Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Binch Lover]

What do people consider to be the most interesting differences between the Korean banking market and their home country? I'm thinking in terms of innovations like text messages each time you spend money, as well as the general market (ie some big banks are foreign owned). Any thoughts?

[cdninkorea]

The good about Korean banking:
- There are no plan fees here, so if you do all your withdrawals during banking hours, you end up paying nothing for your account.
- Bank transfers are simple. Paypal is convenient and all, but bank transfers are even easier.
- Tons of ATMs. Anytime I visit Canada, I'm always surprised how even a big bank will only have two ATMs.
- Taking a number and sitting down or wandering around rather than waiting in line. It's a small thing I know, but I like it.
- The text messages for transactions. I like knowing I got charged the right amount right away, and if I lose my card and someone else uses it, I'll know.

The bad about Korean banking:
- The difficulties of online banking, especially for non-IE users.
- The incompetence of some tellers. I've had two international ATM cards not work abroad because the teller forgot to activate the chip for international use, even though I said that I was going abroad soon.
- The lack of PINs when making purchases. I suppose it's the same as credit cards in Canada (just sign to complete the purchase), but what is unique here is when restaurant servers ask me, "Do you want me to sign it for you?" so I don't have to get up while paying.

[ThingsComeAround]

Most interesting difference #1
Korea pats itself on the back for being a "technically advanced" country yet most banks still rely on Windows (fail to Ddos attacks and hacking) and internet banking can only be done on Internet Explorer. In my home country, you can pretty much use any OS/browser to look at your account.

Most interesting difference #2
Korean banks have a bad habit of asking foreigners to present their passport and then mark financial transactions inside it. (not legal)

Most interesting difference #3
Korean bank ATMs shut down after 10PM. They re-open 8AM (approximately)

Also, not many banks are foreign-owned. The biggest (Citibank & KEB) are generally in urban centers while (Korean owned) Woori, Shinhan & KB are everywhere.

[salutbonjour]

Not only do ATMs close after a certain time, but so does online transfers. I guess the internet goes to sleep too.

[cj1976]

The ease of getting a bank account here is great compared to the UK. For me to open a simple current account in the UK, I had to show multiple IDs and wait 10 days for a credit check (because I might be a money launderer, apparently). Then I had to wait another 4 days for the ATM card to be delivered. Just so I could put my money in their bank.
Here in Korea - walk in, show ID, get card, leave. All in about 30 minutes.

[Who's Your Daddy?]

I am impressed with KEB's English banking given how insignificant the number of English users are in the country. [Similarly with the English TV channels, can't see how they're making money on it.]

[Otherside]

[Threequalseven]

I think the most obvious difference is the difficulty of banking online. Back home, I could log onto my bank account from any computer with just a password. Here, there are loads of restrictions. First, you can only use computers that you've downloaded a certificate onto. Second, you also need to download like three different security programs. Then, once that's done, you still need that laminated security card with all the numbers to transfer any money.

Also, there was one time I tried buying a game online, and I needed to have a Korean friend come over so I could use his account because for some reason my alien registration number wasn't working... which is quite ridiculous that you'd even need that in the first place. The whole situation was preposterous, though, because I was downloading an American game but I couldn't even use my American bank account. It had to be from a Korean bank, since I was downloading it from an Korean IP address. So doing anything online is almost more trouble than it's worth.

I do like the free ATM transfers to other Korean accounts, though. That's quite convenient. However, I've had a few bad ATM experiences too. Once, an ATM took my card and then the screen went blank. A minute later, it came back up and the machine was restarting. I had a chuckle at the fact the ATMs run on Windows XP. But it did make me almost 15 minutes late to work.

[Steelrails]

No bullet proof glass and constant armed guards.