Korean Job Discussion Forums

[nobbyken]

I recently sent money from the UK to Korea to cover medical expenses.

It was a SWIFT payment to my KB account.
I got the request done online, and I had to tell why the money was being transferred.

Here is the message I got before I proceeded with the transaction.

Thanks for asking us to send a foreign transfer for you.

Recent changes in anti-terrorism legislation in the USA have meant that the US government now has increased rights of access to information held by banks about their customers and to details of funds transfers.

As all SWIFT transfers and Structured Payments are processed through a correspondent bank in the USA, any details of these payments will be disclosed to the US department of the Treasury. This also applies to TIPANET payments to the USA.

The Data Protection Authority in Belgium has ruled that this is a breach of the Data Protection Directive. This means that the sender of the transfer must be made aware and be given the option not to proceed if they don't agree to this sharing of information.

I need your agreement to the declaration each time you want to make a SWIFT or Structured Payment transfer, or a TIPANET transfer to the USA.

Below is the declaration:

In order to make this payment, personal information relating to the individuals involved in the transfer may be processed for the purposes of:

a) Complying with applicable laws, including without limitation anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism laws and regulations

b) Fighting crime and terrorism

c) Disclosure to any Government entity, regulatory authority or to any person we reasonably think necessary for these purposes. This may mean that personal information will be transferred outside the EEA to countries, which do not provide the same level of data protection as the UK.

Please reply to this message to confirm that you agree to the above. Once I've got your agreement to the declaration, I'll be able to go ahead with your transfer request.

Anyone else have a similar experience?

[dannylelievre]

I'm also sick of the banks in this country. They are so freaked out (not just the banks, but the government) about foreigners gaining anything during their stay in the country. For crap sake, I can't spend 2,500,000 won on kimchi and rice everyday, what the hell do they expect me to do with the leftover, invest in korean stocks, start a business, open an orphanage? Unless you had an international debit card from a Korean bank issued before the summer, it is now illegal for foreigners to obtain them unless you get co-signed by a legal korean. Great, make me travel with 2,000,000 won in cash to japan or thailand for vacation and get mugged on the way back from the airport and be totally screwed. If anyone is having trouble on the east side of the city, ive straightened out a couple banks over here and they are not saying anything about stamps, monetary limits, or anything.

[mindmetoo]

[Trumpcard]

I've been banking with Hana and generally they're ok with doing transfers (Myeongdong branch) but 4 out of 5 times theyve written in my passport. I'm thinking of saving cash and then depositing into a Korean friend's account and getting him to then wire it to my account back home.

[Adventurer]

[Atavistic]

[dannylelievre]

Korea passed a new law in september or sometime around then so that foreigners could no longer get cards, credit or debit, that allowed them to withdraw their korean funds outside of korea. NO BANK will give you one.

[regicide]

[mehamrick]