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aweitzm1
Joined: 23 Mar 2010
Location: Florida
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 Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2010 11:51 am Post subject: sending money home and exchange rate |
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| Can someone explain to me how the exchange rate works when transfering money home each month. |
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DorkothyParker
Joined: 11 Apr 2009
Location: Jeju
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| Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2010 3:42 pm Post subject: |
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I'm not really good with economics, but here goes...
There is a known market rate for all currency. It fluctuates daily. Banks typically will go through an organization to determine their current exchange rate. It is rounded off. I know when I worked in a bank in America, we used Travelex to determine and handle our currency exchanges. There are probably very small variations with each company.
At the bank, you can determine if you want to set the amount in won or in your home country's currency. I've done it both ways. There is also a transfer fee (usually 10k) added onto the total deducted from your account. Your home bank probably has an additional incoming transfer fee that is deducted AFTER the amount you send.
You should know the won currently sucks. Other than that, I don't think there is really more to know. If you can, you should save it in your Korean account until the won improves. Or it might get worse... :/ Damn N. Korea. |
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air76
Joined: 13 Nov 2007
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| Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2010 4:16 pm Post subject: Re: sending money home and exchange rate |
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| aweitzm1 wrote: |
| Can someone explain to me how the exchange rate works when transfering money home each month. |
First off....don't transfer money home each month as you'll end up losing 5-10% of your savings in fees. Try to wait to send at least 5,000,000 won at a time, but it's best to approach the daily limit of US$10,000. If you have bills at home and honestly need to transfer money each month for a short while, consider asking a family member to lend you $2,000 for 3 months, then you can just pay your bills with this money while you save up a larger quantity of won.
Second...what do you mean how does the exchange rate work? Divide the number of won you are sending by the exchange rate of your home currency. If it's 1,000WON:1Snickers, and you have 10,000 won, then you get 10 snickers (minus fees) You'll have to be more specific as to what exactly you are asking. |
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aweitzm1
Joined: 23 Mar 2010
Location: Florida
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| Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2010 7:16 pm Post subject: Re: sending money home and exchange rate |
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| air76 wrote: |
| aweitzm1 wrote: |
| Can someone explain to me how the exchange rate works when transfering money home each month. |
First off....don't transfer money home each month as you'll end up losing 5-10% of your savings in fees. Try to wait to send at least 5,000,000 won at a time, but it's best to approach the daily limit of US$10,000. If you have bills at home and honestly need to transfer money each month for a short while, consider asking a family member to lend you $2,000 for 3 months, then you can just pay your bills with this money while you save up a larger quantity of won.
Second...what do you mean how does the exchange rate work? Divide the number of won you are sending by the exchange rate of your home currency. If it's 1,000WON:1Snickers, and you have 10,000 won, then you get 10 snickers (minus fees) You'll have to be more specific as to what exactly you are asking. |
I have no choice but to transfer money home each month because I do have bills to pay. I do not have a family member that can lend me money to pay them. I know the won sucks right now but I will have to deal with that. If I could keep my money in Korea I would however that is not an option for me.
I apologize for not being more specific with my question. I understand that the won fluctuates daily so I was wondering if when I do a wire transfer does the bank use the rate the day I transfer the money or does it use the rate the day my bank in the US receives the money.
Also, do different banks use different rates for the currency exchange? |
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dimnd
Joined: 19 May 2005
Location: Western USA
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| Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 4:05 pm Post subject: banks, rates |
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It is the rate at the time you exchange it and the rate is less if you are wiring it versus walking out with paper..the dollar bills..and then there is a commission..KB charges 20,000 won on top of the exchange rate
one of my banks in the states charged 10 a pop for a wire..and opened a second bank that does not charge for incoming wires...now I use that |
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Sector7G
Joined: 24 May 2008
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| Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 6:32 pm Post subject: |
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You can shop around and get better rates, but it probably won't add up to much.
You can play the guessing game and try to send when it's most advantageous.
Other than that there is not much you can do about the exchange rate.
There are, however, several different ways to greatly reduce the associated transfer fees. Do a search and you will find out more than you need to know about that. |
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Milwaukiedave
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Location: Goseong
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| Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 8:39 pm Post subject: |
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| Honestly you are better transferring large chunks of money home versus a little at a time. You might want to think about transferring enough to get you through until the end of the year if you can. The exchange rate is improving for right now (who knows what it will do tomorrow though) and it's possible we could see it continue to improve. The last time I transferred money was three years ago and I still have money left. The exchange rate then was about 940 if I remember correctly. |
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