Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Panic Button]

I'm coming over at the and of the month, and am trying to work out a way to send some of my hard earned won back home on a monthly basis.

This is 'cause I have to pay back a loan with HSBC who I bank with here.

They claim in their adverts to be "The World's Local Bank", which is clearly b****** because they told me that I can't pay money directly into the account in Korea as they don't have any branches there.

Has anyone else had similar experiences? i.e. paid money regularly into a foreign bank account from Korea.

Any advice would be very welcome.

Cheers

[ilovebdt]

I used to transfer money every month from Korea to my bank account in the Uk with out any problem at all.

When you arrive, I suggest you get an account with the KEB (Korean Exchange Bank). I found them to be very good.
When you want to send money home just go along to the Foreign Exchange counter with your home bank account details, passbook and ARC might need your passport too.
Tell them how much you want to transfer and they will do the rest. There will be a fee for transfering your money and it normally took about 3 days for the money to hit my UK account.

[sheba]

Do some research. I wired some money home and there was a fee at my Korean bank, then they transferred it to the NZ bank in Korea, that was another fee, then they transferred it to my nz bank, that was another fee, and then there was a fee for my NZ bank to receive the money....

Rediculous. In the end it cost me about $65 in fees. Now my parents are paying all my loans/bills while I am in Korea and when they come to visit me here at the end of the year, they will be taking back a whole lot of cash!

[peony]

i guess not everyone can do this but prior to going to Korea, i opened an account with Woori bank in NYC, then in Korea, opened an Woori account there

i think the fees worked out a bit cheaper and my money got to the NYC branch ok and usually took no more than 1 full business day

[krats1976]

Sending money home is really pretty easy. I've been doing it for 2 years (first with KB, and now with Kwangju Bank) without any major problems. My bank in the US is a very small one (a statewide credit union), and still no problems.

[funplanet]

HSBC is in Korea

[PolyChronic Time Girl]

I don't know where you're from but find out how much you can wire in one year. In the U.S, I think you can still only wire home $10,000 for one year or else the U.S bank will call appropriate authorities and investigate where your money is coming from. I had problems recently by going over the limit and the bank in Korea was harrassing me going over the limit.
Agree with the other poster.....open an account with KEB....they seem to know how to handle wire transfers the best. But I don't recommend sending money home on a monthly basis,.....my fees for every transfer back home was $45....do that every month and that can get expensive. So I would save a few million won (about 3 months worth) and then wire it home.

[cubanlord]

I don't believe it's the US bank that gets on you. It's the Korean bank. If you are living and working overseas, it's obvious that the money would most likely be transfered to your home country. If the IRS did say something, there wouldn't be a problem. American citizens are exempt up to $80,000 USD or 7 years (I believe it's 7 years). Which ever hits first. Just do the homework and no worries.

The banks in Korea DO track how much you send. My wife and I just recently hit the 10 mark. I had to open an account under my name so that the limit is increased. We will probably hit my 10 mark before the year is over. Then....I just show up to another Korean exchange bank and transfer there. There ARE ways around the sys.

[nrvs]

[Flossie]

[Wangja]

If the regularity of a monthly payment is more important than speed of delivery you could try getting a bank cheque for the foreicgn currecny and sending that to your home bank by EMS. That would certainly be cheaper.

[spidey112233]

[spidey112233]

[Captain Corea]

[Gopher]