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Enigma
Joined: 20 Mar 2008
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 Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 1:29 am Post subject: Question about banks in Korea |
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I just arrived in Daejeon and plan to stay in Korea for at least a year and so I am now looking for a bank to open an account with.
I don't plan to do much banking inside the bank - after I set up the account I plan to do most of my banking via ATM.
I would prefer a nationwide bank with ATMs available throughout the country. I am also curious about the availability of English on the ATMs, as well as the number of things you can do in English on them (e.g. only deposit and withdraw, or do you have other options such as transferring funds).
Taking these into consideration, which of the banks do you think would be most appropriate for me?
On a related note, do any of the major Korean banks offer internet banking in English?
Thank you |
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BS.Dos.
Joined: 29 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 1:44 am Post subject: Re: Question about banks in Korea |
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[quote="Enigma"]
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I just arrived in Daejeon and plan to stay in Korea for at least a year and so I am now looking for a bank to open an account with.
I don't plan to do much banking inside the bank - after I set up the account I plan to do most of my banking via ATM.
I would prefer a nationwide bank with ATMs available throughout the country. |
Not sure how many big national banks there are in SK, but I'd say that there are about 3 or 4 with ATMs being fairly easy to find in cities and towns etc
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| I am also curious about the availability of English on the ATMs, as well as the number of things you can do in English on them (e.g. only deposit and withdraw, or do you have other options such as transferring funds). |
Most, though not all, ATMs have an English button on the menu screen. If you just want to withdraw cash, the ones that don't have an English menu are still easy enough to operate. I only use mine to withdraw cash and to check my balance, but there is transfer funds option, though I think this is only for transferring funds within Korea and not to accounts overseas.
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| Taking these into consideration, which of the banks do you think would be most appropriate for me? |
The banking systems in Korea are pretty well developed. I bank with Nonghyup and have had no problems with them.
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On a related note, do any of the major Korean banks offer internet banking in English? |
Yes. I think most do. I just opened up mine with Nonghyup yesterday actually. i had the girl in the bank take me through the actual setup as I found it to be a rather convoluted process. |
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smurfetta
Joined: 03 Oct 2007
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| Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 2:35 am Post subject: |
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| I have a Nonghyup account and all their atms have an English option. You can find Nonghyup banks all over. |
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ytuque
Joined: 29 Jan 2008
Location: I drink therefore I am!
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| Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 2:42 am Post subject: |
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| Do you need a credit card and an ATM card that will work outside of Korea? My bank wouldn't give them to me. |
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Enigma
Joined: 20 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 3:03 am Post subject: |
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| Do you need a credit card and an ATM card that will work outside of Korea? My bank wouldn't give them to me. |
Yes, ideally, I would like an ATM card that I can use internationally, as well as a VISA or Mastercard. I've read that because I'm working at a hagwon, it will probably make it more difficult to get a credit card. |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 4:08 am Post subject: |
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| Enigma wrote: |
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| Do you need a credit card and an ATM card that will work outside of Korea? My bank wouldn't give them to me. |
Yes, ideally, I would like an ATM card that I can use internationally, as well as a VISA or Mastercard. I've read that because I'm working at a hagwon, it will probably make it more difficult to get a credit card. |
It means that you can only get a "secured" credit card and you are not likely to get an ATM card that you can use outside of Korea.
If you are lucky you MAY be able to get an ATM card soon after you get your ARC. Any Korean ATM card can be used at any ATM machine in Korea.
Under the new (as of last fall) banking restrictions, if you open your account without your ARC you cannot get an ATM within 3 months of opening said account. You are restricted to over the counter transactions only during the 1st three months.
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articulate_ink
Joined: 23 Mar 2004
Location: Left Korea in 2008. Hong Kong now.
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| Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 8:21 am Post subject: |
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Welcome to my pet issue. You'll probably find that you have to shop around a bit (especially if you work for a hagwon), because no single bank will give you everything you want.
ATM card: Good luck with that one. The current unwillingness to issue any sort of ATM card is new and I'm thankful I haven't had to deal with it. Presumably you still have a bank account and/or credit card(s) in your home county, so at least you'll have access to plastic. If Bank X won't give you an ATM card, try Bank Y. Korea Exchange Bank seems to be the second-least foreigner-unfriendly, so that's not a bad place to start.
International ATM card: Ditto, but more so. Standard Chartered. I've heard on here that certain branches of Hana will issue them, but that's hit-and-miss at best. My SC card has reliably worked overseas when I've needed it.
Internet banking: KEB pretends to offer Internet banking in English, sort of. However, you have to download about 9000 different Korean-language software security clients onto your PC in order to make it work, so you might as well skip the migraine. KB and Nonghyup (now rebranding as NH) supposedly offer online banking.
Credit cards: If you're new in the country and not a university professor/lecturer/whatever, then a secured card is about as good as it's going to get. Try KEB for that if you've got a million won or so to put down on one.
I've heard very little positive feedback about Woori and Shinhan, so skip those two unless one of them will offer one of the basic products that you need. The bottom line is that you can eventually set up work-arounds in order to carve out a vague semblance of the banking services you enjoyed in the First World. It'll take time, though, and no single bank is likely to provide everything. Best of luck. |
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Enigma
Joined: 20 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 2:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Thanks a lot everybody. I'll take all of that into consideration. |
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smurfetta
Joined: 03 Oct 2007
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| Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 2:26 pm Post subject: |
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| articulate_ink wrote: |
The bottom line is that you can eventually set up work-arounds in order to carve out a vague semblance of the banking services you enjoyed in the First World. It'll take time, though, and no single bank is likely to provide everything. Best of luck. |
This is so true. I use Nonghyup to receive my wages and KB to send money home. |
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