How to send money home from Korea cheaply?
I want to send money to my family back home every month. What are the cheapest and most reliable options?
Currently I know about:
- Bank wire transfer (seems expensive with fees)
- Western Union
- Wise (TransferWise)
My requirements:
- Send about 1-2 million KRW per month
- To the Philippines
- Need it to arrive within 1-2 days
- Low fees preferred over speed
1 Answer
I send money home every month and have tried most options, so here's what I've found.
Wise (formerly TransferWise) is the best overall option. The fee is around 0.5-1%, transfers take 1-2 business days, and they use the real exchange rate with no markup. Their app works smoothly with Korean bank accounts and is available in English. SentBe (센비) is a Korean fintech company that's very competitive, often with fees as low as 0.3-0.7%. They take 1-3 business days and offer Korean customer support, which can be helpful if you run into issues.
For smaller, more frequent transfers, Toss international transfer is also worth considering since the app is already popular in Korea for domestic payments and their international rates have gotten quite good. Traditional bank wire transfers through Korean banks work too, but the fees are significantly higher at around 20,000-30,000 KRW per transfer plus unfavorable exchange rates, so I'd only recommend those for very large amounts where the flat fee matters less.
My suggestion is to start with Wise since it consistently offers the best combination of low fees, good rates, and reliability. Sign up online, verify your identity, link your Korean bank account, and you can start sending within a day or two.