Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Colorado Couple]

Hello,

We are set to start teaching in Dajeon in a few months. I'm just curious if anyone has any tips on banking within Korea? How do you get paid by your school and how do you purchase things? Still using home accounts for the most part? Paying school loans?


Just some things I've been thinking about. If we could open up a general discussion, that'd be great. Thanks!


Forrest

[santafly]

Your school will likely be paying you by direct deposit, so they will send you to one of the national banks to open an account before your first paycheck. My experience in Seoul was that there was always someone at the bank that spoke English and was helpful. You will get an ATM card with your bank account that can be used anywhere in Korea (unusable outside of Korea). Most stores in Korea accept plastic - your Korean ATM card and your visa card from home. Most ATMs in Korea won't take your foreign visa card but you can find one that will (train, subway, and bus stations, some banks). I actually use more cash in Korea than in America - street food.

Some things in Korea are more convenient/logical/advanced than America, sometimes it's the other way around. Korean banks aren't exactly up on customer service. Setting up internet banking in Korea was such a huge hassle that I just gave up. There have been many posts here about how difficult (or impossible) it is as a foreigner to get a Korean visa card that works outside of Korea.

If you have bills to pay at home I would wire money from the Korean account to your home account. You'll have to do this in person, bring your passport and expect it to take 30 minutes for no apparent reason.

Where you from in CO? I lived in Telluride for a couple years.

[santafly]

When you come to Korea I would bring some cash - maybe a couple hundred each. If your planning on traveling to other Asian countries, often only crisp unblemished dollars will be accepted. Other than that you can rely on ATMs. Make sure you have the contact info for your bank at home, just in case. Sometimes they (your bank) freak out when they start seeing purchases in Asia and think that your card has been stolen - you then have to call them to get your card unlocked.

[Big Mac]

I would open an account with whatever bank your school deals with for the deposit of your pay. Then I would open an account with KEB (Korea Exchange Bank) for savings and for overseas transfers. KEB has excellent service in English and a great online banking site. You can even send money to your home country from their website. They will also do money orders, which are cheaper than wire transfers because your home bank won't charge you a fee to accept the transfer. It usually ends up costing about 23,000 Won for a wire transfer (8,000 Won for the fee on this end, $15 for the home bank fee). You can only send money overseas with one bank according to Korean banking rules.

If you have an account with KEB you can also get a global atm card that will work outside of Korea. It also acts like a visa card within Korea. Other banks will not allow you to do that.

I rarely ever use my home account anymore. I only use it if I buy something online with my Canadian visa card. I don't have student loans, but if I did I would have to send money back to Canada to pay them. You can't pay them from here.