Two of Korea's seven major bank apps, KB Kookmin and Toss, declare English cleanly on their App Store listing. Woori's listing states English too, but its description text is entirely Korean. The remaining four list Korean only. A declared language is a fact about the listing, not a description of which screens inside the app are translated.
This guide covers what each bank's App Store listing declares, the rules that apply the same way at every bank, and the specific points where English coverage is undocumented for all of them.
What each bank actually declares
Apple's App Store shows a "Languages" field for every app: the developer's own declared list of supported languages. This is the only place any of the seven banks below documents language support at all. Google Play does not show an equivalent field, so this guide uses the Apple listings, checked directly.
| Bank | App | Declared languages (App Store) | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| KB Kookmin | KB스타뱅킹 | English, plus 11 other languages including Japanese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, and Vietnamese | Declares English among 12 total languages. |
| Shinhan | 신한 슈퍼SOL | Korean | Declares Korean only. |
| Woori | 우리WON뱅킹 | English | The listing states English, but the description text underneath it is written entirely in Korean. |
| Hana | Hana Bank's current app (하나은행) | Korean | Declares Korean only. A prior app under the same developer is marked as being discontinued. |
| NH Nonghyup | NH스마트뱅킹 | Korean | Declares Korean only. |
| Toss Bank | Toss - Make finance easier | English, Korean, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese | Toss Bank is not a separate app. You open a Toss Bank account inside this app. |
| Kakao Bank | 카카오뱅크 | Korean | Declares Korean only. |
A declared language is a fact about the App Store listing, not a promise about what's translated once you're inside the app. The listing carries no screen-by-screen breakdown. The only way to find out is to install the app and check for yourself, before you need it for something that matters.
Woori's case shows why the listing alone isn't the last word. Its App Store metadata says the app supports English, but the description text below that field is written entirely in Korean. That's an inconsistency in the listing itself, not a signal either way about how the app behaves once you sign in. Install it and look before you decide whether it works for you.
You may also see app store reviews from other users claiming a bank's app has a hidden English toggle in its settings that the store listing doesn't mention. Treat these as one person's experience, not documentation. If you want to know whether a toggle exists, check the app's own settings menu after you install it.
Two apps that look like English options, but aren't for residents in Korea
Two bank apps are easy to confuse with the ones above, and neither is meant for someone banking inside Korea.
KB Global Banking is a separate app from KB스타뱅킹. Its own description states its audience directly: customers who signed up for KB Internet Banking at the bank's overseas branches in New Zealand, Vietnam, and Myanmar. If you're living in Korea, use KB스타뱅킹 instead.
Global Woori WON Banking is also a separate app from the domestic 우리WON뱅킹 app in the table above. Its intended audience isn't clearly stated in its own listing. Don't treat it as an English-language alternative to the domestic Woori app without confirming with Woori directly who it's actually for.
The rules that are the same at every bank
Three things apply identically across KB, Shinhan, Woori, Hana, NH Nonghyup, Toss Bank, and Kakao Bank. None of them differ by bank. These are facts worth knowing regardless of which one you use.
Your legal ID for any Korean bank
Korean law sets a specific real name (실지명의) that every bank checks financial accounts against. For a foreign resident, that's the name and registration number on your Alien Registration Card (외국인등록증). If you don't have an ARC yet, it's the name and number on your passport instead. Every bank in this guide runs identity checks against this same standard. The identity verification guide covers how this connects to phone-based verification and digital certificates.
Deposit protection
If a bank fails, the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC) protects your deposits up to ₩100,000,000 per depositor per institution, covering principal plus interest. This limit rose from ₩50,000,000 on September 1, 2025, the first increase in 24 years. It's the same figure at all seven banks. Spreading money across multiple banks to stay under the limit at each one is the only lever you control here, not which bank you pick.
The daily transfer cap on a new account
Open a new account without documents that prove its purpose, such as a health insurance enrolment certificate (건강보험자격득실확인서) or a withholding tax receipt for earned income (근로소득원천징수영수증), and the account defaults to a limited-transaction account (한도제한계좌). Since May 2, 2024, this account type caps you at ₩1,000,000 a day for internet banking, ₩1,000,000 a day for ATM withdrawals, and ₩3,000,000 a day at a bank teller. This cap is set by financial regulation across the industry. It applies regardless of which of the seven banks issued the account.
How the cap gets raised: the general idea is the same everywhere: submit documents that prove what the account is for. Toss Bank's own support site describes its process in detail: submit proof-of-purpose documents inside the app, under account management, and the review takes about 2 to 3 business days. It can also clear automatically through a phone-bill payment history submission or employment verification through MyData. Check your own bank's app for its specific path rather than assuming Toss Bank's steps apply directly.
What a store listing won't tell you
The question that probably matters most to a foreign resident, whether English extends to phone support, complaint filing, or a dispute over a transaction, is not something a store listing addresses, for any of the seven banks. That includes Toss: its published Toss Bank support pages are written in Korean. That doesn't prove Toss's live phone or chat support is Korean-only either. It just means a store listing doesn't confirm either way, for any bank here.
The same gap applies to digital certificate issuance (공동인증서, 금융인증서): a store listing tells you nothing about the language of that flow either.
The honest approach is procedural, not a claim about how much English any bank offers. Before you rely on a Korean banking app for something urgent:
- Test a low-stakes action first, like checking your balance or making a small transfer, to see how far the English in that specific app actually reaches.
- Keep a Korean-speaking contact, or a translation app, ready for anything that needs a phone call or a written dispute.
- If a transaction goes wrong, don't assume you can resolve it entirely in English. Plan for the possibility that you'll need help.
Before you commit to a bank's app
A short checklist to run through before you decide an app will work for you, rather than finding out during an emergency:
- Install the app and check Settings for a language option, even if the App Store listing says Korean only. Look through the app's main menus too before assuming there isn't one.
- Try a balance check and a small transfer. This is the fastest way to see how far English goes in that specific app, without relying on the store listing or anyone else's review.
- Confirm your transfer limit inside the app. If you're on a new account, check whether you're on a limited-transaction account and what the current daily cap is.
- Search for the bank's own customer service number and ask, before you need it, whether English support is available and during what hours.
- Keep the bank account guide and the banking in Korea guide bookmarked for the account-opening and eligibility questions this guide doesn't cover.
None of this tells you which bank has the "best" English. A store listing carries no screen inventory that could support that claim, and the regulatory rules that matter most, deposit protection and transfer caps, are identical everywhere. What you can control is testing the specific app you're about to depend on, before you need it to work.