Setting up a bank account can often be problematic in
a new country. It was a nice surprise though when it was
very easy to set-up a bank account in Korea without any
difficulty, despite my lack of Korean. Not only was the
account easy to set up, but within 10 minutes I had a
cash
card (card to withdraw money from the cash machines) given
to me. In America or England, you normally have to wait
a week or two for it to be sent in the post. In Seoul
I had the card in my hand within minutes. If you go to
a bank in Italy you could be waiting several weeks. After
six years, yes six years, my wife’s degree certificate
is now just ready from her university in Viterbo, Italy.
And this is normal. Even crazier in Italy was a situation
that happened a few months ago, involving my wife. While
we were staying for a while in Bristol, England, my wife’s
Italian bankcard expired. She called her bank in Italy
to ask for a new card to be issued and to be sent to her
in England. The banks response was that she would need
to go in person (face-to-face) to her exact branch in
Italy and collect the card. The bank stated that they
would not send it to England and they would not consider
sending the card to her mother’s house in Italy.
This is typical of bureaucracy in Italy, a country where
such matters are never easy. Nothing is easy in business
in Italy. In contrast, My English bank will issue me a
new card and send it to any country in the world.
Page 9 of the Korean Book 'Living in Seoul'.
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