Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Curious George]

Could someone with experience tell me which of these banks is the best option?

I am leaving Korea with no intention of ever returning, and do not want to exchange my won right now due to poor rates. My plan is to open an account with one of these international banks and let it sit for 6-12 months before transferring it out.

HSBC, Bank of America, or Citibank.

Which one is truly the most global in that...

1) I will be able to access my money from anywhere in the world. Especially Thailand, USA, and Korea.

2) Will give me an ATM card that I can 100% for sure use in all these countries.

3) Has good English usage in Korea. (IE website, bank employees, etc understand and can communicate in English).

4) Has easy to use internet banking where I can link several accounts in Thailand and USA to transfer the money out in 6 months from now.
(I must also be able to use it from different computers in different countries).

5) Has the lowest fees for transferring money, ATM charges, etc.

6) If I have a problem such as an error in the Korean end, will any of these banks be able to help me in their overseas branches? (It is cost prohibitive to come back to Korea to fix something).

7) Has a good English speaking telephone service with good Customer Service that I can call from anywhere in the world.

Understands and can give me travellers cheques if I want them. (I went to several Korean Banks and they didn't even have a clue what a traveller's cheque was)

Now from my initial research it looks like HSBC has the most of what I want in Asia. They do have branches in America too but not in the SE where I will live if I go back.

Bank of America also looks good but I cannot find the Korean website for them. Do they have one?

Citibank is in financial trouble and I don't think they are a good option right now. I have also read that they charge very high fees for stuff.

Also could someone tell me where these banks are located in in preferably NW Seoul? I know HSBC main branch is in Namdaemun.

Where is BoA and CitiBank at? (Subway station and exit please).

Or are there another international bank in Korea that I missed that has these services?

Thanks!

[moosehead]

I'm very curious as to how you expect to "transfer your money out" of Korea if and when you aren't here -

seems like you need to set up a K bank account w/internet service that allows for transfers over the internet w/o going into a branch.

then wire it to your foreign account when you feel the exchange rate is acceptable.

is that what you are going on about?

please let us know if it is - I don't think it will work, personally, but would seriously like to know since I plan on returning next year and would do the same if possible.

[Curious George]

Its not that difficult to understand.

Go to HSBC or BoA here in Korea open account and put all money in. Get ATM card and internet banking and link to my Thai and US accounts so I can transfer money to them. In 6-12 months log onto the internet banking website and do the transfer. They key words are internet banking and ATM card. This is what will allow me to get my money out without being in Korea.

And you are correct to assume it wouldn't work with a Korean bank as they are usually incompetent in areas of international banking. You can't even get an ATM card that works in another country or internet banking set up in a K bank without a major, major hassle. And as previously mentioned they don't even know what a cashiers or travellers cheque is. Which is why I want a non-Korean bank that I can trust to understand how to do it.

[Ut videam]

AFAIK, Bank of America's Korean office (that's right, singular) only handles investment banking. You can't go there and open an account.

As for HSBC and Citi, only the name and corporate parent are the same from country to country. You can't expect to open a Citibank account in Korea and have transparent access to it from an American Citibank account. It simply doesn't work that way�neither American nor Korean banking laws would permit it.

What you need to do is find a Korean bank that offers relatively painless overseas remittance via online banking. KEB does, once you visit your local branch and get all the receiving account information registered. Nonghyup's online banking in English is also pretty decent, but I've never tried overseas remittance with them. Korean banking laws currently only allow you to designate one bank as your overseas remittance bank, which allows them to make sure that you're staying within the limits. You can change your remittance bank, but only once in a 12 month period, and I suspect it's a pain unless you speak Korean.

[Curious George]

Thanks for the helpful info Ut videam.

So maybe it has to be a Korean Bank after all.

I read in another thread that KEB was good so maybe I will try them. Can you tell me if KEB bank also will give me a truly international ATM card I can use (particularly in Thailand)? I am at KB Star and have tried many times to get a ATM card that works outside this country and they simply refuse to give to a foreigner. (I have tried about 5 or 6 different branches and always get the "No you dirty foreigner, no international ATM card for you" attitude).

[FixedGearJerk]

I went to Citibank to try to open an account today and they told me that since I am American and Citibank in an American bank, that my income would be reported to the American government and I would be taxed on it. In adition I would still be paying the Korean tax. I don't understand this and it doesn't seem right. Any Americans use Citibank?

[livinginkunsan]

They are just giving you BS.. I went in and they flat out refused to open an account for me, for the sole reason of me being a foreigner... I hope they rot in hell

[Tiger Beer]

[red_devil]

Do this: (i just did all this research on the same thing)

WaMu Free Checking
OR
Charles Schwab Checking

Open a Korean account with Woori (they have really good English online banking website).

Dump all your money in that.

Once you sign up for online banking from Woori you can do a standard wire transfer from your Korean bank directly into your US checking account.

- Schwab provides the banking information that you need to put into the fields on the Woori website matched perfectly.
- BUT, WaMu has FEE FREE outgoing wire transfers foreign or domestic. (Their interest checking has Fee free both incoming and outgoing foreign or domestic wire transfers but u need to maintain a $5K balance to avoid a $10/mo fee, but considering what you'd pay for wire fee's it'd still be worth it.)

[FixedGearJerk]

[hypnotoad777]

Fixed Gear, 5000 won or 5000 dollars?

[winterfall]

Most banks can be accessed anywhere, no matter what country as long as you use the right ATM and your card has a visa or master logo. Your balance will just come up as the local currency and you've got do the math in your head so you don't go under your minimum. Except Korean banks, they're weird. If your going to travel just wire your money home.

On the topic of transfers. The thing gets you is the fees. You get 1 fee for transferring out and another for receiving. Korean transfer out fees are low. The acceptance fess are high like HSBC charges $20 on an international wire transfer if its US currency. $40 if it's not. Some banks don't charge on incoming international transfers if its in US currency. Others do. You've gotta read the fine print.

Just cause your using the same bank here and your home country doesn't mean the fees are waived.

Say you've got a US HSBC account and a Korean HSBC account. The international transfer fees aren't waived. Money laundering laws, same umbrella name but, the banks operate differently in different countries. HSBC does have that premier service that links together all your accounts and no transfer fees. but the minimum balance on that is a quarter million US.

And finally, no English service doesn't change based on the bank. It depends on what area your in. If your in a heavy foreigner area, like Itaewon. All the bank employees speak fluent, Native level English. If your in a non foreign area like Suwon. Then there's a good chance they won't speak English well. You'll have to write it down, so they can copy it into a online translator.

[Kryten]

I'd recommend KEB. I have internet banking set up with them so I can transfer money to another account from outside Korea. I also have an ATM card that works internationally. The ATM card used to be a problem for many a few years ago but most Korean banks will issue working international ATM cards now.

[Murakano]

I have international cards/internet banking with both KEB and Standard Chartered (British bank but took over Korea First Bank). Both banks issue cards that work abroad.

SC charge 1% (at least with the "Do Dream" account) of whatever withdrawal you make.....downside is that the cards are issued by Maestro it`s not as widely accepted as Visa/Mastecard obviously. The "Do Dream" account is also a 3.6% variable savings account with instant access/regular bank account so at least you`d be accruing a bit of interest.

KEB I believe have a flat rate of 5,000 won(?) per withdrawal when using your card abroad...but you can get a visa issued card. For me the internet banking is better with KEB and the English speaking services a bit better.

I would forget about HSBC/Citi etc if you can try and get past your anti-koreaness of using a Korean bank. HSBC/Citi have very little to do with the banks back home other than the name itself. The English speaking services there are hardly any better (if not worse) anyway.

[crossmr]