Korean Job Discussion Forums

[citizen erased]

i deposited a 2000 $USD check today at Shinhan bank and I was told that it would take up to 30 days to clear. Also, there was a 22,000 won fee for the deposit. Korea still has not ceased to amaze me.

[kprrok]

Sounds normal or actually better than normal to me. Do you think this was too long or expensive?

You're basically asking your bank to do something they've probably never seen in their lives (a "check"). They aren't just going to allow you to use that money immediately, they'll want to check it out and make sure they will get paid for this little piece of paper that is possibly a forgery since they never see them. So that explains the time.

For the fee, sounds good. That's about the same fee for a wire transfer, which is what they'll probably be doing to get the money for that check.

Are you complaining or happy about this? I'd be pretty cool with it. Actually, no, I would've just had it deposited in my home account and wired to me directly. Much easier that way.

KPRROK

[betchay]

I encashed a US check last December at KEB. It was only for $540 and I had to pay 10,000 won up front. The check cleared in two weeks and was deposited on my bank account. Citibank charges 100,000 won for this!

[Justin Kimberlake]

[Join Me]

[icicle]

[aerialsimulacrum]

Has anyone successfully arranged having their monthly pay in Korea sent directly to a bank account in their home country? If so, what pieces of information were needed to set it up? I am going to work for GEPIK and want to avoid Korean banks completely.

[OiGirl]

[icicle]

Why do you want to avoid Korean Banks altogether? There are some things which are much easier to do if you have a Korean bank. Things like getting a cell phone on contract, paying bills etc. I have not heard of anyone managing to get their Korean pay transfered automatically to a bank in another country ... unless it was their final pay (and they were not going to still be in Korea when the payment was going to be made ... and that is usually considered to be a high risk payment to wait for ... likely not to be made). It is really not hard to arrange for transfers from Korean banks to banks in other countries.

[peppermint]

[icicle]

Nonghyup is not a bad bank to deal with. My first account in Korea was with them (yes .. public school helped me open it ... It was the bank they dealt with) and I had no problems with them either with organising Internet Banking and transfering money back to Australia. I would have been happy to have dealt with them again ... But my new school (hagwon) does their banking with another bank and wanted me to open an account for my pay to go into. I was happy to do that ... and initially planned to then transfer it to my Nonghyup account because I knew I would have no problem with International transfers or Internet banking but because it is so close to my school I decided to do my first International transfer of this trip to Australia at the new bank and see how it went. It was in my Australian bank the next day so looks like it will suit me in the end very well. I personally put convenience to where you are located as a good criteria to use in selecting a bank - but would certainly put Nonghyup in the category of banks I would be very happy to deal with. They gave me great customer service.

[aerialsimulacrum]

There was some thread where a user named jadarite had said s/he got this arranged, and I wanted confirmation from others on this and also to know if it was possible for public school teachers. I can't PM yet.

Mostly it's that I don't trust Korean banks.