Korean Job Discussion Forums

[travisabroad]

I'm planning on leaving for Korea in September, but will still have credit card and student loan payments that need to be made in USD while I'm over there. I currently have an account with Citibank, but they were less than helpful and told me that I would have to wire money back every month using Western Union. I'm planning to talk to HSBC and some other multinationals, but does anyone have advice for paying bills in USD from Korea? If I need to do this, should I make sure I'm placed in a bigger city with a specific bank branch? Will I be automatically set up with a bank account through a public school job? Any and all advice would be appreciated. Thanks!!

[cangel]

When I left for Asia almost 7 years ago, most banks did not offer online banking. As such, I used an online bill paying service called, Paytrust. You set up your account by entering your bills (account numbers, website log in etc). You must also set up your bank account so the bills can be paid through their service. You also receive from them, a new billing address where your paper bills are sent, scanned, and put online (Paytrust site). When a bill come in, they send you an email. You log on, check out the scan, pay the bill. Of course you can set it up where the bill is paid every month automatically. I have used them for many years and never had a problem. Great service. I pay less than 7 bucks a month for this service. You just have to send money home to keep your stateside bank stocked with cash. Any other questions, PM me.

[Bibbitybop]

You don't have to use Western Union, but you have to wire money into an American account.

Or, you can get an International Debit Card, send it to someone back home and have them take money out of your Korean account and put it in your American account.

[thegadfly]

I went to a foreign exchange bank and bought traveler's cheques. I would get them in $100 and $50 denominations, and then just made one of each out to SallieMae...then I just mailed them in -- pretty much the way I used to pay in the US, except in the US I used personal checks.

The TC's at my bank do not cost anything (I have an account, so that may be why) and they have a better exchange rate than cash. Under 1000 won to mail them, but it took like 10 days for my payments to arrive, so I just sent my checks before I received my bill to pay on time.

[Bibbitybop]

[hossenfeffer]

Bibbitybop--

I had the same question prior to coming to Korea. What I suggest is that you get an on-line checking account with your bank at home. When you get your monthly salary here, you electronically transfer your money to your checking account in the U.S. The wire transfer is in your bank account within a few days and you just pay your bills on-line (in Korea) using your American/Canadian checking account. It has worked out VERY well for me. I usually transfer 2.0 million Won to my checking account every month. My bank here takes a $15 transaction fee and my bank at home takes a $15 transaction fee. While that doesn't make me particularly happy...it's a small price to pay considering the convenience.

You need to make sure to bring all the essential information pertaining to your checking account to your Korean bank. For example: Your Bank's address and telephone number, your account number, and your routing number. After you set up the first transaction with your bank it takes about ten minutes every time after.

If you have any more specific questions pm me.

hossenfeffer

[pest2]

Theres one more way: KEB bank will sell you a cashieers check that can be cashed at a US bank (or used to pay a bill). Last year, it was a 5,000 fee... Go to KEB. Then just mail it to the loan and credit card ppl. Its the same thing you have to use to pay the US Embassy to get a passport renewal. It has a name that slipped my mind now (ju sin hwan?) ... but anyway, if you go to the US Embassy site and look up "passport renewal" and then "payment for renewal", you can see it there.

[ttompatz]

[Alyallen]

What everyone else has said has been interesting. I just thought I'd toss out this tip. You should check to see if you get a discount for using electronic payments for your student loans....I get like 1% off or something for using electronic payments... It's not much but it's something to look into...

By the way, I wire transfer money to my U.S. account and then the loan company automatically withdraws its payments from the account. Unfortunately, the wire transfer charge has risen at KEB (at least in Jeonju) to 23,000 won. My bank now charges me for receiving the transfer. It's soo annoying so I'd also suggest you find out what fees your bank may charge for receiving the transfer into your account...

Best of luck!

[hogwonguy1979]

better off wiring money from korean bank acct to your us account, then you can pay your cc bills online (90% of cc issuers allow this) and set up your student loans for automatic debit from your us acct, you'll even get a break on the interest rate.

been doing it for 5 years now without a hitch. just dont pay things from a computer at a pc bang just too many people can get a look at your info there

[Bibbitybop]

[dogshed]

The least expensive way is to buy a check from KEB and mail it
to mom or directly to the bank with a deposit slip as the previous
posts have mentioned. Put a few thousand in your account back home
and then let them take it out directly to get that interest rate deduction
mentioned by alyallen.

My $700 check had a 10,000 won fee.
My $5319 check had a 15,000 won fee I think. (I have the copies of the checks handy but not the receipts.)

KEB will give you a Bank of New York check with a copy and a receipt. You keep the copy and send the check. It's a regular American check with an ACH number so there is no additional fee from your bank or an intermediary bank.

Pay the bare minimum on the student loans. Use the percent of income option or the graduated payment option. Student loans are considered
"good debt".

[hogwonguy1979]

i dont why people are so friggin cheap and resort to sending checks from banks here. OK so it costs $20-25 in fees total on both ends vs $5-10 to get a check, big deal. you dont have to worry about things getting lost in the mail, most of the time the money gets to your NA bank the next day or 1-2 days later at the latest vs a week -10 days via post.

bottom line is to wire the money from your korean acct and pay your bills online and like I said before get your loans to automatically debit your stateside acct, heck what you save on interest will offset the charges no hassles, no problems

[dogshed]

student loan threads:

http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=83227&highlight=
http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=77421&highlight=

[travisabroad]

Thanks everyone for all your advice -- now I know this can be done. All that's left is figuring out where I want to go!

Thanks again!