transfers to know this).
This shouldn't have been a problem, theoretically! Go back again with your contract, with a Korean (to explain away the need for the contract), or go to a different bank. That's all I can suggest. |
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prosodic
Joined: 21 Jun 2004
Location: ����
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| Posted: Fri Jul 09, 2004 2:03 pm Post subject: Re: transfering money |
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| clever not beautiful wrote: |
| This is kind of frustrating. I mean, it's my money, why can't I do what I want with it? |
I understand that you're frustrated, but Korea is actually a lot more relaxed about this stuff than most countries. The purpose of the limits is to prevent money laundering. In other words, you have to be able to prove that you legally earned the money rather than making it through illegal activities like private tutoring (or being a drug mule). Also, the limits are actually on currency exchange and not on wiring. If you just happen to have a big fat wad of Canadian dollars and hand it over to them, the bank will wire the full amount and it doesn't get applied to the limits that Jazblanc mentioned.
The corresponding laws in the U.S. have to do with cash deposits. U.S. financial institutions are required to flag and report to the federal government any cash deposits greater than $10,000. U.S. merchants of luxury goods are also required to report cash transactions greater than $10,000. Then the CIA monitors your activity for a while to make sure you're not doing anything illegal.
So, you see that Korea is really extremely relaxed about this. You can deposit as many won as you want into the bank and nobody asks you where the money came from. They'll even let you convert your full reported income into Canadian dollars and will then assume that you didn't spend any money on food, rent, or other living expenses. They will never once accuse you of earning living expenses through illegal means unless you try to convert MORE than you legally earned.
Personally, I prefer using the statement of taxable earnings rather than the contract, because the tax statement includes overtime and allows for a higher currency exchange limit.
Another tip is that you should save the receipts anytime you convert Canadian dollars into won. As long as you have the receipts, you can later reconvert that amount of won back into Canadian dollars and it doesn't count against the limits that Jazblanc mentioned. |
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Curious George
Joined: 06 Apr 2004
Location: Seoul, Korea
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| Posted: Fri Jul 09, 2004 8:39 pm Post subject: |
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| Which bank are you at? I would recommend switching if they are giving you hassles. I bank with KB (Kookmin) and they do transfers no questions asked. Just show them your alien registration card. Thats it ...no fuss. |
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prosodic
Joined: 21 Jun 2004
Location: ����
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| Posted: Fri Jul 09, 2004 8:51 pm Post subject: |
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| Curious George wrote: |
| Which bank are you at? I would recommend switching if they are giving you hassles. I bank with KB (Kookmin) and they do transfers no questions asked. Just show them your alien registration card. Thats it ...no fuss. |
Does your employer direct deposit your salary into the account? That could be why they aren't asking you for the contract or income statement. |
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prosodic
Joined: 21 Jun 2004
Location: ����
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| Posted: Fri Jul 09, 2004 9:09 pm Post subject: |
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| prosodic wrote: |
| Curious George wrote: |
| Which bank are you at? I would recommend switching if they are giving you hassles. I bank with KB (Kookmin) and they do transfers no questions asked. Just show them your alien registration card. Thats it ...no fuss. |
Does your employer direct deposit your salary into the account? That could be why they aren't asking you for the contract or income statement. |
The other possibility is that you're still under the 10 million won mark. Either that or they're not doing their jobs. |
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jazblanc77
Joined: 22 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2004 6:53 pm Post subject: |
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Actually, as it pertains to us, the limit is to make sure that we are not sending illegally earned money (ie. untaxable income), this means privates.
These issues may occur at any bank. While someone may have a good experience at a Kookmin branch, I have lost transfers there and at other banks as well. It is hit and miss wherever you go. |
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Zyzyfer
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: who, what, where, when, why, how?
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| Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2004 6:58 pm Post subject: |
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| Lost transfers? Like, what? They sent your money to the wrong place or something? |
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prosodic
Joined: 21 Jun 2004
Location: ����
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| Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2004 7:01 pm Post subject: |
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| jazblanc77 wrote: |
| Actually, as it pertains to us, the limit is to make sure that we are not sending illegally earned money (ie. untaxable income), this means privates. |
I'm glad you agree with what I wrote above.  |
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sublimeshawn
Joined: 25 Aug 2003
Location: Nebraska, USA
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| Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2004 9:46 pm Post subject: |
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| sounds stupid to me, i transfer at kb bank and have never had problems |
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jazblanc77
Joined: 22 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2004 10:33 pm Post subject: Re: transfering money |
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| prosodic wrote: |
| The purpose of the limits is to prevent money laundering. |
In fact, I don't agree with you. Doing privates does not equate to laundering money.  |
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jazblanc77
Joined: 22 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2004 10:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Zyzyfer wrote: |
| Lost transfers? Like, what? They sent your money to the wrong place or something? |
They sent it to the right bank in practice, however, they sent it to the International Exchange section, therefore, it was impossible for it to be routed to my account. We had to do a trace and make arrangements to get it to my account. I knew a person who was having similar problems with CHB. They lost her money three times in a pretty severe way. It took a month each time to trace it and get it into her account. Why she kept going back is beyond me! |
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prosodic
Joined: 21 Jun 2004
Location: ����
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| Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2004 5:35 am Post subject: Re: transfering money |
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| jazblanc77 wrote: |
| prosodic wrote: |
| The purpose of the limits is to prevent money laundering. |
In fact, I don't agree with you. Doing privates does not equate to laundering money. |
| U.S. Treasury Website wrote: |
| According to the IRS, money laundering is the means by which criminals evade paying taxes on illegal income by concealing the source and the amount of profit. Money laundering is in effect tax evasion in progress. |
http://www.ustreas.gov/irs/ci/tax_fraud/moneylaundering.htm
| International Compliance Association Website wrote: |
Why is money laundering illegal?
The objective of the criminalisation of money laundering is to take the profit out of crime. The rationale for the creation of the offence is that it is wrong for individuals and organisations to assist criminals to benefit from the proceeds of their criminal activity or to facilitate the commission of such crimes by providing financial services to them. |
http://www.int-comp.org/index.asp
I never wrote that doing privates is money-laundering. Still private teaching is illegal for most foreigners in Korea.
What I wrote is that the limits are there to make sure that the money was earned legally, and that complies with international standards on anti-money laundering regulations.
The onus for preventing money-laundering is placed squarely on the shoulders of financial institutions. The Korean government seems unconcerned with domestic money-laundering, but certainly wants to comply with international standards.
At the time those limits were put in place, the press and politicians said that part of the purpose was to protect the value of the won. The thinking being that all the illegal foreign teachers were converting so much money that it was negatively impacting the exchange rate. That was good politics but not the real reason. The amount of private tutoring proceeds simply wasn't large enough to have a significant impact on exchange rates. |
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Grotto
Joined: 21 Mar 2004
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| Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2004 6:59 am Post subject: money |
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Cheap fast efficient
Get a bank cheque made out in US funds and mail it to someone you trust, parent sibling whatever to deposit it into your account. Cost is about 5580won for a million won transfer...5000 for the cheque and 580 for the airmail envelope and stamp. Usually takes about 7-10 days to arrive in Edmonton. I've been doing it for two years now and never had a problem. |
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oneiros
Joined: 19 Aug 2003
Location: Villa Straylight
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| Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2004 7:54 am Post subject: |
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| jazblanc77 wrote: |
| Zyzyfer wrote: |
| Lost transfers? Like, what? They sent your money to the wrong place or something? |
They sent it to the right bank in practice, however, they sent it to the International Exchange section, therefore, it was impossible for it to be routed to my account. We had to do a trace and make arrangements to get it to my account. I knew a person who was having similar problems with CHB. They lost her money three times in a pretty severe way. It took a month each time to trace it and get it into her account. Why she kept going back is beyond me! |
That happened to me twice. Also with CHB.  Really annoying because then I've got to scramble to get money in my bank account in time for my student loan payment.
They claimed it was my fault both times, too.  |
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