KEB Banking services

Now banking in Korea and transferring money to your home country bank account is very simple! KEB (Korean Exhange Bank) offers a service especially designed to foreigners. Two special kinds of accounts are necessary in order to take advantage of this service.

First, you should know that your employer will open a bank account for you after you've received your Alien Registration Card (ARC), but before your first paycheck. You are able to visit this bank during its hours of operation to do your transfers and take care of all of your banking needs. You will also receive a debit card that is only valid within South Korea. You can definitely use this bank, but the information presented in this entry is to offer you an option that is convenient.

To open a bank account with KEB, you are required to have an ARC as well as your home country's bank account information. This information includes the name of the bank, address, phone number, bank account number and that bank's SWIFT routing number. Once you have all these things, head into any KEB branch. (Only special branches offer this service, so find the one nearest to you and ask if it is a "Special branch." If not, find out the nearest one to you!) These special branches offer services to English speakers.

Once you've found a special KEB branch, ask to sign up for the Global Expat Card and to open a special remittance account. You'll be required to fill out the paperwork together with a KEB banker. The process takes about 45 minutes to one hour.

As soon as your account is open, you'll receive a debit/ATM card that you can use anywhere in the world. Other advantages include : Internet banking, ATM transfers, low transfer and withdrawl rates, etc. Take a look at this site for more details on this service!

** If you want your paychecks from your employer automatically deposited into this account, just provide them with your bank account number and they should be able to do this for you!