Opening your bank account
Which bank, which documents, and how to not get turned away at the counter.
Pick the right bank for you
Students: university-partnered Woori campus branches are the smoothest route. Workers: Hana runs 17 foreigner-focused branches (all open Sundays — the largest network), and Shinhan runs 4 Sunday foreigner branches (Dongdaemun, Suwon Station, Busan, Daegu; 10:00–15:00), both with interpretation. KB has 8 foreigner-specialized branches and Woori 5. Outside the capital region, NH Nonghyup has the widest coverage.
With an ARC + Korean phone, Toss Bank is today's only internet bank open to foreigners (full English UI, mobile-ARC-friendly, used by 460,000+ foreign residents). KakaoBank has confirmed it will open to foreigners in Q4 2026 — multilingual UI with AI translation — but it hasn't launched yet; K bank still doesn't accept foreigners.
The document stack
Bring originals: passport, ARC (the mobile ARC in the government app now works at most major banks), proof of purpose (enrollment certificate for students / employment certificate or contract for workers), your home-country tax ID for FATCA/CRS forms, and your Korean phone. Extra documents like a tuition invoice or payslips help remove transfer limits on the spot.
Know about the limited account
Your first account will almost certainly be a limited account (한도계좌): transfers and ATM withdrawals capped at ₩1,000,000/day, counter withdrawals at ₩3,000,000/day. Deposits and salary receipt are unlimited.
Lifting it (verified 2026): employees can often get a same-day lift with an employment certificate, payslip or tax-withholding receipt issued within 3 months. Students and job-seekers usually need about 3 months of history — utility auto-debits or card payments. Shinhan is known to be the strictest; in-app lifting takes 1–5 business days.
Counter tips
Go on a weekday morning (before 3pm closing), bring every original document, and ask for mobile banking + a debit card in the same visit. If your Korean is limited, our Bank Visit Kit includes bilingual scripts for 5 situations — opening, teller Q&A, lifting the limit, handling a refusal, and same-visit extras — that you can show the teller.
Not sure where you are in the process?