Dollars and Wons
There are several different ways of bringing US dollars to Korea. You can bring hard cash, traveler’s checks, or wire transfer. At any rate, if you bring in more than $10,000 USD on you, then you need to declare it to customs when you land.
Hard cash
Cash is the easiest way to bring in money without any fees. But if it’s stolen, too bad.
Traveler’s Checks
Traveler’s checks are replaceable if they are lost or stolen. But, when you buy them, you have to pay a fee of 1% ~ 3% or so. And then, when you sell them in Korea, they charge you another fee because they have to mail it back to U.S. to get their money.
Wire transfer
Wire transfer is the safest and cheap way to bring in money. The only drawback is that you have to have an account already set up in Korea. You can come to Korea, open an account and have someone back in the states wire the money to your account. The wire transfer has a flat fee and it’s not based on the transaction amount. So, the more money you wire, the more money you save.
Currency Exchange
The worst place to sell your dollar and buy Korean Won is at the LAX currency exchange. They give you the least amount of KRW for the dollar. On top of that, they charge you a fee for exchanging currency. I’ve never seen this fee at Inchon Airport currency exchange or any other Korean banks that I’ve been to.
When you land at the Inchon Airport, you should sell your dollar and buy some KRW if you don’t have any. I’d say about $100 should be enough to get you going. Then you should sell your dollar at any local bank in Seoul. They give you more KRW than the Inchon Airport.
I opened a bank account at 우리(Woori) bank. From what I’m told, all the banks are pretty much the same in Korea. Just pick the one that has a branch that’s conveniently located for you. The only thing I needed to open a bank account was my passport and an address where I was staying. Yesterday, I sold some USD and this was the exchange rate at the 우리(Woori)bank.
To sell USD, you get KRW 999
To buy USD, you pay KRW 1,034
This means that the total spread for the bank is 35KRW per USD. The bank makes 17.5 KRW per each dollar transaction. I guess that means that you are losing 1.75% when you exchange currency. The spread is slightly different from bank to bank.
Hard cash
Cash is the easiest way to bring in money without any fees. But if it’s stolen, too bad.
Traveler’s Checks
Traveler’s checks are replaceable if they are lost or stolen. But, when you buy them, you have to pay a fee of 1% ~ 3% or so. And then, when you sell them in Korea, they charge you another fee because they have to mail it back to U.S. to get their money.
Wire transfer
Wire transfer is the safest and cheap way to bring in money. The only drawback is that you have to have an account already set up in Korea. You can come to Korea, open an account and have someone back in the states wire the money to your account. The wire transfer has a flat fee and it’s not based on the transaction amount. So, the more money you wire, the more money you save.
Currency Exchange
The worst place to sell your dollar and buy Korean Won is at the LAX currency exchange. They give you the least amount of KRW for the dollar. On top of that, they charge you a fee for exchanging currency. I’ve never seen this fee at Inchon Airport currency exchange or any other Korean banks that I’ve been to.
When you land at the Inchon Airport, you should sell your dollar and buy some KRW if you don’t have any. I’d say about $100 should be enough to get you going. Then you should sell your dollar at any local bank in Seoul. They give you more KRW than the Inchon Airport.
I opened a bank account at 우리(Woori) bank. From what I’m told, all the banks are pretty much the same in Korea. Just pick the one that has a branch that’s conveniently located for you. The only thing I needed to open a bank account was my passport and an address where I was staying. Yesterday, I sold some USD and this was the exchange rate at the 우리(Woori)bank.
To sell USD, you get KRW 999
To buy USD, you pay KRW 1,034
This means that the total spread for the bank is 35KRW per USD. The bank makes 17.5 KRW per each dollar transaction. I guess that means that you are losing 1.75% when you exchange currency. The spread is slightly different from bank to bank.
posted by Jonathan J. Kim at
3/29/2005 06:14:00 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home