Korean Job Discussion Forums

[m10z10n]

Leaving Korea in a months time, what's the best step to take considering the ugly dollar/Won exchange rate?

Also, how much cash can I take with me when I exit?

Thank you soooooooooooo much![size=18]

[sobriquet]

How badly do you need your money?

If it's desperate then you are out of luck.

If you can hold off then open up a KEB autotransfering account thing. Get online banking setup and make the transfer when you are back home at a later date.

[I-am-me]

I second that! Any plans of coming back to korea?

[Jeff's Cigarettes]

You could save money on toilet paper.

[TekkaManBladeX]

Keep in Korea in a savings account or something. When the exchange rate improves, transfer it over!

[Tobias]

KEB account with a global check card.
Plane ticket.
Bye-bye.

Bye-bye forever, though?

You can take up to $10,000 on your person to the USA. I assume you're heading there. But you won't come close to this, I hope. Surely you won't allow yourself to be hosed that badly. Get the KEB account set up, plant your money here, and take off.

The KEB account is a win-win thing. Korea wins because the won you'd otherwise take to the USA stays here. You win because your won stays here and thus keeps its value. The instant it hits your USA bank, it loses. It's like depreciation on a new car, only in this case it's worse.

[Francis-Pax]

[PaulPizzazz]

This KEB online autotransfering sounds interesting. Yet how many of you really trust this 100%? It's one thing to suggest to others to do this with their money, but would any of you want to do that with yours? Has anyone actually done this before or are currently using this service from abroad?

I mean for me, I will have a pretty big sum of money that I will want to transfer out of Korea when I'm ready to leave in 6 months. I have no reason or desire to ever come back to Korea once I've left. I will not require all of my money with me the moment I leave. Of course I don't want to take a loss by sending money home to Canada with what will probably still be a sh!tty exchange rate from now until then. But I don't really trust leaving money behind in a foreign country (perhaps this one in particular).

I've read numerous times about English teachers setting something up with their Korean banks with the expectation that they would be able to access their won in a foreign country, only to get out of Korea and find out that they weren't able to get at that money. Now that might not be so bad if you're on a 2 week holiday from Korea knowing that you'll be back in the country and that you'll be able to sort it out at that time. What happens if something isn't working out and you can't get at the won in your Korean bank and you have no intention of coming back to Korea? Surely you don't want to have to fly into Korea just to get at your money.

Once I leave Korea I will be backpacking it through Asia and Africa for 1 year. If my money got mistakenly tied up in Korea, there's no easy way for me to drop by the KEB branch and get them to fix it for me. I really would not want to have to deal with that stress on my trip (when a large portion of those funds will be needed) or once I got back home to Canada where I will then want to use the remainder of my savings.

It's a difficult decision.

Transfer now and lose a few million but feel safe that my money is in my Canadian account.

or

Leave it in Korea and take the chance that it will be worth more to me later, knowing that I'll get a major headache IF I'm not able to transfer it out as planned .

[Tobias]

[PaulPizzazz]

I've been in Korea for a few years and I've known 2 separate people that had problems getting money out abroad. I've definitely read of people on this website that said they had similar problems. If you haven't heard about this problem, not sure what to say..

It's nice that the bank has pledged to you that it will work outside of the country when and where you want it to. Some of those who've had problems in the past were told the same things by the same kinds of people at their banks. I guess you won't truly know if it works until you get to a foreign country. This is Korea and time and time again things are said that never come to fruition, it makes me a bit sceptical about things. I guess I don't want to have to chance it at some automated teller in Tanzania to see if the ajjoshie in my KEB branch was perhaps mistaken about some small fact.

Anyhow, a card is good and all if it works. I'd be a bit concerned about losing or damaging that card. Of course that would be no fault of the banks. I would simply be more comfortable having to replace a card from my bank back home and not a KEB card.

But internet banking that is done without a card sounds like a safer method IMO. Has anyone used this service yet?

[losing_touch]

[PaulPizzazz]

losing_touch,

Could you give any info about how this works or was set-up for you?

I will be soon be going to a KEB branch to ask myself. Just looking for the basic idea.

Paul

[roadballmint]

[Tobias]

This is what pisses me off about this site. I asked about setting up a KEB or EverRich account, turning in my ARC, and flying off about three weeks ago in a thread here at the funny farm. Got ZERO replies.

http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=148039&highlight=


I'll go back to the KEB branch and find out what the deal is when accessing my new account in places like San Francisco. I'll get the internet banking capability set up, and I'll even get a spare card made up if I can. I'll also get that third and fourth opinion somebody talked about by calling the Seoul KEB branch and asking those folks about it.

[Jeff's Cigarettes]

Way to go tobias! Keep us posted w/ what u have set up finally. I already have internet banking w/ KEB. It's good to here I'll still be able to use it even when out of Korea for good.