Korean Job Discussion Forums

[iamthecheese86]

So, what do you do with all the won in your bank account when you leave? Do you just pull it all out and carry cash home in your pocket? Or do you wire money home and pay the fees there? A bit confused on this...

[ttompatz]

[akcrono]

This topic has come up often in general discussion. Generally, wiring the money home is a better deal as the fees are greatly offset by the better exchange rate. I have heard (can't confirm) that you can avoid the fees by cashing out your money in traveler's checks, which get's you the same exchange rate as a wire transfer. Many other methods have been tried such as paypal, all with little success.

That's a summary of browsing Dave's for the last 6 months.

[AsiaESLbound]

I am trying to get paid before 4pm on Friday to have time to handle my business, but having a tough timing getting a clear answer to an agreement. If you wire money at the last minute and something goes wrong that needs corrected, then you are out of luck since you would no longer be in country by the time you find out there's a problem to fix it. I think it's best to withdraw your final pay in US dollars cash after having wired home at least 2 weeks prior anything else you saved. Waiting until the last minute is not the best way to go about it even though that's how they do it in Korea. If you are finishing up a public school and most everyone in your smallish town banks at NH, there will be a cash run you hope to beat so they don't tell you it will be after the March 1st holiday before more dollar currency is available.

[sirius black]

I have 2 bank accounts. One of them is Daegu Bank that has an ATM card I can use internationally. I have two ATM cards, they issued another to me when I said I needed to get money when I am out of the country on vacation but it turns out both can be used, they just coded the other to be able to do that.
Anyway, I mailed one home to my brother and told him the password so when I need money in my bank account back home he just does a regular ATM withdrawal. I use the DB account when I want to send large amounts. He just withdraws the daily max amount and its much cheaper than the wiring fees from the bank or western union. The daily max doesn't cover the entire amount but even if its 2 or even 3 days its considerable less than wiring fees.

[EddieH]

I'll be using a friend to wire my money home. I won't be getting my last paycheck/bonus/pension (I chose to have the pension sent to my Korean account, cause it takes less time) until several weeks after I leave, so I'm just going to leave my bank information with a fellow coworker and have him wire it all to me about a month after I split.

[RobertGR]

[Skyblue]

Is the currency conversion done locally?

My receiving bank won't accept won, but when I tried to ask about this at my local Woori, they struggled with the concept.

Also, the rate for remittances seems to be better than exchanges into cash.

Is that right? Why is that so, I wonder? Is it only online, or also when you go to the branch to complete the transfer?

[passport220]

[West Coast Tatterdemalion]

Just wire it back 1 week before you go home. If you have to wait until the last day, then just get AMEX trav. cheques....they don't expire. Get them in 1,000 denominations...a couple of pieces of paper. Problem solved.

[lifeinkorea]

Internet banking. Transfer when needed. You can also get a credit card or faster a card that works like a debit card.

[siwawalter]

Wire it.

[siwawalter]

Western Union, but that cost money.

[AsiaESLbound]

AMEX travelers checks and wire transfer. It would be nice if my bank would have had a fresh supply of things, but they only had $500 in AMEX traverers checks and told me it was a good thing I wasn't trying to buy more foriegn currency as they were nearly out of it yesterday. The bank was jam packed with people yesterday taking nearly 2 hours to get any service.