Korean Job Discussion Forums

kangnam mafioso · Joined: 27 Jan 2003 Location: Teheranno

Can you use them in the ATM machines in Seoul?

It's not a credit card. It's a debit VISA card that takes money directly out of my checking or savings account at my bank in USA. I use it just like a credit card here. I can buy things online and charge meals at restaurants.

It has a CIRRUS and STAR logo on the back.

Just wondering if I can use it to get cash out of my account. Anyone had experience with this?

Thanks.

huffdaddy · Joined: 25 Nov 2005

kangnam mafioso · Joined: 27 Jan 2003 Location: Teheranno

what about purchases? it has the visa logo ...can i use it just like a credit card in seoul?

Qinella · Joined: 25 Feb 2005 Location: the crib

Well, I have a Wachovia card, with which I never had any problems when I lived in a small town near Daejeon. However, here in Seoul I've tried about twenty different ATMs that have the option of "foreign card". The only place I've found where it will work is the after-hours KB machines near my apartment. The business-hours ATMs do not work.

I suppose other people haven't had the same misfortune as me, but there it is.

zappadelta · Joined: 31 Aug 2004

The atms in subway stations work.

krats1976 · Joined: 14 May 2003

billybrobby · Joined: 09 Dec 2004

i've got the same kind of card.

All the ATMs in the subways work for me. Plus all other ATMs with the Cirrus logo (which is quite a few).

I've used it as a credit card.

I didn't have to call to authorize anything with my bank.

maybe that's just me, but it was basically no problem.

krats1976 · Joined: 14 May 2003

cubanlord · Joined: 08 Jul 2005 Location: In Japan!

My card from back home works for purchases and cash withdrawals everywhere there is a visa logo. It is NOT a credit card. It's a debit card.

Wangja · Joined: 17 May 2004 Location: Seoul, Yongsan

..... as do my Korean ATM cards work overseas.

RACETRAITOR · Joined: 24 Oct 2005 Location: Seoul, South Korea

Last resort, if you can get onto Yongsan Air Base, you can take out money easily there.

zappadelta · Joined: 31 Aug 2004

Wangja · Joined: 17 May 2004 Location: Seoul, Yongsan

vandyshannon · Joined: 30 Apr 2006 Location: Jeonju

You can use them at any of the atms that take international cards. They're all labeled with the visa, cirrus, mastercard logo. I have had no trouble finding places to use mine.

OiGirl · Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Location: Hoke-y-gun

It is quite possible. Sometimes you have to look hard for an ATM.

Usually all branches of the Korean Exchange Bank have at least one ATM that will work. It might not be the same one on each visit. It might not be the one that is labelled as accepting foreign cards.

Often, the "no-name" ATMs in big-box stores and convenience stores will work.

And I have found the ATMs in the Seoul subway stations to work. (Probably the same machines as in the stores above.)

If your card doesn't work in one machine, keep trying! And don't let yourself get so low on money that you're frantically trying to find an ATM rhat worls. The one that worked perfectly yesterday may not work tomorrow.