Welcome to Korea! Getting settled in a new country involves a series of essential tasks, and opening a bank account is high on that list. While the process is straightforward for citizens, foreign residents often find themselves navigating a system with unique rules and requirements. This guide cuts through the confusion, providing a clear, step-by-step roadmap to opening and managing your Korean bank account in 2026.
Category: Life in Korea | Reading time: ~18 minutes | Last updated: September 2026
Disclaimer: This guide is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, tax, or immigration advice. Banking requirements in Korea are set partly by law and partly by each bank's internal rules, which means branch-level practice varies and policies change. Every figure and requirement here is sourced to official or bank publications and dated where possible, but confirm current requirements with the specific branch before visiting. Foreign exchange and remittance rules in particular were substantially revised for 2026 and differ by nationality and residence status.
This guide covers: the documents required with and without a residence card, the daily transfer limit almost every new account carries and how to lift it, which banks operate dedicated foreigner services, the multilingual apps that now allow account opening without a branch visit, the rule that stops a second account being opened for 20 business days, and how to send salary abroad.
Can a foreigner open a bank account in Korea?
Short answer: Yes. A foreign resident with a residence card, a passport, a Korean phone number, and a document proving the purpose of the account can open a full account at any major Korean bank. Opening one without a residence card is also possible at some branches, but the resulting account is restricted.
The complication is not eligibility. It is that most new accounts in Korea open with tight transfer limits attached, and almost nobody is told this before it becomes a problem.
The three documents that matter most
| Document | Korean term | Why it is required |
|---|---|---|
| Residence card | 외국인등록증 | Primary identification and address verification |
| Passport | 여권 | Secondary identification, name verification |
| Proof of transaction purpose | 금융거래목적확인 서류 | Legally required to open an unrestricted account |
That third item is the one most people arrive without, and it is the reason so many accounts open crippled.
A note on the card's name
Short answer: The document most teachers call the ARC is officially the Residence Card. The Ministry of Justice removed "Alien" from the English name, and cards issued from January 2021 read Residence Card. The Korean name, 외국인등록증, never changed, and both English names remain in daily use.
Banks, academies, and immigration staff use the terms interchangeably. Nothing about the function changed. This guide uses "residence card" and treats ARC as the same document.
There is a newer development worth knowing. The Ministry of Justice began issuing a mobile foreigner residence card on January 10, 2025, available through the government Mobile ID app to registered foreign residents aged 14 or older who hold a smartphone registered in their own name. The card is obtained by tapping the physical IC card against the phone or scanning a QR code. Under the revised Immigration Act, it carries the same legal validity as the plastic card.
From March 21, 2025, the Financial Services Commission, Ministry of Justice, and Ministry of the Interior and Safety confirmed that foreign residents can open bank accounts and conduct financial transactions using the mobile residence card at six banks: Shinhan, Hana, iM, Busan, Jeonbuk, and Jeju. The authorities stated an intention to extend this to other financial institutions.
Practical tip: The mobile card is a useful backup, not a replacement for the plastic one. Bring the physical card to a branch visit regardless, since the bank may need to copy it and branch practice has not caught up everywhere.
What to bring: the document checklist
Short answer: With a residence card, bring identification plus a document proving why the account is needed. Without a residence card, bring a passport plus a document proving a Korean address. Korean banks generally want originals rather than photocopies.
The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) publishes an official English-language guide to this process through Invest Korea, and the document categories below follow it.
If the residence card has been issued
Identification:
- Residence card
- Passport
- Identification from the home country
Proof of financial transaction purpose: this is required under the Special Act on the Prevention of Loss Caused by Telecommunications-Based Financial Fraud. For someone receiving a salary, the official guide lists these as acceptable examples:
- Certificate of employment (재직증명서)
- Wage and salary income tax withholding receipt (근로소득 원천징수영수증)
- Certificate of qualification for national health insurance, for workplace subscribers
- Certificate of income amount
- Employment contract
- Confirmation of subscription to retirement pension
- Specification of wages received for the past three months
- Business card and employee card
For a new teacher who has not yet been paid, the employment contract and a certificate of employment from the academy are the two most readily available. Requesting them before the branch visit is the single most useful preparation step in this guide.
Practical tip: Ask the academy for a 재직증명서 (certificate of employment) and bring the signed employment contract. An academy that has hired foreign teachers before will recognize the request immediately, because every previous teacher needed the same document. Asking the day before the branch visit is cutting it fine, since the document may need a company seal.
If the residence card has not been issued yet
Identification:
- Passport
- Home-country identification
Proof of residence: because an address cannot be confirmed from a passport alone, and know-your-customer checks are mandatory under the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information, an additional document showing a Korean address is required. Acceptable examples include a certificate of employment stating the place of residence, a utility bill receipt, a business registration certificate, a hotel voucher, or a hospital reservation document.
Two caveats from the official guidance: a hotel address may or may not be accepted, so the branch should be asked first, and a company address can be used only where the person genuinely lives there, such as in company accommodation.
Practical tip: Opening before the residence card arrives is possible but produces a restricted account, and branch discretion varies considerably. For most teachers the better sequence is to wait for the card, since the wait is typically a few weeks and a restricted account will need converting anyway.
The limit account: the part nobody warns about
Short answer: Most new accounts in Korea, for Koreans and foreigners alike, open as a limit account (한도제한계좌) with capped daily withdrawals and transfers. Since May 2, 2024, those caps are 3,000,000 KRW at a branch counter, 1,000,000 KRW at an ATM, and 1,000,000 KRW through internet or mobile banking per day.
This is the single most common shock for new arrivals. The account receives deposits normally, so a salary arrives without issue. The problem appears when money needs to leave: a rent payment, a housing deposit, or a transfer home runs into a ceiling nobody mentioned.
Why the limit exists
Korea has required banks to confirm the purpose of a new deposit account since 2012, a measure aimed at stopping the creation of accounts used in voice phishing and money laundering. In 2016, the limit account was introduced so that people who genuinely cannot produce paperwork are not shut out of banking entirely. Where the purpose cannot be objectively documented, the bank does not refuse outright. It opens a limit account instead.
The limits were raised on May 2, 2024, following a 2023 recommendation from the Office for Government Policy Coordination. Before that date, internet banking and ATM limits were only 300,000 KRW per day. The Financial Services Commission announced the change alongside stricter sanctions on accounts actually used in fraud.
Current daily limits
| Transaction type | Daily limit |
|---|---|
| Branch counter | 3,000,000 KRW |
| ATM withdrawal and transfer | 1,000,000 KRW |
| Internet, mobile, and phone banking | 1,000,000 KRW |
Internet-only banks operate on a separate basis, with limit account caps stated by the FSC in the range of 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 KRW for ATM and electronic transactions.
How to lift the limit
The limit is not permanent. It is removed by proving the purpose of the account, using the same categories of document listed above.
- Gather the proof. Certificate of employment, employment contract, payslips, or a health insurance qualification certificate.
- Submit it. Either at a branch, or increasingly through the bank's own app. Hana, for example, offers a limit release menu inside its app and accepts documents by fax to the managing branch.
- Wait for review. This is a review rather than an automatic switch, and a branch can decline if the documentation does not establish the purpose clearly.
Several banks also release the limit once a pattern of salary deposits establishes itself. KB, for instance, allows release without a branch visit where the account has a history of salary transfer, pension receipt, or linked transactions. The exact thresholds are set by each bank's internal rules.
Practical tip: The documentation submitted must match the purpose selected when the account was opened. If the account was opened for salary receipt, salary documents are what will lift it, and unrelated paperwork will not. Choosing "salary" as the stated purpose at opening is worth doing deliberately rather than letting the teller pick.
One more detail worth knowing: banks generally do not publish their precise internal criteria for lifting a limit, on the grounds that publishing them would help the fraud operations the system exists to stop. A branch that declines to explain exactly what would have worked is following policy, not being unhelpful.
Which bank: foreigner services compared
Short answer: Hana and Shinhan are the most frequently recommended for foreign residents, both operating dedicated multilingual apps and foreigner-focused branches. Woori runs a multilingual foreigner call center and a 17-language app. All the majors maintain a foreigner support line.
Dedicated foreigner call centers
The following numbers are published in the Invest Korea account opening guide (August 2024 edition) and on Woori Bank's English site.
| Bank | Foreigner support line |
|---|---|
| Hana | 1599-6111 |
| Shinhan | 1577-8380 (from overseas, +82-2-3449-8380) |
| Woori | 1599-2288 |
| NH Nonghyup | 1661-3000, press 1, then service code 730 |
| IBK | 1566-1566 or 1588-2588, then service code 571 |
Woori's foreigner line routes by language: English, Chinese, Vietnamese, Uzbek, Russian, Thai, Mongolian, Japanese, and a combined option covering Cambodian, Indonesian, Tagalog, and Nepali. NH Nonghyup's official guidance notes that interpretation is also available by calling its number while at a branch.
Verify before relying on these. Bank contact numbers change. Confirm on the bank's own English-language site or app before calling.
The multilingual apps
This is where the landscape has changed most in the last two years.
| App | Bank | Languages | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hana EZ | Hana | Multiple | Launched 2019 as the first dedicated global banking app in Korea; Hana pioneered mobile account opening for foreign customers in 2021 |
| Shinhan SOL Global | Shinhan | 16 | Fully revamped December 2025, with sign-up cut from seven steps to four; supports account opening, currency exchange, and overseas remittance |
| Woori WON Global | Woori | 17 | Account opening, electronic banking registration, international transfer, and residence card delivery tracking |
Shinhan SOL Global covers Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Khmer, Russian, Tagalog, Mongolian, Indonesian, Burmese, Bengali, Nepali, Pashto, and Sinhala.
Korean banks have expanded foreigner services as the foreign resident population has grown. The five major commercial banks collectively gained roughly 374,000 new foreign customers in 2023, nearly double the 2021 figure, according to reporting in The Investor. Hana operates a network of foreigner-specialized branches, some open on Sundays, which matters for anyone whose working week makes a weekday branch visit difficult.
Internet-only banks
Toss Bank, Kakao Bank, and K bank are app-based and popular, but their policies toward foreign residents have shifted repeatedly and differ from one another. Toss Bank is the one most consistently reported as supporting foreign residents, requiring a residence card, permanent residence card, or domestic residence report card together with a Korean phone number. Reporting on Kakao Bank's foreigner offering has been inconsistent through 2026.
Practical tip: Treat internet-only bank eligibility as a live question rather than a settled fact, and check the bank's own site before planning around it. A traditional bank account first, with an internet-only account added later, is the lower-risk sequence, especially given the 20 business day rule below.
The branch visit, step by step
Short answer: Expect 30 to 60 minutes, bring originals of everything, and call ahead to confirm that foreign-language staff are working that day.
- Call the branch first. Ask whether an English-speaking teller or a foreigner counter (외국인 전용 창구) is available, and during which hours. Foreigner-service staff frequently work specific windows rather than all day.
- Choose the branch deliberately. Branches in districts with large international populations, near universities, or near immigration offices process foreign customers routinely and move faster.
- Go early in the day. Korean banks generally close to the public in the mid-afternoon, and account opening is not a process to start twenty minutes before closing.
- Bring originals. Residence card, passport, employment contract, certificate of employment, and the Korean phone in hand for verification.
- State the purpose clearly. Say the account is for receiving salary, and hand over the employment documents unprompted rather than waiting to be asked.
- Ask directly about the limit. The question to ask is what the daily transfer limits on the account will be, and what is needed to remove them. Asking at the counter is far easier than returning later.
- Set up internet and mobile banking on the spot. Staff will usually configure the app, security medium, and certificate if asked while still at the desk.
- Confirm card delivery. A debit card may be issued immediately or posted within a few business days depending on the branch and card type.
Practical tip: Check that the name recorded by the bank exactly matches the name on the residence card, including the order of given and family names. A mismatch here propagates into every later verification failure: payment apps, phone contracts, and financial services all cross-check the name against the phone number and the card.
The 20 business day rule
Short answer: After opening a free deposit and withdrawal account at any Korean financial institution, opening another one elsewhere is generally blocked for 20 business days. This began as 2015 regulatory guidance and is now maintained through banks' internal rules, so application varies by branch.
The rule exists for the same anti-fraud reason as the limit account, since accounts opened in rapid succession across several banks is a known pattern in account-trafficking operations. The Korea Federation of Banks lists it among the industry's voice phishing prevention measures.
Two practical consequences:
- Do not plan to open accounts at two banks on the same trip. A second application may simply be refused.
- The clock covers ordinary deposit and withdrawal accounts. Installment savings and fixed deposit products are generally treated differently.
Exceptions exist and are applied at branch discretion, so a refusal at one branch does not always mean a refusal everywhere. The reliable approach is to choose one bank properly the first time.
After the account is open
Short answer: The account itself is only half the setup. Internet banking, an authentication method, and a debit card are what make it usable, and all three are easiest to arrange during the original branch visit.
What to set up
- Internet and mobile banking, which requires a Korean phone number registered in the same name
- An authentication method, whether a security card, an OTP device, or an app-based certificate
- A debit or check card, which is what most people use day to day in Korea
- Automatic transfers for rent and utilities, once the limit is lifted
Credit cards take time
A credit card generally requires a domestic credit history, which takes months to build. Most new arrivals use a debit card for the first six to twelve months and ask the bank about credit products after that. This is normal and not a reflection on the applicant.
One account per bank
The official guidance describes free deposit and withdrawal accounts as limited to one per person at each financial company. Opening a second everyday account at the same bank is therefore not the solution to a limit problem. Lifting the limit on the existing account is.
Sending money home
Short answer: For a salaried teacher, the clean route is documentation. Proving Korean employment income with employer-issued documents allows the salary to be remitted, and a no-document route exists for smaller amounts. The framework changed substantially for 2026.
This is the most technically complex area in this guide and the one where general internet advice is least reliable, because the rules differ by nationality and by foreign exchange residence status.
What is established
- The documented salary route: KB Kookmin Bank's English guidance states that where earned income (salary) in Korea is proven through documents issued by the employer, the full amount of wage income, excluding income taxes, can be remitted. For a teacher sending part of a salary home each month, this is the route that matters, and it is why the certificate of employment and withholding receipt are worth keeping.
- The Bank of Korea's position: foreigners and non-residents remitting income earned in Korea do so through a bank, and transactions are treated as donations rather than earned income unless evidential documentation is submitted.
- National Tax Service reporting: KB's guidance notes that money transfers over the equivalent of USD 10,000 are reported to the National Tax Service. This is reporting, not a prohibition, and not itself a tax.
- The 2026 overhaul: on December 8, 2025, the government announced a restructuring of the no-document remittance framework effective January 2026. It abolished the designated bank system, which had required all no-document transfers above USD 5,000 to run through a single nominated bank, and consolidated the previously separate no-document annual limits for banks and non-bank providers into a single combined limit.
- Nationality matters: the headline figure widely reported for the reform, USD 100,000 per year without documentation, applies to Korean residents. Reporting on the reform indicates foreign nationals remain at a lower no-document annual allowance, with USD 50,000 widely cited, combined across banks and fintech providers.
Practical tip: The workable approach for a teacher is not to memorize thresholds but to keep documentation. A certificate of employment, an employment contract, payslips, and withholding receipts filed as they arrive turn a remittance from a negotiation into a formality. Ask the bank's foreign exchange desk what it needs for a salary remittance before the first transfer rather than at the counter with a deadline.
Verify this section before acting
Because this framework was revised effective 2026, and because the applicable limit depends on nationality and foreign exchange residence status, the specific annual figure should be confirmed with the bank's foreign exchange desk rather than assumed from any guide, including this one.
Keeping the account working
Short answer: Korean bank accounts are linked to residence status. An expiring residence card can restrict an account until updated identification is presented, which is routine rather than punitive.
Two habits prevent almost all account interruptions:
- Renew the residence card well before expiry and take the new card to the bank to update the record
- Report address changes to the bank as well as to immigration
Departure from Korea has its own sequence. A phone contract, utilities, and any final bills generally need settling before the bank account that pays them is closed, so the account is usually the last thing to close rather than the first.
Common problems and what causes them
| Problem | Cause | What works |
|---|---|---|
| Transfer blocked at 1,000,000 KRW | Account opened as a limit account | Submit proof of purpose matching the purpose selected at opening |
| Account opening refused | No proof of transaction purpose | Return with a certificate of employment and employment contract |
| Second bank refuses to open an account | The 20 business day rule | Wait out the period, or ask whether an exception applies |
| Internet banking cannot be activated | No Korean phone number in the same name | Register a Korean number in your own name first |
| Verification fails everywhere afterwards | Name recorded differently across bank, phone, and residence card | Correct the mismatch at the source, then retry |
| Account restricted without warning | Residence card expired | Present the renewed card at a branch |
| Remittance declined or reduced | Insufficient documentation of income source | Supply employer-issued income documents through the FX desk |
| Branch has nobody who speaks English | Foreigner-service staff work limited hours | Call ahead, or use the bank's foreigner call center and multilingual app |
Frequently asked questions
Can a foreigner open a bank account in Korea without a residence card?
Sometimes, at branch discretion. Official guidance allows opening with a passport plus a document proving a Korean address, such as a certificate of employment stating the residence, a utility bill, or a hotel voucher, because know-your-customer rules require address verification that a passport alone cannot provide. The resulting account will be restricted.
What is a limit account in Korea?
A limit account (한도제한계좌) is a deposit account opened when the purpose of the account cannot be objectively documented. Since May 2, 2024, daily limits are 3,000,000 KRW at a branch counter and 1,000,000 KRW each for ATM and electronic banking. It receives deposits normally.
How do you remove the transfer limit on a Korean bank account?
Submit documents proving the account's purpose, matching the purpose selected when the account was opened. For a salaried employee, that typically means a certificate of employment, an employment contract, payslips, or a health insurance qualification certificate. Some banks also release the limit after a history of regular salary deposits.
Which Korean bank is best for foreigners?
Hana and Shinhan are the most frequently recommended, both operating dedicated multilingual apps and foreigner-focused branches. Woori operates a 17-language app and a multilingual foreigner call center. The practical differentiator is usually which bank has a foreigner-experienced branch near home or work.
Can a Korean bank account be opened from a phone without visiting a branch?
Increasingly yes. Hana pioneered mobile account opening for foreign customers in 2021, and Shinhan's SOL Global app supports account opening in 16 languages. Requirements still include a residence card and a Korean phone number registered in the same name.
Is the mobile residence card accepted at banks?
Yes, at six banks as of March 21, 2025: Shinhan, Hana, iM, Busan, Jeonbuk, and Jeju, per the Financial Services Commission. The mobile card carries the same legal validity as the plastic card under the revised Immigration Act. Bringing the physical card as well remains sensible.
Why can a second account not be opened at another bank?
Korean financial institutions generally block a new deposit and withdrawal account within 20 business days of opening one elsewhere, as an anti-fraud measure maintained through internal rules. Exceptions are applied at branch discretion.
Is a Korean phone number required?
For a functioning account, effectively yes. Internet banking, app login, and transaction authentication all depend on phone verification against a number registered in the same name.
How much money can be sent abroad from Korea?
Where Korean earned income is documented through employer-issued paperwork, wage income excluding taxes can be remitted. Transfers above the equivalent of USD 10,000 are reported to the National Tax Service. The no-document framework was revised effective 2026, and the annual no-document allowance depends on nationality and foreign exchange residence status, so confirm with the bank's FX desk.
Can a credit card be obtained as a new arrival?
Not usually. Credit cards generally require domestic credit history, which takes months to establish. A debit card covers almost all daily use in Korea in the meantime.
Does the academy need to be involved?
Only to supply employment documents. The account is a personal relationship between an individual and a bank. An academy that has hired foreign teachers before will be familiar with the document request.
What happens to the account when the residence card expires?
Access can become restricted, since account status is linked to residence status. Presenting a renewed residence card at a branch restores it. Renewing well before expiry avoids the interruption.
The short version
Opening a Korean bank account is not difficult. It is document-dependent, and the document most people arrive without is the one proving why the account exists.
Walk in with a residence card, a passport, a Korean phone, an employment contract, and a certificate of employment from the academy. State plainly that the account is for receiving salary, and ask at the counter what the daily limits are and how to remove them. That sequence turns a two-visit process into a one-visit process.
Sources
- Financial Services Commission, press release on limit account transaction limits effective May 2, 2024 (Korean): https://www.fsc.go.kr/no010101/82205
- Korea Policy Briefing, summary of the same limit account changes (Korean): https://www.korea.kr/news/policyNewsView.do?newsId=148928795
- Financial Services Commission (English), Mobile Foreigner Residence Card accepted for opening bank accounts at six banks from March 21, 2025: https://www.fsc.go.kr/eng/pr010101/84215
- Korea.net, same announcement with background on the mobile ID system: https://www.korea.net/Government/Briefing-Room/Press-Releases/view?articleId=84215
- Invest Korea (KOTRA), "How Foreigners Can Open a Bank Account in Korea," August 2024: https://www.investkorea.org/file/ik-en/How%20Foreigners%20Can%20Open%20a%20Bank%20Account%20in%20Korea.pdf
- Ministry of Justice, announcement replacing "Alien Registration Card" with "Residence Card" (Korean): http://www.moj.go.kr/bbs/moj/182/533233/artclView.do
- Woori Bank (English), procedure for opening an account and foreigner call center routing: https://spib.wooribank.com/pib/Dream?withyou=ENENG0149
- Hana Bank, FAQ on releasing a limit account (Korean): https://www.kebhana.com/cont/customer/customer01/customer0102/customer010201/index.jsp
- KB, explainer on limit accounts, current limits, and release conditions (Korean): https://kbthink.com/savings/basics/limit_account.html
- KB Kookmin Bank (English), overseas remittance guidance including documented earned income: https://omoney.kbstar.com/quics?page=C021162
- Bank of Korea (English), payments and transactions legislation overview: https://www.bok.or.kr/eng/main/contents.do?menuNo=400191
- Korea Policy Briefing, restructuring of no-document overseas remittance and abolition of the designated bank system, December 8, 2025 (Korean): https://www.korea.kr/news/policyNewsView.do?newsId=148956081
- Korea Federation of Banks, voice phishing prevention measures including short-term multiple account restrictions (Korean): https://portal.kfb.or.kr/voice/vphishing_system4.php
- Korea JoongAng Daily, on Korean banks expanding services for foreign residents: https://www.koreajoongangdaily.com/korea/koreas-banks-roll-out-more-financial-services-for-foreigners-as-population-grows/12137939
- The Investor, on Hana EZ, foreigner-specialized branches, and foreign customer growth: https://www.theinvestor.co.kr/article/3413548
- The Asia Business Daily, on the December 2025 revamp of Shinhan SOL Global: https://www.asiae.co.kr/en/article/2025120114212039540
A residence card is the prerequisite for nearly everything in this guide. For that process, see the 2026 Korea immigration playbook. For the phone number the bank will verify against, see the guide to Korean phone plans. For the payment apps the account will connect to, see the guide to essential Korean apps. For the bank support lines worth saving, see the guide to English hotlines in Korea.