Korean Job Discussion Forums

[articulate_ink]

Mods: I'm posting this in General Discussion because there have been so many threads on problems with Korean banking lately. I suspect General Discussion gets more views than Off-Topic. Having disclaimed, here's an account of how and why I opened an account in Singapore.

I think it makes sense in certain cases. If you're leaving Korea but staying in Asia, Singapore's a sane and stable place to stash your funds. Americans in particular may want to do this because the US dollar has taken such a beating in recent years. In my own case, I had only one account left in the States, and because of an experience with identity theft, that account is now toast. The problems on this account would keep me from opening a new one (US banking sucks too, in some ways), so I needed a non-xenophobic alternative. Plus, I've been interviewing for jobs in Hong Kong, and I needed an account outside of Korea for my pension refund and for general banking purposes until I can get established there.

To open an account at DBS, which is one of Singapore's larger banks, you need to have a very simple 'letter of introduction' form signed by an existing Singaporean customer of theirs (a resident expat there could also do it) who has had his or her account for at least 6 months. This would be difficult for some. I've had friends in Singapore for years, so this wasn't a problem. The initial minimum deposit is $500 (Singapore dollars). I set up a savings account there. The bank officer issued an ATM card and set up Internet banking capability on the spot. The Visa debit card is being mailed to me. The idea that these wouldn't work outside of Singapore struck her as kind of silly when I mentioned it. After all, why wouldn't they?

I also checked with Standard Chartered. They've been good to me here, after all. The banker I spoke to said that they'd need a letter of introduction from my Korean bank, verifying where my funds were coming from. He was ready to open an account for me, but he needed that as a precaution against money laundering.

The website of UOB, another large Singaporean bank, indicates foreigners can set up accounts there. However, when I inquired at the branch in VivoCity (a big shopping mall) the receptionist checked with the manager and said it wouldn't be possible. I suspect other branches might say something different, but I was sick and didn't feel like asking around.

HSBC's website explains what offshore-banking products are available. I am not familiar with Citibank.

I came back from this trip completely disgusted with Korea's banking policies (and a number of other things, which is unlikely to surprise anyone who has been reading my posts). There is no sane reason to deny resident expats access to such basic financial services. I hope this information helps a few people.

[Tiger Beer]

Singaporean currrency. Interesting. Hadn't thought of that currency before.

[RJjr]

You did well. I couldn't get anywhere at DBS or UOB. They told me "no" and didn't mention a letter, but I didn't have one and couldn't have obtained one anyway. But HSBC and especially Citibank were a breeze and no letters were needed.