Korean Job Discussion Forums

[MaestroCantus]

Hello everyone,

I'm pretty certian that I'll be coming to Korea soon (but still waiting for some details to be worked out). I have a few questions:

1) How does payment work over there? Do employers usually deposit money into a Korean bank account, etc.?

2) Do most people working on E-2 visas have a Korean and other (international) bank account? --I've got to pay off student loan, and have some things on my Mastercard, so I'm still trying to figure out if I should try to switch everything to a Korean credit card when I get the chance.

3) Does anyone have an HSBC or CitiBank account (I've been reading about the international-ness of these banks)? If so, could you give me a run-down of how they work, or what the perks are?

4) Do you have any helpful advice, tips or information on banking/money in South Korea that a newbie could find useful to know?

Thanks for all of your help and advice!

[spliff]

You won't be able to get a Korean bank in-country basic atm card for 3 month's after coming here.

[Davew125]

most schools will want to pay directly into a Korean bank account and they should provide you with help setting that up. however a couple of places are content to pay in cash....more for there own benefit then yours but it is pretty handy.

im from the UK and ive got a HSBC graduate plus bank account. I have got an atm card from my korean bank but i transfer all my money direct to my UK account as soon as i get paid each month just because i can use internet banking and the like with my UK account, it cost roughly $20 per transfer.

I have to pay �10 a month for my UK account so i guess a canadian one would be around $20 and for this i can use about 80% of the cash machines in korea (any convenience store) for free, which is better then my Korean account which actually charges me, even when i take money out from their machines!!!

[fakeplastiktree]

I'm pretty new here but I'll tell you what I know.
I think most employers will deposit your pay directly into a Korean bank account. You need an alien registration card to get a bank account in Korea. Ask your employer to help you get one as soon as possible when you get to Korea. For more info on the alien registration card, do a search on here and you'll find lots of information about it.
I think Korean credit cards are somewhat difficult to obtain, although I haven't tried to get one yet... that's just what I've read. I've also read that Citibank and HSBC in Korea do not make it any easier to transfer money to Canada. Your options for transferring money are to either wire the money or get a bank draft and mail it back to Canada. KEB sounds like the most foreigner-friendly bank.