Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Wangta01]

So I am looking to transfer roughly $5,000 into Korea for living expenses and to buy myself a ride (a scooter, LOL).

I scoured these forums and saw many references to wiring from US --> Korean bank as being the most efficient (best exchange and fees, etc). I have BofA, so I went online and added my KB bank account and prepared to do the international transfer. Right before finalizing the transaction, BofA shows you the exchange rate, which surprised me:

1079.76 won per $US. The latest exchange rate I saw on www.x-rates.com was 1148.79 won per $US. BofA's rate is approximately 6% lower, or charges a 6% commission. WTF!? Plus, they charge a $35 flat fee on top of this.

I find this a little ridiculous. Is there a better way to do this? I saw many people also used Paypal - I setup a Korean paypal account but like many others, was unable to add my KB account given my foreign status (it would not accept my National ID number).

Plus, the Korean paypal balance is in $US. What is the conversion rate assuming you have $1 balance and transfer the funds to your Korean bank? I couldn't find anywhere the exchange rate Paypal would give you.

[ttompatz]

The problem lies in the fact that the website you used for a comparison doesn't give the spread between the buy and sell rates.

I am currently, on several bank websites, seeing rates in the range of:

..... (selling won, ...........buying won)
......(buying dollars) , ..selling dollars)

USD.. 1163/$1........, ........1123/$1

A spread of +20 won and -20 won from the base rate.

.

[Wangta01]