Korean Job Discussion Forums

[chickyabroad]

Actually my first question should be, will my bank account still exist when I get back to Korea? I've been away since the beginning of December and probably won't be back until the end of August. Plus I only had about 10,000 won left in the account when I left (don't know if that would make a difference).

Also, I'm planning to live in Seoul next time around but had a hard time finding branches of this bank the few times I was in the city. Does anyone know of any locations in Seoul? Considering all the problems people seem to have with different banks, I'd like to stay with this one as I never had a problem. They gave me a check card with no hassle and my atm card is labeled 'international', though I've never tried it outside of the country. But the main reason I like them is that it never took more than 24 hours for money I transferred to show up in my US account.

[Lekker]

IBK is all over Seoul. They can F off though. Told me one too many times that since I am a foreigner I am not allowed to have a check card, send money back to America, deposit more than 2 million won per month, even though my monthly salary is more than that. Close your account and go to HB, NH, KB, or KEB. Or do what you want.

[chickyabroad]

[Lekker]

[Otherside]

I've had pretty good experiences with IBK. My only complaint is that there branch footprint seems to be the worst of the major banks...

That being said, I live outside of Seoul, whenever I visit Seoul they seem to have branches everywhere...(perhaps 1 for every 2 KB branches, which is still plenty...)

[definitely maybe]

in terms of a check card, a few years ago i went into the donam-dong branch to get a new bankbook and the teller insisted that i get myself a new bc checkcard. she thought it was a waist of my time to be toiling away with an ordinary bankcard. they've also been great about sending home money with me. the ichon-dong branch even went as far as to suggest that i use one of their us money orders to remit as opposed to facing wiring fees.

now, back to the actual questions. if my experience is any indication, you'll have no problem keeping an empty bank account with ibk while you're out of the country. i've done it on two different occasions. once for 3 months and once for 5. as for finding branches, it was sometimes difficult to find locations around seoul four years ago, but new ones are springing up all over the place these days.

[Mr. BlackCat]

Another happy IBK customer here. I wire money home every month with no hassles ever. Last month they made a note in my passport for the first time in over 2 years. I got a check card right off the bat without even asking (or knowing what it was). I also got an international bank card that actually works. All I did was have my boss write a note in Korean for me asking for it and viola!

Like a couple other people mentioned, they seem to have fewer branches than the other banks. But there's one at the most important subway stops you'll find yourself at in Seoul (Itaewon, Hongik Uni., Gangnam).

[definitely maybe]

[chickyabroad]

Ok, apparently I've had my eyes closed or something the few times I was looking for a branch in Seoul. But thanks for all the locations! And it's good to hear that others are having good experiences with this bank in Seoul. I wasn't looking forward to finding another one.