Korean Job Discussion Forums

[spilot101]

What's the best way to go about having a native bank account in Korea? Are there are any N. American banks that do cooperate with their Korean counterparts? If not, what's the best way to go about the situation. As I understand, Korean banks' debit cards have certain limitations when it comes to their usage outside of Korea, and I would like to have a fully functional VISA/MC while traveling outside Korea etc....

[jphill9990]

I am also coming into the country very soon and supposedly my school is going to help me out setting an account up....as should yours. I have been told they will set up two accounts for me, one to deposit my check into and another I can transfer funds to and have it automatically be sent to a bank back home in the states. I don't remember the name of the Korean bank....I guess I am just telling you this to let you know it won't be very hard to do....why not just change your banking address in the states to your parents address?

[spilot101]

Thanks. To answer your last question - don't have any parents in the States.
I might just keep my friend's addy on file which will allow me to keep it going, and go from there (my bank correspondence is electronic, so he won't be bothered with any statements). As long as Korea doesn't have restrictions on using international plastic (as some countries do), I should be good to go.

Here's some helpful info I've found after the initial post:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDZ28cjlsE4

and http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110111085348AAAbR10

seems like the KEB Bank is the best option for expats, with the lowest wiring fees.

[War Eagle]

N. American banks do NOT "cooperate" with their Korean counterparts. At least so far as I understand it, they are seperate entities.

Also, as a foreigner in Korea, you are not allowed to have a "fully functioning" visa/mastercard checkcard from a Korean bank. What I mean by this is that while your check card can be used for anything and everything in Korea, it can ONLY be used for ATM withdrawels outside Korea. You cannot use it at a store. Likewise, you cannot use it to buy things online from websites outside Korea.

All you should do is keep an account open in the US. If it's an address you need, you should open a PO Box and use that as your banking address. I know it can be done; I've done it before. (Also, you can have all your mail sent there while you are gone as well.) Then, you can transfer money from Korea to your US account.

I use KEB. They seem the most "foreign friendly" bank. However, I do not send money home, so I have no idea how much the transfer fees are.

[javis]

I am currently looking to do something similar to this but with a twist. I live in Korea, but get paid in dollars via direct deposit. The deposit bank account requires a 9 digit transit routing code, so I can only use a US bank for that. However, since I say the majority of my bills in won, I'd like a way to easily transfer money into a Korean expense account on a monthly basis without paying expensive wire transfer fees.

[War Eagle]

[spilot101]

Seems to be the best option. There's a number of online US banks that you can switch to that have zero atm/foreign transaction fees (unlimited) such as: Schwab, Ally and Everbank, so you can use your debit card in Korean as you wish, and then deposit the cash to your Korea bank account....

[byrddogs]

Not sure if they still do, but KEB used to offer actual credit cards (Visa) to foreigners working at public institutions. If you had been at the same school for more than a year then it would be an unsecured card. If you had not been at your school for a year, then they would offer a secured deposit credit card. Of course, things very well may have changed in the recent years. I wired large amounts with them on several occassions. It was fairly painless and the charge was negligible.

On a side note, I'd steer clear of Shinhan. They are not a foreign friendly bank in the least.