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Korea Exchange Bank
Hangul 외환은행 Hanja 外換銀行 Revised Romanization Oehwan eunhaeng McCune-Reischauer Oehwan ŭnhaeng

Oehwan Bank or Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) (KRX_S: 004940) is South Korea's only exchange bank company. It is headquartered in Seoul, and was established in 1967.

It was acquired in 2003 by Lone Star Funds, a private American equity fund, as part of the general reorganization of the South Korean financial sector following the Asian financial crisis. In 2006, Lone Star tried to sell the company to the highest bidder, Kookmin Bank, but the plan was scrapped when it faced investigations by South Korean prosecutors.

On 21 August 2007, HSBC was rumored to be in talks with Lone Star Bank to purchase a controlling stake of KEB for approximately $5.5Bn.

Contents 1 History 2 Currency Exchange 3 Compliments of KEB's Currency Exchange 4 Coin Exchange 5 Popularity 6 Foreign Currency Present 7 See also 8 External links

Korea Exchange Bank was established in 1967 as a government-owned bank specializing in foreign currency.It was privatized in 1989 and was one of Korea's first commercial bank.

• January 1975:Started securities business
• April 1978:Launched Korea's first credit card service (VISA)
• March 1983:Issued traveler's checks
• February 1985:Official sponsor bank for 1986 Asian Games& 1988 Seoul Olympic Games
• April 1994:Listed on Korea Stock
• December 1995:Opened foreign exchange research center
• November 1999:Opened a foreign exchange website offering exchange rate conversion and

money exchange services

• April 2001:Opened the best foreign exchange website in Korea:FXKEB.COM(www.fxkeb.co.kr
• February 2002:Selected as the "Best Foreign Exchange Bank in Korea for 2002" by the Global

Finance

• June 2002:Introduced ATM services in foreign currency first in Korea

During the 2002 World Cup Korea,Japan,KEB was the first bank in Korea to export Korean won to other nations as they exported bundles of 10000won notes.

Korea Exchange Bank is the biggest currency exchange bank in South Korea.KEB currently exchange 37 currencies.The list of currencies available to exchange are:

•  United States dollar |  Canada dollar
•  Brazil real |  Mexico peso
•  Australia dollar |  New Zealand dollar
•  Egypt pound |  South Africa rand
•  Brunei dollar |  Bangladesh taka
•  India rupee |  Japan yen
•  Thailand baht |  Pakistan rupee
•  Malaysia ringgit |  Taiwan new dollar
•  Singapore dollar |  Indonesia rupiah
•  China renminbi |  Philippines peso
•  Hong Kong dollar |  Vietnam dong
•  Bahrain dinar |  Saudi Arabia riyal
•  Israel new shequel |  Jordan dinar
•  Kuwait dinar |  United Arab Emirates dirham
•  Norway krone |  United Kingdom pound
•  Sweden krona |  Russia ruble
•  Hungary forint |  Switzerland franc
•  Denmark krone |  European Union euro
•  Poland zloty

KEB's foreign exchange is the best foreign exchange service in Korea. KEB is the leader of foreign exchange banks in Korea as it exchanges currencies that other banks in Korea do not provide such as the Norweigean krone,Sweidish krona, etc.Also,the bank constantly provides new currencies to exchange such as the Hungarian forint and Polish Zloty which startd to be exchange in late May,2007.

Korea Exchange Bank receives great compliments on their exchange business.A few of the compliments are:

• Most of the KEB branches have all the denominations of banknotes the

customers want.Example: If a customer exchange 400 US dollars,they can choose to have 200 dollar in 20 dollar notes and the rest in 100 dollar notes.

• Most of the foreign currency KEB have to sell to their customers

are crisp,uncirculated notes from the currency's central bank or keeps good condition notes from people that sold it to them.

• Because KEB is an expert foreign exchange bank,it has professional

counterfeit experts and detectors.www.fx114.com is a website that is runned by a KEB counterfeit expert where you can see different countries' security features.

• Even if you don't have exchange discount coupons,usually every time you

exchange money in KEB,you get a discount up to 70%.This applies to non- clients of KEB.Also,KEB gives passport covers to travellers.

Korea Exchange Bank is probably the only bank in the world that exchanges coins.Coins are heavier than banknotes so they have to pay more money to export it back to the nation using the currency.The coin currencies they exchange are:

• United States dollar
• euro
• Japanese yen
• Canadian dollar
• British pound
• Hong Kong dollar
• Swiss franc
• Australian dollar

But KEB recommends foreign coins to be used to buy coffee or chocolate,donate into organizations like UNICEF because as repeated on the cost of shipping it back to the user country,it takes more money.Also, you can only get half the amount of currency you gave with coins.

Even if people do not have an account in KEB, they still use the bank for money exchange. If you are travelling to Korea,it is best to exchange in KEB because of their good rates and discounts.

KEB provides Foreign Currency Presents to their clients on-line where the clients can order foriegn banknotes for presents to other people.During bank business days,you can order presents under US$50 000.If you order foreign currency present in US dollars, Japanese yen,euro,you can get 40% off discount and other currencies in 20%discount. Once,KEB made a Foreign Banknote Set in the New Years where parents bought an album with foreign banknotes like a 100 Chinese Renminbi,and US$2 bill.

• Economy of South Korea
• List of South Korean companies
• List of Banks in South Korea
• Exchange bank
• List of Korea-related topics

• Oehwan Bank (KEB) Korean Homepage
• Oehwan Bank (KEB) Korean Homepage (English)
• Oehwan Bank (KEB) Japanese Homepage
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