Compare transfers by what actually arrives

Right now

1. 1Unless the money has to move today, put the same amount into your bank app and into a transfer app, and read the two estimated arrival figures side by side. Comparing fee numbers alone flips the ranking.
2. 2If you hold the Overseas Korean (F-4) or Working Visit (H-2) status, add the post office to your list. From 1 September 2026 it applies a 30 percent preferential exchange rate on overseas transfers, and the family living with you is covered too.
3. 3If you plan to go to a counter, check first that the branch handles banking. Post offices that only handle mail cannot send money.

What to have ready

• Alien Registration Card: Used to confirm who you are, at a counter and in an app alike.
• A Korean bank account: Where the money leaves from. If you are sending from a post office, having a post office account shortens the process.
• The recipient's name: Spelled exactly as it appears on their passport or ID. No nicknames, no shortened forms.
• The receiving bank's details: Account number, bank name, and SWIFT code. Some countries also ask for the recipient's address or phone number.

Phrases you can copy and paste

Step by step

1. 1

   There are three main routes

   The first is the bank you already use. Large amounts, or money whose purpose has to be documented, end up here. The second is a transfer app, a route the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act opened separately under the name small-sum overseas remittance business; fees are lower and arrival is faster, but there is a ceiling on how much goes in one transfer. The third is the post office, which has more counters than any bank and reaches small towns, so outside the big cities it is often the nearest window.

2. 2

   Compare on one number: what arrives

   The cost comes out in two places. One is the visible line item, the transfer fee. The other is the exchange rate applied when your won becomes foreign currency. A bank sets that rate by adding its own margin to the day's base rate, and a preferential exchange rate cuts into that margin. Thirty percent preferential does not mean 30 percent more currency; it means 30 percent off the margin the bank added. That is how a service with a zero fee can take more on the rate. The estimated arrival figure on screen is the two of them combined into one line.

3. 3

   The post office added a preference on 1 September

   Where:

   Any post office (banking and transfers only at branches that handle banking)

   The Ministry of Justice and Korea Post, under the Ministry of Science and ICT, signed an agreement at Gwanghwamun Post Office on 28 August 2026 and started the benefits on 1 September. It covers people living in Korea on the Overseas Korean (F-4) and Working Visit (H-2) statuses and the family accompanying them, a group the two ministries put at around 870,000 people. Overseas transfers get a 30 percent preferential exchange rate and post office deposits get up to 0.15 percentage points of extra interest. On the mail side, EMS and EMS Premium are 10 percent cheaper, and filing through the post office app or the internet post office adds another 3 percent, up to 13 percent. Mail works at any post office; deposits and transfers only at branches that handle banking.

4. 4

   The post office has two different transfer products

   Cost:

   Internet SWIFT transfer: 10,000 won at a counter, 5,000 won through internet or mobile banking

   One is the internet SWIFT transfer. It runs through a partnership with Shinhan Bank, lands in the recipient's bank account, and handles 13 currencies including US dollars. A counter costs 10,000 won and internet or mobile banking costs 5,000 won, so the same transfer halves when you change channel. It only handles personal transfers that need no supporting documents. The other is MoneyGram express, where the recipient collects cash at a local agent without a bank account. It is US dollars only, and one person can send up to 8,000 US dollars in a single day.

5. 5

   Look up the transfer app by name first

   Where:

   FINE, the Financial Supervisory Service site (fine.fss.or.kr)

   Small-sum overseas remittance is not open to anyone; the business has to be registered with the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The Financial Supervisory Service publishes the list of registered operators on FINE, and searching a company name brings it up. If you first saw the name in an advert or a group chat, check that list before your money goes in. Each entry also states the destination countries, the currencies handled, and the per-transfer and annual limits, so the same page tells you whether your country and your amount fit.

6. 6

   Some transfers still need a bank counter

   Just as the post office SWIFT product only covers transfers that need no supporting documents, the other routes split by purpose too. Sending salary home, paying tuition, money tied to property or a contract: for these a bank asks for paperwork. Which documents, and from what amount, differs from bank to bank, so a phone call before you go is faster than a wasted trip. Employment certificates, payslips, and contracts are the usual things asked for, because they show where the money came from.

The Korean words

송금song-geum, remittance

Sending money. Abroad, it becomes haeoe-songgeum.

환율 우대hwan-yul u-dae, preferential exchange rate

The share of the bank's margin on the rate that is waived.

수취인su-chwi-in, recipient

The person receiving the money, as counter forms label them.

우대금리u-dae-geum-ri, preferential interest rate

Extra interest added to a deposit.

국제특급우편guk-je-teuk-geup-u-pyeon, EMS

The post office's fast international mail service.

동반가족dong-ban-ga-jok, accompanying family

Family members living in Korea with the status holder.

Easy to miss

• ·Choosing on the words zero fee. The cost is already out of the exchange rate, and that gap can be larger than any fee.
• ·Spelling the recipient's name differently from their passport. If the name and the account do not match, the receiving bank stops it, and getting the money back takes days.
• ·Assuming any post office will do. Deposits and transfers only happen at branches that handle banking.
• ·Assuming the new post office benefit covers every foreign resident. It covers the Overseas Korean (F-4) and Working Visit (H-2) statuses and their accompanying family.
• ·Sending a large sum through MoneyGram in one go. One person can send up to 8,000 US dollars in a single day.
• ·Using a counter because it feels easier. The post office SWIFT transfer is 10,000 won at a counter and 5,000 won online.

You can skip this if

• If the recipient is inside Korea, you do not need this guide. Domestic transfers finish inside your banking app.
• If you do not hold the Overseas Korean (F-4) or Working Visit (H-2) status, the post office benefit that began in September is not for you. The rest of the guide still applies.
• If your employer sends part of your salary home for you, ask your company first. You may not need to send anything yourself.
• Without an Alien Registration Card you will be stopped at the identity check. Come back once you have it.

Where this comes from

• Ministry of Justice press release on the settlement-support agreement for overseas Koreans and their families (31 August 2026)
• Korea Post press release on the agreement with the Ministry of Justice (28 August 2026)
• Korea.kr policy briefing, easing the cost of sending money and parcels home
• Overseas remittance guide (Post Office Banking)
• Register of licensed small-sum overseas remittance operators (Financial Supervisory Service, FINE)