Last December when I did my annual tradition of throwing away old and useless stuff before the new year, I realized that I accumulated a lot of unused cosmetics. I stored them in a box due to the lack of space in my drawer but I eventually forgot about them. Sadly, most of the items already reached the expiration date. What a waste of money! 😦

One of my New Year’s resolutions this year is to spend less and keep more of my monthly allowance in the bank. Anyway all my basic needs are already included in our budget for our monthly living expenses. I’m so glad that Korean banks offer up to 7.5% interest rates for multicultural families (foreign spouse of Korean national). Since the maximum monthly deposit is quite low however, I decided to open time deposit accounts in several banks that offer high interest rates to increase my personal savings. To those who are interested, here is a list of some Korean banks that offer 5.0 – 7.50% interest rates. 🙂

 

1. Woori Bank  (우리은행) – For foreign wives 

• Savings Plan: Woori Hope Dream Savings (우리 희망드림적금: Woori hee mang deu reem jeok keum)
• Maximum monthly deposit – 300,000 won
• Term: 1 year
• Interest rate: 7.5 %

• Savings Plan: Kookmin Happy Savings (국민행복적금: Kookmin haeng bok jeok keum)
• Maximum monthly deposit – 500,000 won
• Term: 1 year
• Interest rate: 7.5 %

3.  IBK Bank (기업은행) – For foreign wives

• Savings Plan: (신서민섬김: shin seo min seom kim)
• Maximum monthly deposit – 500,000 won
• Term: 1 year
• Interest rate: 7.0 %

4.  KEB Bank (외환은행) – For foreign wives and husbands 

• Savings Plan: 1004 Sharing (1004 나눔: cheon sa na noom)
• Maximum monthly deposit – 300,000 won
• Term: 1 -3 years
• Interest rate: 5.0 – 6.0 % (depending on the term you choose)

5. Shinhan Bank (신한은행) – For foreign wives

• Savings Plan: Shinhan New Hope Savings (신한 새희망적금: shin han sae hee mang jeok keum)
• Maximum monthly deposit – 200,000 won
• Term: 3 years
• Interest rate: 6.0%

This past few days I spent my mornings visiting banks and opening new accounts. Applying for bank accounts in Korea is so fast and easy. To open time deposit accounts like the ones stated above, just prepare your ID (신분증).  It can be either alien registration card or Korean citizen  ID. You also have to present your Korean Marriage Certificate (혼인관계증명서) to prove that you are currently legally married to a Korean.

When you enter the bank, get a number and wait for your turn. Tell the teller that you want to open a time deposit account by saying “Jeok keum tongjangeul mandeulleo wasseoyo” (적금 통장을 만들러 왔어요). Then the teller will ask you what kind of time deposit account you want to make. Just tell the name of the savings plan as stated in the list above. Then you will be asked to show your ID card and family certificate. You will be given an application form to fill out. The teller will highlight the parts that you have to write like: name, ID (ARC or citizen) number, phone number, address and signature. You will be asked whether you want to use dojang (Korean personal stamp) or just a signature. The teller will then input the data on the computer. Give your initial deposit and you’ll get your new passbook right away. The process normally takes around 10-15 minutes depending on your writing speed. Hehe! To show you a sample, here’s a photo of my newly opened time deposit account with 7.50% interest rate from Woori Bank.

To all foreign spouses of Korean nationals, grab this chance to grow your savings! Aja aja fighting! God bless Korea! 🙂

Make sure you know the name of the savings plan because some tellers don’t know about this option for foreigners. Actually when I applied for the first time, the teller told me that there’s no such savings account for multicultural families. So, I asked her to search in her computer. I told her about the qualifications and required documents for this kind of savings plan. Then finally she found it and asked me how I knew about it. Hahaha!

PS: The interest rates were as of February 2014. There may be changes in the interest rates. Please contact your bank.