Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jweeke]

Made two transfers to my WF account.

Both times KEB sends me an email with the rate, amount remitted, etc, and both times the money arrives in WF account $20 short.

WF takes out its $10 on top of that, so in all its costing me almost $50 to send $500. And I don't know where the hell the $20 is going.

I went to complain the first time, and they told me they'd sent the money to Wachovia first and they took out $20. I was like, Wachovia? WTF. And they apologized and said they'd send it directly to WF next time.

So next time it's $20 short again. And I go back, extra pissed. And they're like, oh, it was WF who took out the $20 and didn't tell you. I'm like WTF seriously? Sounds like the kind of thing WF would tell me. They were like, no.

Going to call up WF pretty soon, but I wanted to know if anybody's had the same issue. Mystery deductions from a reputable bank like WF? $30 + 15KW to transfer 600kW? With the won sliding I gotta figure this out.

Thanks.

[balzor]

I have Wells Fargo and pay those fees as well. It's the price of transfering funds overseas. I only make 1 lump transfer each month so as to pay only one fee

[nchannah]

It makes sense that they may have sent it to Wachovia - WF recently bought Wachovia and they are in the process of merging, so it's kind of a mess over there (my dad works for Wachovia/Wells Fargo). Wachovia generally charges a fee of at least $15 for incoming international wire transfers - sometimes it can get as high as $50. I have no idea what WF's fees are like, or if they'll continue using Wachovia's fee scale after Wachovia ceases to exist.

[PeterDragon]

I used to work for Wells Fargo, and part of my job was to track the source of unidentified international wire transfers. (I serviced the accounts of some fairly big/global businesses, who often lost track of where their money was even coming from.)

Anyway, in the case of the missing $20, this is because--- as far as I can tell--- there are a mere handful of giant banks authorized to mediate money coming into the U.S. These banks act as invisible third parties for international wire transfers.

It's safe to assume that these banks are responsible for the $20 fee (although this never came up when dealing with my "too-rich-to-care" faceless corporate customers back in the day).

I've sent a lot of money home to my credit union through KEB, and the "missing $20" phenomenon happens with them too. What I've found, through trial and error, is that whoever's doing this phantom charge (probably J.P. Morgan Chase), seems to charge $20 per thousand dollar interval. So if you send up to 1,000 usd, you get charged 20 usd. If you send between 1,000 to 2,000, you get charged 40 dollars.

So you want the amount of money you're sending to round up to the nearest thousand rather than rounding down. Sending $200 or $950 will both result in a $20 surcharge, so it's better to send $950. Sending $1050 or $1800 will both result in a $40 surcharge, so it's better to send $1800.

Does that make sense?

God, I hate bankers.

[jweeke]

Thanks for this responses.

Talked to wells fargo. Dude had no idea where the money was coming out. Said KEB would have to run a trace. You guys are probably right.

This is really infuriating. It shouldn't cost 10%. Its insane.

[bettypie]

The teller who set up the overseas remittance on my account told me up front that there would be a third-party fee. In broken english she explained that NH charged a fee, my bank (a credit union in the US), would charge a fee, and that a "middle" bank would charge a fee.

I wasn't thrilled about it, but it was better to know up front than being surprised and confused later. Someone at your bank should have told you.

[ttompatz]

[jweeke]

repost. sorry.

thanks for the help all.

[coffeesoda]

Here's what I think is happening: Your money is passing through an intermediary bank before reaching its final destination (your Wells Fargo acct.). KEB sends your funds to the USA and they pass thru KEB in New York and this is where they charge the $20 for handling your money and directing it to WF.

Tom is right in that you should wait, save up more, then send it over to minimize your transfer fees.