Greetings!!
Just wondering if anybody has experience with banks in Korea that will also facilitate and allow us to have access to our accounts back in Canada. I was thinking that HSBC would be a good choice, but wondering what others have found.
Thanks!!
Banking in Korea
I don't know about allowing access to banks back home, but I know that HSBC works as a separate bank. The ones in Canada aren't connected for ease to to the ones in Korea. I looked into opening an HSBC account prior to moving to Korea in 2008, and they told me that I would essentially be opening a separate account in both countries.
As far as sending money from Korea to Canada. - KEB (Korea Exchange Bank) is the best. They have an online system that works very well.
Keep in mind - my information is a few years old, but I have friends that still live there.
As far as sending money from Korea to Canada. - KEB (Korea Exchange Bank) is the best. They have an online system that works very well.
Keep in mind - my information is a few years old, but I have friends that still live there.
Best to check with other expats who live there. I think it's better now, but a few years ago they would not issue international debit cards to foreigners. I even had one clerk tell me that it was because Korea wanted "to stop foreigners from stealing money from the Korean economy." I eventually got one from Nonghyup Bank.
Reply
HSBC has a small number of pros and given the cost a lot of disadvantages. You can set up accounts in Canada with HSBC and set up a S.K. HSBC account before you leave, meaning you will have all your banking documents, debit/ATM card, internet banking, etc before you go. This saves you at least half a day before you go. With the two separate accounts you would be able to monitor and view them together in the same application with online banking, and online banking would be available in english (or French). You can get familiar with it before you go. You have one contact number with english (or french) customer service to handle a wire transfer. As soon as there is a problem with a wire transfer, between two separate banks, they each say the problem is with the other bank. You will also have a much shorter settlement time (the time it takes your transfer once initiated to be deposited in your destination account.
The problems start with while you have global view, you cant use global transfer so you cant actually move money between the accounts online (this would have been SUPER nice), as a result you will have to use a normal wire transfer. HSBC has expensive international accounts. Premeir is $50 a month is you dont have $100K on deposit with them. HSBC Advance is $25 if you dont have $25K on deposit with them, and you need TWO seperate accounts (with fees), one in S. Korea, and one in Canada. Thats a lot of money on fees, considering that you dont get online global transfer benefits and a wire transfer is about $25. It would be cheaper to just have low cost or "free" accounts in Canada and S. Korea. if you send only one wire a month your saving between $25 and $75 a month.
HSBC has 11 brances in S.Korea, and 6 of them are in Seoul (lucky for you if your in Seoul) other wise the other 5 are one each in: Kyonggi, Incheon, Daegu, Daejeon, and Busan. Thats not all that convenient.
More then likely your school will have a local bank already that they deposit your pay packet into, so you may have to use that bank anyway at least for withdrawls, and instead of going then to HSBC you could just transfer the money from that bank.
The problems start with while you have global view, you cant use global transfer so you cant actually move money between the accounts online (this would have been SUPER nice), as a result you will have to use a normal wire transfer. HSBC has expensive international accounts. Premeir is $50 a month is you dont have $100K on deposit with them. HSBC Advance is $25 if you dont have $25K on deposit with them, and you need TWO seperate accounts (with fees), one in S. Korea, and one in Canada. Thats a lot of money on fees, considering that you dont get online global transfer benefits and a wire transfer is about $25. It would be cheaper to just have low cost or "free" accounts in Canada and S. Korea. if you send only one wire a month your saving between $25 and $75 a month.
HSBC has 11 brances in S.Korea, and 6 of them are in Seoul (lucky for you if your in Seoul) other wise the other 5 are one each in: Kyonggi, Incheon, Daegu, Daejeon, and Busan. Thats not all that convenient.
More then likely your school will have a local bank already that they deposit your pay packet into, so you may have to use that bank anyway at least for withdrawls, and instead of going then to HSBC you could just transfer the money from that bank.
Our school "chooses" our bank for us. We use KEB. I have no idea how they work with international wiring, but I did have to get a check cashed and it had a $10 fee. We had to get a separate "international" card and I had to get a separate card w/ a Visa. They only gave us ATM cards, which didn't help when I needed to pay online for things locally.
Our school pays 1/3 Korean and 2/3 US and they wire it directly to our US accounts. I imagine the people that aren't from the US get it wired into their home accounts. The point is, is that our school wires it for us. I know this is the minority for schools though.
Our school pays 1/3 Korean and 2/3 US and they wire it directly to our US accounts. I imagine the people that aren't from the US get it wired into their home accounts. The point is, is that our school wires it for us. I know this is the minority for schools though.
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jbiersteker
- Posts: 121
- Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2012 10:38 am
Comment
Bank of America (BoA) use to have a convoluted process in some regions, but thanks to the Patriot Act, its really not possible except with HSBC. American Express offices sometimes have access to the ACH and for a lower fee then a wire transfer can do a transfer. There are wire transfer services like western union and money gramm that can "link" to different bank accounts and basically transfer money through them for a fee thats "cheaper" then a wire transfer.
What i do is get a bank draft from my foreign/local bank (similar to a cashiers check or money order) and then use my online banking app to deposit it into my USA account via my phone using the picture deposit method. It take a while to clear but the local bank draft fee is very cheap (or free) and there are no other transfer fees, though you do have to convert the currency. Depending on your foreign/local bank you can choose to either convert the currency into USD and have the draft issued in USD (easier, and some American Banks wont accept commercial paper in foreign currency), or if you have too have the draft issued in the foreign/local currency and let your bank in the States convert the currency. This method is very safe, as you dont have to worry about anything getting lost in the mail or a bank transmission error, and you have more control over when the deposit "settles" and posts.
What i do is get a bank draft from my foreign/local bank (similar to a cashiers check or money order) and then use my online banking app to deposit it into my USA account via my phone using the picture deposit method. It take a while to clear but the local bank draft fee is very cheap (or free) and there are no other transfer fees, though you do have to convert the currency. Depending on your foreign/local bank you can choose to either convert the currency into USD and have the draft issued in USD (easier, and some American Banks wont accept commercial paper in foreign currency), or if you have too have the draft issued in the foreign/local currency and let your bank in the States convert the currency. This method is very safe, as you dont have to worry about anything getting lost in the mail or a bank transmission error, and you have more control over when the deposit "settles" and posts.
Breaking News: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/03/20 ... 13334.html
I hope that the cyber attacks that affected South Korean banks don't impact those of you over ther.
I hope that the cyber attacks that affected South Korean banks don't impact those of you over ther.
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jbiersteker
- Posts: 121
- Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2012 10:38 am
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shadowjack
- Posts: 2140
- Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:49 am
jb - Interac is the Canadian system. I am not sure you can move money via email from other banks outside Canada - I think it is an in-Canada system. Has your bank in Korea indicated they are an Interac member?
As far as I know, you have a few choices moving money from overseas - direct transfer through your bank. You should be able to set this up fairly painlessly, create a monthly transaction that you then don't have to worry about, and it will be fairly quick.
The second is to wire money via a company such as Western Union to a friend or family member in Canada to deposit into your account every month. This is more of a hassle and I am not sure of the cost. It might be cheaper in money, but more expensive in time, and after all, time is money!
Good luck on your transfer hunt!
As far as I know, you have a few choices moving money from overseas - direct transfer through your bank. You should be able to set this up fairly painlessly, create a monthly transaction that you then don't have to worry about, and it will be fairly quick.
The second is to wire money via a company such as Western Union to a friend or family member in Canada to deposit into your account every month. This is more of a hassle and I am not sure of the cost. It might be cheaper in money, but more expensive in time, and after all, time is money!
Good luck on your transfer hunt!
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BookshelfAmy
- Posts: 120
- Joined: Sat Jan 21, 2012 4:21 pm