Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Banks see expatriates as ___________ (fill in the blank).
Well, I wouldn't have put "gold mine" in there, as the Korea Times did today. I'll mention, as I did the last time the KT gushed about foreigner-friendly banks, that foreigners are still denied basic services at banks. My girlfriend, for example, has been rejected several times for an international debit card at Gwangju Bank, and 47% of respondents on a Dave's survey I started said that they either couldn't get an international debit card or were issued one that didn't work overseas.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
11 comments:
Perhaps they are foreigner friendly but it doesn't help those of us who live outside of a small section of Seoul where these approximately 25 branches exist.
It would be more accurate to say that these banks offer foreigner friendly services to a discreet segment of the foreigner population who live within a specific geographical area of Korea.
... Aliens and basically not Koreans. I think they're just being too careful. Thanks for sharing. Hey, these Hawaii Statehood Apparel might interest some of your Korean friends.
That title frightened me.
Re: the ATM cards not working overseas... It doesn't hurt to ask. Today my bank (theoretically) upgraded it. I will test it this summer.
last week my bank (Woori)gave me a visa int check card which looks like the visa check card my bank in the states gave me. i'll check it in thailand in a couple of weeks and see if it does work.
International debit cards? What are these wonderful imaginary things to which you refer? In the name of "security", I don't have a debit card at the bank my employer direct debits my paycheck to. I wrote about it awhile back on my own blog, but suffice it to say my account would have to be open for three months before they could issue a debit card. I would have called BS but didn't have the time. I could understand their reason (money laundering by foreigners) - which I have heard stories about - but the way I end up moving money around (withdraw from bank 1, depositing to bank 2, sending money home from bank 2) sure looks like money laundering to me :)
Since I haven't left the country since I arrived here, and tend to work in cash since that's what Koreans everywhere take, my use for banks is somewhat low... We'll see what happens in the future though...
I've been lucky in that I got an international debit card my first month in Korea---at the Jeongja Station KEB---and even got it replaced in Gwangju when it wore out back in 2006/7. It's worked in Taiwan---numerous times---, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and each time I've tried to use it in the US. But I nearly put my hand through the fucking wall when the bank insisted my (Japanese) girlfriend couldn't get an international debit card at Gwangju Bank, even though she'd been a customer there for a couple years. Nevermind that it's her money and they're dictating to her how she's able to access it, it's a pain in the ass when travelling.
Yep, according to anecdotal evidence and to the survey on Dave's---which I check from time to time---it looks like more than half of people have gotten these cards (though the people who HAVEN'T are the ones that stand out to me). But that nearly half---if not more, I haven't surveyed every foreigner---are getting a hard time, are getting rejected, or are getting a card that doesn't work when they try to use it, then there's a problem. As people always say, it totally depends on the location, the teller, and the time of day. In the older post on this I did I linked to some articles that said there is no official policy prohibiting foreigners from getting these cards, it's just that certain branches choose not to give them.
always recommend KEB to expatriate teachers. I have been very pleased with their service and the bank products. I had no problem getting an international debit card. I have an account with Kookmin Bank (KB), too. (This account was arranged by my former employer. After leaving the former employer I went to KEB.) KB had given me some trouble about getting an international debit card.
I recently found out that KEB is majority owned by a Texas concern. Maybe this is the reason it has a focus on expatriate customers.
I've been with Woori Bank and have been rejected for an international debit card. I'm going to switch to KB if they give me one.
Ed: Don't go to KB (Kookmin Bank). Go to KEB (Korea Exchange Bank). KEB is the bank that will give you an international debit card. "KB" will not.
I finally found a bank that gave me an international ATM card. It is the KEB bank. I know they have English service branches in Seoul, three of them. I don't know about other languages, although they do bill themselves as foreign language branches, I think. Anyway, with the simple (yet still somewhat distressing) step of taking my passport and linking the card to my passport number in some fashion, I was allowed to have an international ATM card. (And I really don't want to work too hard at convincing anyone why I sound so excited at being accorded such an amazing privilege. I guess I have been here too long.) And I am happy to report that when I was in Canada just last week, the card worked as it was supposed to and I have access to MY money when I am not here in this country. They also have an English website that is well-constructed. I am supposed to be able to send money home via the internet, although I haven't tried that yet. That particular service is somewhat pricey, but I will be recommending the KEB for service to foreigners over other banks that will lie to the face of their foreign customers, although I won't dare to name any of them as there are such strong defamation laws here, but one of them does have most of the initials of the KEB.
Now I don't know if they will be easy to convince in other jurisdictions than Seoul. But as it is the same bank, they should have some of the same services, I would imagine.
Post a Comment