South Korea — SWIFT/BIC Codes & Payment Info

Information provided by the Beneficiary: Beneficiary should provide all required bank information when opening a local account. (e.g SWIFT BIC, Account Number, and beneficiary bank address).

For additional information, please refer to the Central Bank of Korea.

Payment Restrictions: The Foreign Exchange Transaction Act (FETA) regulates foreign exchange operations, payments, and receipts of foreign exchange and certain capital movements. The regulations are promulgated and published by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF).

KRW is a restricted currency that cannot be held offshore and fund transfers in KRW are allowed only within the country. Payment against trade goods and services in KRW must fall within the definition of “Commercial transactions” (i.e., import, export, etc.) under the relevant Korean law. If you are not certain, please discuss with the servicing branch, otherwise your payment may be rejected.

“Non-Commercial Transaction” flow (Capital related) are supported on a case by case basis for this currency.

As to inter-company loans, operating funds to branch or expenses to liaison office, the Beneficiary of the payment must hold an account with JPMC Seoul, and its FX designated bank must be JPMC Seoul.

Foreign direct investment, purchase of securities/shares, purchase or deposits for real estate, etc are supported on a case by case basis for this currency.

Netting Payment: If there is any payment required after the netting of account receivable and account payable with the payment counterparty (beneficiary), please discuss with the servicing branch first.

Additional Documentation: For the amount exceeding USD100,000 equivalent, the beneficiary or the remitter will be required to provide the supporting documents which prove that such payments denominated in KRW is based on an underlying Business Transaction. Copies of invoices, agreements, etc., must be presented to the processing bank prior to the settlement of the transaction. These supporting documents may be shared with regulators.

Account Requirements: When initiating KRW payments, please ensure the beneficiary account is a KRW account, otherwise the payment will be rejected.

If the beneficiary account is a non-resident account in Korea, inform your servicing branch before executing payment; otherwise, it will be rejected.

If KRW payment amount exceeds KRW 1 billion, it will be credited in splits of max 1 billion to the beneficiary account.

Payment Formatting Rules for KRW:

• Ordering Customer (SWIFT MT103 F50): Include account number, full name (no initials), and address. Use of initials can delay receipt of funds by the beneficiary.
• Beneficiary Customer (SWIFT MT103 F59): Include an account number, full name (no initials), and address. Use of initials may delay receipt of funds by the beneficiary.
• Beneficiary Bank (SWIFT MT103 F57): SWIFT BIC with a branch identifier, full name, and address of the beneficiary bank. SWIFT BIC is 8 or 11 alphanumeric characters: xxxxKRxx or xxxxKRxxxxx.
• Sender to Receiver Information (SWIFT MT103 F72): Mandatory Information required includes the purpose of the payment, which must be clearly identified in the payment instruction. The purpose code must be in the format of ‘/ACC/PURPOSE/’(5 digits), e.g., 10101. For a list of payment purpose codes, refer to the following link: Payment Purpose Code List. If you cannot find the right purpose code, discuss with your branch service team. If Payment code is one of “10103” and “10104”, Incoterms, H.S Code, and Customs clearance number are mandatory from the beneficiary, thus the process may take longer.
• Beneficiary Registration No: If Corporate, provide 10 digits of the corporate’s Business Registration Number in the format of ‘/OTHR/BRN/1108512345’. If Individual, provide 13 digits of “9” in the format of ‘/OTHR/BRN/9999999999999’. Do not provide actual personal ID in the payment instruction if the beneficiary is an individual.

New Information:

Beneficiary Contact Number: Please provide the Beneficiary Contact Number in the format of ‘Contact: XXXXXXXXXXX’. Failure to include the above information in the payment instruction may result in a delay or rejection of the payment.

If your payment purpose code and your supporting documents are not matched, we may amend your payment purpose code in accordance with your supporting document.

Sample Payment Format:

In case the Beneficiary is corporate:
/OTHR/BRN/1018212345 CONTACT: 02 758 5229
/ACC/PURPOSE/36006

In case the Beneficiary is individual:
/OTHR/BRN/9999999999999 CONTACT: 02 758 5229
/ACC/PURPOSE/36006

KRW is a zero decimal currency; payments must be entered in whole currency amounts without decimal points to avoid rejection.

For KRW payments initiated from an offshore account, JPMC Seoul is unable to provide a Certificate of Foreign Exchange Purchased/Deposited.