Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mack the knife]

if you open an account at Citibank or American Express here in Korea, does the money deposited in that account automatically get converted to dollars, or can you keep it in won if you wish?

[DHC]

You can open a dollar or a Won account. If you have a dollar account transfers will be left in dollars. If you have a Won account transfers will be converted to Won. transaction fees are higher with a dollar account. You pay a fee each time you withdraw dollars.

For the above reasons , I opened a Won account at Citibank.

[Anda]

Um if the banks were to fail here like what happened in Mexico then having a dollar account won't help you. Stick to sending your money home!!!!!!

[dogbert]

obAnda: Buy gold!

Fortunately, the banks here are not like the banks in Mexico.

Your money most likely will not be unsafe in any of the commercial Korean banks. Of course, in a war, all bets are off. For that reason, I would advise keeping a minimum amount of money in Korea.

Any Korean bank will allow you to open a foreign currency (USD, JPY, EUR) account. You do not have to pay any fee to withdraw money from such an account.

I have a foreign currency account with a Korean bank and have absolutely no problems with it. However, Korean banks offer very low interest rates on foreign currency accounts (lower than on their KRW accounts). I have had good experiences banking with NetBank www.netbank.com and would suggest that you check it out.

[mack the knife]

The new Citibank has accounts which earn 4.5 percent or thereabouts. Not bad for a risk-free, one year investment. You can open dollar accounts, and now is a better time than ever to convert your WON into DOLLARS.

[fidel]

[MixtecaMike]

[mack the knife]

[Wangja]

Most of the major banks do such accounts. Over the years I have held accounts here in USD EUR and CAD. only USD (and KRW) at present, but considering another EUR account, the USD has too much going against it at present.

[mack the knife]

[Wangja]

Can't remember for sure, but a year or so ago I was getting 5.8% on CAD

4.5 on USD is excellent for now, but don't lock in for too long )IMHO)

[fidel]

Most banks in Korea handle Euro's,..don't know about the gold. You can transfer Euro's back to your home country as Euros(open a foreign exchange account back home) and watch them multiply as the US dollar is devalued, China floats the Yuan and Euros are increasingly used to buy oil. The US deficit is balooning to astronomical fortunes and something has to give in the near future.


Think about this....

If Middle Eastern nations decide to punish the US for whatever reason, and insist on payment for oil in Euro's what will this do to the US dollar. and if Asian countries stop buying treasury bonds....