How to Open a Bank Account in South Korea. Living in South Korea is an interesting thing today for many foreigners and expatriates. South Korea is famous for its fantastic food, cultures, destinations, and many more. However, one of the common things questioned by many foreigners is how to open a bank account in South Korea.
Since many of them feel difficult to deal with financial transactions, currency rates, fees, and so on. Therefore, opening a bank account in the local bank seems to be a suitable decision.
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Of course, there are several important documents and steps to consider when trying to open a bank account in South Korea. Before jumping into the information, it is also interesting to know the importance of this bank account and how to select a suitable bank. For more details about this information, the following paragraphs will give some overview.
The Importance of Local Bank Account
First, it is important to understand why opening a bank account in a local bank is preferred. It is feasible to have an account from the origin country. However, it leads to several issues such as withdrawal fees, uncertain currency rates, and many more. Therefore, it will be better to have a local bank account to handle this matter. So that you can perform a daily financial transaction without problems.
Many foreigners and expatriates find that it is difficult to get ATMs that suit their accounts from their origin country. If they find an ATM that accepted their card, it will charge a high withdrawal fee. If you need to perform withdrawal in often time, this will charge you a lot of fees. Furthermore, not to mention the currency rate that quite fluctuates and leads to uncertain rates. This will be very un-economical for your savings account.
Suitable Bank in South Korea to Select
To help with several issues above, opening a bank account in South Korea is recommended. However, some expatriates might feel confused when they need to select the most suitable bank in South Korea that is able to deliver services as needed. Furthermore, they also have no clue which bank is reputable enough or not.
For information, there are several big major banks in South Korea that offers various services for the consumer. Some of them include KB Kookmin Bank, Citibank, and Hana Bank.
Those three banks are recommended for expatriates since they have numerous ATMs across the country and also provide online banking for easier transactions. Plus, they also have branches overseas to help the foreigner able to use their account anywhere. Therefore, these three banks are the most suitable selection to open a bank account in South Korea.
Documents Needed for Open a Bank Account in South Korea
To open a bank account in South Korea, there are several documents needed. Especially for foreigners that shall submit various additional documents compared with Korean residents. For those with expatriate status, usually, the bank will request the following documents.
• Valid passport, you need to show and give a copy of the valid passport as one of the requirements. In case that your passport will be expired, it is suggested to renew the passport in the embassy so that you will be able to process a new bank account in a local bank.
• Visa is also an important document to provide. Some banks will automatically close an account of an expatriate with an expired visa. Therefore, make sure to provide a valid and active Visa for this necessity.
• An Alien Registration Card will be required too. This card will give information related to your address in Korean and English language. So that you can use this address as the formal address of your bank account.
Steps to Open a Bank Account in South Korea
For those who plan to open a bank account in South Korea, the most important thing to do is to present in the bank office. Unfortunately, most South Korean banks do not provide an online application. Therefore, you need to come to the branch to perform this activity.
However, the steps are commonly easy. You need to bring all the required documentation to the selected bank, and then liaise with the bank officer. Once you meet the bank officer, he will inform any form that needs to be filled in according to your valid personal data. Therefore, you shall spend some time filling in the form and making sure that all data has been written properly.
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Once you finish the form, the bank officer will make a confirmation through your original document. You can just show the documents as needed and make a copy for the bank. If this step is finished, then the bank officer will proceed with a new bank account. Don’t forget to put a deposit as required and wait for several minutes for your printed book bank and ATM card.
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By reading the above information, it will be clear how to open a bank account in South Korea. So that any foreigner and expatriate who decide to stay in the country will not experience problems on performing open a bank account in the country. Having a local account will help to support day-to-day financial transactions without any issues.