Korean Job Discussion Forums

[murmanjake]

Everybody says me KEB is the way to go when transferring money. So I got an account and did the automatic remittance for 2 million won.

Got smacked by fees though.

15k from KEB
$20 to middle man
$13 to my bank at home

I know this middle man thing has been done to death here, but it's really driving me nuts. They take the largest chunk and I don't even know who they are? What a racket!

Can anyone post their experiences with transferring money successfully for lower fees(to the US)? Specifically I want to know what situations have resulted in the middle man being cut out of the equation...is it dependent entirely on the receiving bank, the sending bank or both? is it the same every time?

My home account is Citizen's.

Should I change my bank back home? Change my bank here?

[Lee Myung Bak]

I send funds home with KB via their ATM "registered overseas remittance". You have to set it up in person the first time, but then you are good to go at the ATM. Takes only a single business day for it to be received at home.

My American account is Bank of America.

KB 5,000 won
NO MIDDLE MAN FEE
BOA $18

[recklesscognition1]

I would be very surprised if you didn't have a middle man fee. Check your receipts as no bank in Korea has an agreement with a bank overseas to transfer money without a middle man.

Answer to your problem: stop being so cheap.

[ed]

I saw a topic about this about a month ago here.

some guy had figured out how to transfer for free.

can remember name of person or title of topic.

search it.

good luck

http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=006359271486458796786%3Azldpir6y9yy

[Lee Myung Bak]

[Sector7G]

[Lee Myung Bak]

Thanks, yeah i hear ya.

I believe Bank of America is the intermediary "middleman" bank that KB uses, and since I have a BOA account, there's no additional fee. I searched the net, but was unable to find clear evidence of this.

[Subtitle]

I don't know if I'll do the same this time around, but last time I was in Korea I would purchase a traveler's check and mail it to my bank to be deposited. It took about a week on average to get in my account, but I sure liked keeping my $40 bucks. (My bank had even worse fees about accepting wire transfers.) The traveler's checks only cost a few thousand won.

[Sector7G]

^^^^Yes, I did the same a couple times, but it took more like 2 full weeks. Nonetheless, if you have the luxury of time, it is probably the cheapest way. Relatively safe too, no matter what some may say.

[crossmr]

I don't have a middle man with KEB going to President's choice in Canada.
Your best bet is to either change the bank at home or find someone here who doesn't have a middle man to that bank and switch to their bank. You might not find one though.

[decolyon]

[murmanjake]

So from what I gather here, the middle man depends on the receiving bank, NOT the sending bank?

Does anyone have experience sending to the same bank back home, from different banks here? Were the fees consistent?

[Radius]

i have hana bank and they take out 20,000 and my bank takes $15. not bad.

[Kurtz]

For some reason I'm a VIP with KEB so they don't make me pay any fees sending from Korea but my home bank charges about 16,000 won, not bad.

I'm more concerned with the mark up from the official rate. I use this http://asia.advfn.com/quote_Australian-Doll_FX_AUDKRW.html to check the exchange rate, but KEB is usually at least 10 won higher. I know they have to make some money out of the deal, but I have a considerable sum to send home so as you can understand, I want the very best rate of exchange.

Any banks with better exchange rates or are they all about the same?

[crossmr]