Korean Currency

Korean currency comes in coins and bills. The government recently introduced a new design for bills and for some coins. The bills are now smaller and the colours are different.

BILLS:

• Denominations are:

           W1,000  - old style: pinkish               new design: bright blue*

           W5,000 -  old style: brown                 new design: brown

           W10,00 -  old style: green                 new design: bright green

• Bills contain dots for the blind
• There are plans to introduce some larger denominations in the near future, but at the moment W10,000 is the largest (i.e. $10.00).
•  Introduced in early 2007, the new W1,000 (chon won) and new W10,000 (man won) are still being confused one for the other. 

COINS are W10, W50, W100 and W500. The W10 coin is being replaced by a smaller lighter version. 

 MANAGERS CHECKS can be used in lieu of bills if you don’t want to carry around bags full of money.

•  A manager’ check is issued by the bank
• The standard denomination is W100,000.
•  It is possible to have other denominations created by the bank for a small fee.
•  When you withdraw money from an ATM, many will ask if you want cash or checks or both. If the amount you are taking is W700,000 and you choose checks, you will receive 7 checks. If you want both, you will be asked how many of each, so you could get 5 checks and W200,000 in cash.
•  Manager’ checks are more or less like cash. If stolen or lost, they are like cash. However, when cashing them, the regulations state that you must write your name and contact details on the bank of the check. Some businesses may charge a small fee for processing the check - especially if you are cashing it in a city other than where it was issued.
•   Cashing a manager’s check is often best done at a store/business you know.
•  If you use a check to make a purchase, you will receive the change/balance in cash. You do not have to spend the entire amount at once.
•  If you deposit a manager’s check at a bank, there might be a delay in crediting your account.

         - If you are depositing/cashing it at the same bank from which it was issued, it may be credited almost immediately. However, if you want cash, you may have to wait a little.

        - If you are depositing/cashing a check issued at another bank at your own bank, there will be a delay of a least a few hours in many cases before your account is credit or before you can get the cash.

         - If you are depositing it in your account via an ATM, you will have to wait until the next day before you can withdraw the money from your account.

•  Regardless of some of the inconveniences, manager’s checks are the best way to go if you are handling a large sum of money that cannot be remitted through a bank transfer.

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