Korean Job Discussion Forums

Squire · Joined: 26 Sep 2010 Location: Jeollanam-do

Surprising there aren't more stories like this

PeteJB · Joined: 06 Jul 2007

You can get a credit card on a savings account - even as a student you can get one (they are only interested in your income, not your visa). You just need to walk into a branch where there are a lots of regular foreigners and you'll get a service that is 180 degrees different from what you're used to. Ofcourse, that may not apply to every bank, but I personally know that Woori and KEB will do it.

And oh, umm, don't throw stuff at bank clerks, mmk?

blackinque · Joined: 07 Apr 2010

Slightly more calmed down OP here.

borg · Joined: 30 Jan 2012

Go to Shinhan. I've had a visa debt card with them for years now. Works online. Works in every other country I've taken it too. Really, no issue at all.

Skippy · Joined: 18 Jan 2003 Location: Daejeon

detonate · Joined: 16 Dec 2011

blackinque · Joined: 07 Apr 2010

EarlGray · Joined: 07 Feb 2012

I too have a Visa debt card through Shinhan. It used to be Nate card, now it's a Smore (whatever those mean.) It was rather easy to get. I think it depends on the branch you go into. Maybe I'm just lucky, but the two branches of Shinhan I went into (on opposite sides of the city) had no problem issuing and updating my card.

I'm on a standard E2 like everyone else. Maybe you should call the Shinhan English line and ask them about it. I remember doing that and she told me to just go in and ask for it. It's just like having a debt card back home.

As for paypal, as a foreigner you can't link your pay pal to your Korean bank account. But you can link it to your Korean debt card. Which means I can't get money from paypal into Korea, but I can use it to spend money through paypal off my debt card.

I had lots of issues when I was with KB bank, but since moving to Shinhan, it's been a pretty stress free few years in terms of banking.

pkang0202 · Joined: 09 Mar 2007

I've come close to raging at the bank before.

I had a KoreanAir Skypass Checkcard. It doesn't work overseas so I had it changed to the GLobal Checkcard. When I got back from my trip, I tried to get the Skypass Checkcard again.

Went to a local KEB branch and I was told I was not eligible for the Skypass Checkcard because I was a foreigner. I showed them my old one that I had used a month prior and they still said no. Of course I argued with them. they told me they didn't know how I got that checkcard because it was only available to Koreans.

I called KEB English service and they verified that I was eligible for the Skypass checkcard. I handed my phone to the bank and they refused to talk to the KEB English rep because they couldn't prove if it was really a KEB employee or not.

Then they got on the phone and called someone at KEB and that person on the phone said that foreigners were not allowed Skypass checkcards. This reinforced their position. So I got on the phone with KEB English service and they reassured me that I was eligible.

Well, it turns out that the bank branch, and whoever they talked to at Corporate had the guidelines that were a year OLD. AFter they finally realized I am eligible they said:

"Sorry, we don't issue that card at this branch. Please go to the main branch".

At that moment, I was very, very close to raging all over that bank.

pegasus64128 · Joined: 20 Aug 2011

madowlspeaks · Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Location: Somewhere in time and space

Swampfox10mm · Joined: 24 Mar 2011

I've never had to apply for one by myself (once I got married, I was suddenly able to easily get a Korean credit card), but I heard that the banks in Itaewon tend to be a lot better to work with in terms of working with foreigners.

Is the IBK bank branch under Geckos in Itaewon still good? I used to hear that SC Charter bank in Itaewon was very good with foreigners. Are they still around?