Korean Job Discussion Forums

[highstreet]

I need to send my sister (US) some money and wanted to send a TC to avoid fees. But I've never purchased a TC before.

Do the fees for a TC all cost the same in Korea? If not, what is the cheapest bank?

Is there a certain type of TC I should purchase?

I plan on just mailing it to her and I assume she can deposit it without any charge from her bank.

Thanks

[tardisrider]

I don't know if all banks' charges are the same, but TC charges are minimal in general. It was once highly advisable to use TCs for foreign exchange as fees were lower and exchange rates slightly better when buying or selling TCs; I don't know if that is still the case, but it likely is.

American Express is generally the "best" variety TC and most banks in Korea have those. Your sister's bank will not charge her for cashing/depositing the checks.

Read up on TCs if you've never used them before. They'll have two places for your signature--normally you sign in one place when you buy the TCs and then sign in the second spot when using (cashing) the TC--the idea being that the person taking the TC can see that the signatures match. If you are sending the checks to your sister, you'll need to make the check out to sign both spaces. Doing so, however, is slightly dangerous--any check that is signed in both spaces (or in neither space) can be stolen and potentially cashed.

Normally if you lose a TC it can be replaced, but be aware that the fine print on most TCs say that they aren't supposed to be mailed--if you checks get lost in the mail, the issuer won't replace them and your money will be lost. Also, if you sign both places on the check, anyone can cash the check, so if it's lost/stolen, you can kiss it goodbye. The same applies if you sign neither place on the check.

The above paragraph isn't intended to dissuade you. I've sent TCs through the mail (Korea to US) many times and never had any problems, though if you choose to do so understand that you are taking a slight risk. Also, you could send the check through Fed Ex or something if you are really concerned about getting lost, but you won't be able to officially declare the TCs in package contents or collect in the unlikely event that they do get lost. That being said, you could send your sister a small package via Fed Ex (or equivalent) and hide the TCs inside--whether the shipping cost is worth the extra safety is up to you and would (I imagine) be dependent on the amount of the TCs and the speed of delivery desired.

[Landros]

I brought some with me when I first came but they were a pain. just do a bank transfer or bring cash. or have her pay a credit card bill if you have accounts back home...

best thing is to order something you need from amazon and have her get it and bring it over.

[thegadfly]

When I would buy Traveler's Checks, I would take a number to go to the folks at the desks -- when I would buy $10k usd, on the back of my number slip, I would write:

TC -- USD $ 10,000 total

5 X $1,000
10 X $500

(or whatever denominations I wanted -- I actually used to go for 2 X $5,000 when they had them -- that was easy, but they only ever had them once or twice)

Unfortunately, my particular bank no longer carries the $5,000 or $1,000 denominations -- $500, $100, $50, and $20 though....

Even if the person helping you speaks no English, the TC USD number amount and denominations seemed to answer all the questions required -- I always brought my passport, bankbook (from which I drew the Korean money for the transaction), ARC, and bank card.

Sometimes they write something in your passport, and sometimes they don't. They aren't SUPPOSED to write anything, but I have had them refuse the transaction when I refused to allow them to put anything in my passport...of course, that is probably 4 or 5 years ago. The last time my passport was stamped for TCs was 2007....

Currently (well, as of last year -- the last time I bought TCs was early in 2011), the rates of exchange on TCs are still better than wire transfers, but now for me, only marginally -- I have a KEB foreign remittance account, and my US account waives the fee on incoming international transfers.

To "test" things, I did two wire transfers to my US account from my two Korean banks, and bought TCs, all on the same day...after all was said and done, the TCs got me one more dollar per million or so won than the KEB transfer, and my KB transfer was $4 worse per million than the KEB transfer....

I used to hand carry my salary home in TCs when I went back to the US to visit family, rather than doing the wire transfers (back when it was more like a $30 difference per million won -- high bank fees on both ends add up quick).

Now, at just a dollar per million won better exchange, it seems silly to do that...even just depositing $10k USD of TCs takes about 30 minutes, at the bank where they know me...but it has taken significantly longer. I'm at a point in my life where I don't want to drive 15 minutes to the bank, spend 30 minutes there signing my name umpteen times, then driving back 15 minutes home to save $10. To save $50 or $500 (like back in the day), yeah, but not for $10....

[highstreet]

Thanks everyone!

My sisters bank (Wachovia) charges $15 USD to receive wire transfers. That plus the 8,000WON my bank (KB) charges for sending it. Since I'm sending so little ($500 USD), I figure I should try to save as much as possible.

Does anyone know what the fee is for making a T/C at their local bank?

[r122925]

[highstreet]

I didn't even know you could send a intl money order. Thanks, I'll look in to it.

[thegadfly]

[r122925]

[highstreet]

Do you know if wire transfers via ATM gives less favorable rates?

I send 320,000KRW back home last week and I only recieved 261. My bank back home charges no fee for incoming wire transfers.