Korean Job Discussion Forums

[davecx82]

is it possible to simply pay off my visa bill and student loan through internet banking using my korean account? or must i wire the $ from the korean account to my canadian account? of course, i dont want to do this as this involves a wiring fee, about 28,000 won at my bank (NH).

regarding wiring $ back home, apparently the teller said that i can actually wire $ home at ANY bank, which would be useful if i found a bank that wires $ cheaper. however, how would this work? withdraw $ from my NH account, give the $ to the other bank that'll wire it to my canadian account?

thanks

[thoreau]

Visa and your student loan company doesn't care where the money is coming from - only that they get the money. So if you can send a payment using internet banking you would be gold. That being said, I'm not sure its possible because the bank would need to send the payment internationally and that presents a problem for them.

I think the easiest way I've heard to transfer money is to have your bank link your Canadian bank account to your Korean account so you can transfer money at the ATM. I have heard this is possible but I haven't tried to do this yet. In theory, you would simply visit the ATM - enter the amount to transfer - select your home account - and voila!

If you try this please post back and let us know if it works. I will try this myself in a few weeks after I get my coteacher to fix the other issues I have him working on.

[Big Mac]

You could transfer money directly into someone else's bank account via online banking or from a bank in Korea. But you're still going to pay the wiring fee, which on the Korean end is usually 8,000 Won (KEB). So really the best option is to wire the money to your home account and pay it via your home bank's online banking.

A cheaper way to do it if you have the time is to buy a money order and mail it to a family member in Canada who can then deposit it into your account. KEB charges 5,000 Won if the amount is under a million won and 10,000 Won if it's over. Not every bank will do money orders though. KEB and Citibank are the ones that I know do it for sure. Last time I checked KB would not do them and Woori will only do them in US dollars. Not sure about the others.

Doing it this way saves you slightly on the fees on this end, but you'll save the receiving fee on the Canadian end. Royal Bank charges me $15 to receive a wire transmission, which is a rip-off. But when I send a money order they charge me nothing.

[davecx82]

[Big Mac]

You'll probably lose some money if you change it into US dollars here and then into Canadian dollars there.

Also, because the money order will be in US dollars, your bank in Canada might make you wait or charge you some sort of fee for cashing an international cheque. If it's in Canadian dollars they basically view it as a domestic cheque. But I'm not sure about that, you'd have to call your bank in Canada to be sure.

You might want to look into opening a second account at KEB if there is one nearby where you live and use them for sending money home. They're good at that sort of thing.

Yeah you would think receiving a wire transfer would be free, but it seems Canadian banks like to make money any way they can. It's possible some of the other banks don't charge, but I know RBC definitely does.

[davecx82]

[Big Mac]

Yeah, I pay 1,100 Won every time I move money from my KB account to my KEB account at an ATM. I think it's cheaper during business hours. I only do it once a month though, as I move about half of my salary to KEB for savings on pay day.

KEB has online banking that allows you to wire money to Canada as well. But you'll pay the same fees as a wire transfer.

If you don't want to pay the ATM fee, then I would suggest withdrawing cheques from an ATM during business hours and walking them to KEB. If you're going there anyway to get a money order then I guess that makes sense.

[davecx82]

[Big Mac]

I would think traveller's cheques wouldn't work because you sign them at the bank when you buy them and then you have to sign them a second time in front of the cashier when you cash them. Unless you're going with your traveller's cheques to Canada they won't cash them for you.

[davecx82]

[Big Mac]

Yes, there are KB ATMs everywhere, especially in Seoul. They do wire transfers, but they've always said no when I ask for money orders.

[D.D.]

8000 to do a transfer at NH banks to Canada.

[davecx82]

[Mirabilis85]

8000? Since when? Ive been paying 40,000....!@O)!(*!@U!@H!B

[davecx82]