Korean Job Discussion Forums

kinerry · Joined: 01 Jun 2009

What method do you guys use to pay bills back in the US?

afsjesse · Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Location: Kickin' it in 'Kato town.

Direct Debit

kinerry · Joined: 01 Jun 2009

afsjesse · Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Location: Kickin' it in 'Kato town.

Kikomom · Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 7:17 pm Post subject:

Direct debit will lower your interest rates by .25% if your loans are managed by AES.

E_athlete · Joined: 09 Jun 2009 Location: Korea sparkling

Kikomom · Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 10:32 am Post subject:

Get a bank account at home and set up web banking with them--checking and savings. Ask for a debit (check) card that can be used like a credit card anywhere in the world--but comes out of your checking account. Get the teller to write down the routing and account numbers for you. Tuck these into your wallet so you'll have them in Korea.

Set up Bill Pay on your home web bank and add your creditors (more can be added or deleted at any time). You will need account numbers, addresses and phone numbers that you can get off your bills. Bill pay web accounts will even send checks to creditors without account numbers. Let the bank do the fund transfers and mailing for you.

When you get your Korean bank account where your pay will be deposited, you can make transfers from there to your home account. Just make sure the K-bank has the routing/account numbers attached to your ATM card. You may have to do this inside the bank with a teller the first time, but the numbers should then be attached to your ATM account and you can choose "Overseas Remittance" from your atm options and the home account should be there. Then you can go back online to your home bank to check your balances and move money between checking and savings.

Better yet, find a K-bank that does web banking like KEB (not to be confused with KB) and do all your balance checking and transfers online at your convenience. KEB will also give you a Global debit card that you can use to draw from your Korean account and works overseas too.

seonsengnimble · Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 11:22 am Post subject:

If you are american, the easiest way is to set up a sallie mae account, enter in you bank account number and routing number, and then pay once a month through the sallie mae website. If you don't have an American account or any money in your account, however, it is quite difficult even with an international Korean card. You have to call up India and go through all sorts of hoops just to pay with a card and then pay a hefty fee.

Come to think of it, I really really despise Sallie Mae.

Anthem · Joined: 14 Jul 2009

Not sure how you are currently paying your students loans. I ran into trouble with mine because they don't have online bill pay. I was mailing a check with a coupon every month. Give them a call and they will work with you. They ended up giving me the option to have an automatic draft on my US bank account.

Kikomom · Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 1:31 pm Post subject:

kinerry · Joined: 01 Jun 2009

I was more worried about the transfer costs for converting from won to the USD.

Kikomom · Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2009 12:18 pm Post subject:

Then save your money in your Korean account and send it back when the rates are good. Right now it's 1245, the best it's been in months.

kinerry · Joined: 01 Jun 2009

Kikomom · Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2009 12:40 pm Post subject:

KEB Overseas Remittance fees

davai! · Joined: 04 Dec 2005 Location: Kuwait

Go to the nearest Korean bank and buy Amex travelers' checks. You will get a rate slightly lower than if you bought USD in cash. Make sure to get a receipt. Then make them out to yourself and endorse with your account number and the words "FOR DEPOSIT ONLY." Then mail them DIRECTLY to your stateside bank via airmail. (680won + cost of envelope) Include a deposit slip or write a note, indicating the account number you would like them to deposit to.

Wait a week for transit. Then, pay your student bill via internet.

Finally, ignore the following posters (in no particular order) who insist you need to send your $ through a friend/relative/trusted party. That is not necessary.

n.b. Don't use the word "bank" in the address. Kpost may have an issue with that.

By using this method, I saved roughly 80 USD in transfer fees every time. (all banks are different, but they all want a piece of your money!)