Korean Job Discussion Forums

[projectgenesis]

Hi, are there any English people working in Korea at the moment that can offer some advice on avoiding ridiculous charges when sending money home regularly. I am aware that you will loose money on exchange rates and then get charged again for sending off shore. But the annoying thing is that the bank in the UK will charge you again for receiveing payments from abroad. LLoyds charges 6 pounds for every 100 pound transfer I have bills to pay in England every month and I also want to save, how can I avoid extortionate charges? Thanx

[Setaro]

Don't bank with Lloyds.

If they charge 6% on payments, then they charge 6% on payments. Only thing you can do is use another bank.

I transfered 2 million Won back to England last month and got charged about �12 by halifax. I don't know if that's a percentage or a flat fee, but it's still much lower than the 6% you're getting charged.

[Big Mac]

I avoided the bank charges by getting a money order and mailing it home to my parents. They would deposit it in my bank account like a regular cheque and the bank didn't charge me a thing. My bank looked at KEB's money orders like domestic cheques, which meant that they didn't put any holds on them, like they do with some international cheques.

I guess it all depends on how quickly you need the money in your home account. I never needed it there instantly.

[morrisonhotel]

Christ almighty! Do Lloyds really charge 6%? Note to self: change bank account now.

[AsiaESLbound]

I heard KEB has online banking in English with international transfers possible where you can transfer money from Korea to your other bank and Paypal accounts, but you have to request it in Seoul and be specially set up for it to work by a banker who knows how to help you. If you can pay bills with Paypal or an online HSBC account, then you might avoid Lloyds 6% commission rip off and other fees.

[Big Mac]

If you transfer money with online banking though, you will still get hit with a receiving fee by your home bank. That is the problem that the OP is having.

[AsiaESLbound]

So the only way around excessive fees is cash, money orders, and travelers checks. Fees aren't cheap as they were going to charge me 70,000 won to wire 3 million won home. That's like paying tourist money changer rates of 2.5% with 6% commission being typical a tourist trap scam rip off rate. I'm tired of paying tourist prices for coffee, juice, meat, and financial services not to say Korea has double pricing system, but it's just more expensive than average.

[willteachforfood]

Do they really charge 6% on incoming wires? Or are you simply sending such a small amount of money that the standard fees work out to 6%? If you're sending money home each month I would presume that the latter is the case.

There is no excuse for sending money home each month. The absolute bare minimum should be around 3 million won per transfer, but realistically you need to be sending more than 5 million at a time to mitigate fees.

You basically have 2 options:

1. Ask a friend/family member to loan you 1-2 thousand pounds for 3 months. Pay the minimum on your bills with this money in England while you stockpile won in Korea. Then send over a lump sum of won once your pounds have run out that is double the size of your loan...1/2 to pay off the loan to your friend/family member, and 1/2 to have the lump sum in England to pay your bills....repeat this process, slowly sending more and more money home at a time.

2. If you absolutely can't borrow any money, then your best bet is to bust your arse for 2 months and live like a pauper. Even on the lowest salary in Korea you can save 1.5 million in a month.....so for 2 months you read books, watch movies online, hang out with friends at home, eat only at home, and so on....get together 3 million as fast as you can.

If you send money home every month, or even every 2 months, you're going to eat yourself alive. The key to avoiding bank fees is sending as few transfers as possible. While some banks may charge less than others, you're going to take a 15-20 pound hit at each transfer no matter what you do.

[sara210]

I bank with Lloyds..they charge you 12 pounds flat fee no matter how much you send. Then Nonghyp charge me about 10,000. So the total cost is around 40,000 all told.


Try saving up your money and sending it in one go.

But I'm sure Lloyds don't charge 6 pound for every 100.

Hope that helps.

[shostahoosier]

My bank in the US doesnt charge an incoming wire transfer fee, but I still get hit with a mystery fee anyway.

You dont have to set up your KEB account in Seoul to get access to online banking and international wire transfers. Maybe you were talking about Paypal which I'll admit I dont use so I dont know much about.

Can you set up another bank account in the UK that doesnt kill you with wire transfer fees?

[DeLaRed]

[jonbowman88]

I llinked paypal to my american and korean bank account and it doesn't work. Well it does, but you still run into fees. I forget what exactly they were, i know paypal charges a % for converting to the dollar. anyways it wasn't any cheaper then wiring money home. Unless the amounts you are sending are small, then it might be worth it.

[Rhodesian]

[Rhodesian]

[zoeksk]

I went into my bank the other day (Natwest) and told them what I was doing. They said that they do charge a % to take money out of a cash point but not to use my card to pay for things (ie in a supermarket or at a restaurant)

They also said that although they DO NOT charge AT ALL for receiving payments from abroad the bank I am sending it through probably will and also the government might take some? I don't know if this only applies to graduate accounts with Natwest but if you can open one, I would. Avoid HSBC though I went in to discuss it with them and they said they only way I could avoid charges for sending/receiving money from abroad or using a card abroad was to pay a monthly fee to open a world-wide bank account (of course they wouldn't charge me if I put �50,000 in there and I was allowed to have the first 3 months free whilst I built up that amount)

On another note if I have to pay back my student loan while I'm in Korea (this is the only bill I need to pay while abroad) do I have to do it monthly? and does anyone have any idea what the repayments are like?