In Korea, you can use a variety of financial instruments and services, such as deposits, funds, and insurance products provided by a variety of financial institutions. However, in some cases, banking transactions for international residents may be restricted by domestic regulations. Maximum transaction amount restrictions, and so forth, may be applied depending on transaction types.

Banks will require an Residence Card and/or a passport and sometimes proof of employment to open an account in Korea. Due to the sheer number of banks and the variety of accounts they offer, we cannot 100% say what is required for each. If you set up an account with your passport, they’ll only have your passport on file and the passport will be necessary to bring in person to do certain transactions. If you opened your account with only your passport and are going to live in Korea more than a few months, take both your passport and your alien card and inform the teller to add your domestic ID to your account.

While joint accounts, for example that of a married couple, are common in certain countries, they are nearly nonexistent in Korea. While it is possible to get an account with two cards, one name will be attached and that will be the sole owner of the account. Some dating couples do this and each put in a small amount each month with the express purpose of using it for dates. However getting an account with two owners, i.e., co-signers, is difficult if not impossible to do.

Korean Banks

A number of Korean banks exist and are best categorized into three groups; major banks, government banks, internet-only banks and local banks. Banks are listed within their respective groups by the number of languages their websites support. The information below, just like everything else on this site, is accurate as of when this page was created. If you find incorrect information or dead links, please let us know.

Major banks

Government banks

Internet-only banks

Local banks