Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Zyzyfer]

[schwa]

I used Woori back when it was Hanvit, my account is with Nong Hyup now (more convenient branch). Cool when you cash out an account, they calculate the interest down to silly little fractions (I know, interest on savings is a joke) & you get 5-won & 1-won coins -- talk about flimsy funny little coins.

Nong Hyup (farmers' co-op) has a cool line of health food on sale in each branch -- brown rice, honey, teas, condiments, etc. Their ATMs have a convenient english menu now.

I've wired/transferred money through a number of different banks, never a hitch. ("Trans-fah" is the operative term.) The form is almost self-explanatory. For some reason they require the receiving bank's mailing address. Also the address & phone number of the recipient (if I dont know I just make something up). Safe & fast, it seems -- gets there in a matter of hours in my experience.

You gotta go to a larger bank with a foreign exchange department to do international transfers. In-country transfers you can do at any branch -- dont mess with the forms, just hand the teller a scrap of paper with the amount, recipient's name, & acct number & she'll take care of it easily & efficiently. If you get a Korean friend to help you, it takes about 5 times longer.

[thorin]

I use Kyongnam Bank and I can't use the ATMs at Familymart etc. Is anyone else annoyed by the lack of 24 hour ATMs (this probably doesnt apply to Seoulites)?

[BTM]

[dogbert]

[mokpochica]

[OiGirl]

Did you see the (full-page?) ad in the Korea Herald yesterday, explaing to you all that "Woori Bank" means "our bank"? They also used the 'oo' to make an 'infinity' symbol. Not sure what that's supposed to mean...This bank will go on forever? Your deposits will be multiplied by infinity? You will be infinitely frustrated?

[steve902]

This thread seems out of date. Can anyone offer updated info about banking in SK? I'd be especially interested in info about English services and transfers of money back to the USA.

[ttompatz]

not much has changed since 2002.

.

[wishfullthinkng]

no one seemed to have mentioned shinhan yet.

solid bank with a ton of locations. no problems with atms and i can use other banks atms with no service charge. transfers are easy, they have a dedicated english service center page on facebook where they prompty respond to questions and they have multiple english speaking centers.

i have used their debit and credit cards in many different countries with no problems. in fact i ordered something from a canadian website last week and literally 15 seconds after the order was completed someone from shinhan called me to confirm that it wasn't fraudulent because i never buy things from canada.

the only two downsides that i can think of are that their credit card perks aren't quite as good as some others like keb if you really pay attention to things like that, but that's not a huge issue because i got a hyundai card to compliment my shinhan card due to much better card benefits. the other downside that i can think of is that much like every other first tier major korean bank, their savings accounts don't offer great rates so you have to go to secondary savings banks.

[mandrews1985]

I'm interested in getting a credit card here. Been here for 2 years, will be in Korea for atleast another year.

I've heard KEB are pretty good. How would I go about getting one? I've been with Daegu bank for these 2 years but willing to set up another bank account to get a credit card.

Does anyone know the hoops I need to jump through to get one?

[ttompatz]

[wishfullthinkng]

[mandrews1985]

Thanks for the helpful information guys.

@Ttompatz I am on a regular E2 visa. So what you are saying is that I must deposit a set amount (say 1 million won) into an interest earning time deposit account. This would then enable me to get a Credit Card for about 90% of what I deposited into the new bank account. (say 0.9million won)

The 0.9million won credit limit is seperate to the deposit account. So could I then withdraw that 1 million won in put it back into my other acount, or is it stuck there like a safety deposit? Is it possible to dip into the 1million won or is it untouchable until I close the CC (when I leave the country)

And finally, if I use 300,000 won on the CC it would be expected to be paid in full at the end of the month (without previous arrangements being made)

@Wishfullthinking how would I go about getting a referral for a CC? Is that them being a guarantor? If I don't pay it back they would be liable?

Realisitcally I was only looking for a card that would cover me 1-2 million won, just as a back up.

[mandrews1985]

double post