Woori America Bank for first-gen and Korean American households
A Korea-parent FDIC bank (~$4B) for Korean American households and small businesses. Woori Bank name recognition, published Korea wire fees, and bilingual branches from Flushing to LA Koreatown corridors.
Educational bank profile for first-gen readers — not a ranking or personal recommendation.
Overview
Woori America Bank is a New York state-chartered, FDIC-insured commercial bank (certificate 24920) headquartered at 330 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. It opened January 27, 1984 as Korea Commercial Bank of New York, a local subsidiary of what became Woori Bank in Seoul; it operated as Hanvit America Bank after the 1999 Korea parent merger, then took the Woori America Bank name in 2002 when Woori Financial Group formed. President and CEO Dohun Kim leads the U.S. retail franchise. Call-report figures put assets around $4.04 billion and deposits near $3.47 billion as of March 31, 2026, with about 22 branches across eight states. Brand angle: Korean community relationship banking plus a published remittance fee table into Korea and a trade-finance desk that leans on the Woori correspondent network. Do not confuse the retail subsidiary with Woori Bank’s separate New York Agency or Los Angeles Branch, which focus more on corporate and Korea-company U.S. operations.
Strengths
- Woori Bank Korea-parent brand familiarity for households that already bank in Seoul
- Published Korea remittance fees plus Woori KRW Remittance to major Korean banks from every branch
- SBA 7(a), Express, and 504 pathways marketed as Preferred Lender, plus import/export trade finance
- Eight-state Korean American metro footprint with online WooriWON consumer products in those states
Footprint
Headquarters in Midtown Manhattan. About 22 full-service branches: New York (5), New Jersey (4), California (6), Texas (2), Virginia (2), Pennsylvania (1), Maryland (1), and Georgia (1), including Flushing, Fort Lee / Palisades Park, LA Wilshire and Olympic corridors, Irvine / Buena Park / Torrance, Dallas and Austin (Austin opened August 2025). Loan production history also touched Chicago, Seattle, San Jose, and Houston. Not a nationwide digital megabank. Confirm live hours on wooriamericabank.com.
Services
- Consumer banking
- Small business
- Commercial / middle market
- SBA lending
- Mortgages
- Trade finance
- International wires
- Credit cards
Personal checking ladder (including WooriWON checkless checking and Prestige for age 50+), savings, money markets, CDs, business deposits, commercial and SBA lending, residential mortgages, business credit cards, domestic/international wires, Woori KRW Remittance, and trade services (commercial and standby L/Cs, trust receipts, documentary collections). Korea remittances are fee-plus-FX products, not free transfers.
Best for
- Korea corridor households
- Immigrant-owned small business
- Language access and cultural fit
- Hands-on branch banking
- Cross-border and trade complexity
Best fit when Woori Bank name recognition and a bilingual desk in a Woori America metro matter, especially if relatives already hold Woori accounts in Korea and you want the bank’s published Korea wire path or KRW remittance window. Strong for Korean immigrant shop and CRE owners in Flushing, Bergen County, Annandale / Centreville, Elkins Park, Ellicott City, LA Koreatown-adjacent cities, Dallas, Austin, or Duluth who need SBA or import/export paperwork under one relationship. Compared with Bank of Hope (~$19B Korean American super-regional) and Hanmi (~$8B), Woori America is the mid-size Korea-subsidiary option (~$4B, eight states). Compared with Shinhan Bank America (~$2B, five states), Woori is the larger Korea-parent retail franchise with a denser Mid-Atlantic and California map. Compared with Metro City Bank (Atlanta-founded ~$4.5B), Woori’s edge is Seoul-parent remittance packaging rather than Southeast headquarters scale. Still compare net won received against a remittance app you already trust.
Less ideal for: Households outside Woori America’s eight-state footprint who need coast-to-coast Korean American branch density (consider Hope), people who only want a national digital checking app with no Korea commercial relationship, or anyone confusing Woori America Bank retail accounts with Woori Bank’s New York Agency or Los Angeles Branch corporate products.
Compelling offers
Checked against bank pages as of July 29, 2026. Bonuses, fee waivers, and rate specials change often. Confirm eligibility and end dates on the bank’s site before you plan around them.
WooriWON Checking: low-fee online open in footprint states
WooriWON Checking is a checkless account you can open online in states where Woori America has branches. Minimum opening deposit is $25. The $3 monthly maintenance fee is waived when you keep a $100 average daily balance (bank pages position it as the NY Basic Banking / NJ Consumer Checking alternative).
Other fees still apply per the fee schedule. NJ residents can request check use for an order cost. Confirm current disclosures before funding.
WooriWON CDs: published APYs from 3.55% to 3.75%
Online-openable WooriWON Certificates of Deposit list fixed APYs as of March 27, 2026: 3.70% (3 months), 3.75% (6 months), 3.65% (9 months), and 3.55% (12 months), with a $1,000 minimum and no monthly maintenance fee.
Interest is simple (not compounded) and credited at maturity. Accounts auto-renew at the then-current rate. Rates change; verify the live CD page before locking funds.
Korea remittance: $25 online / $30 branch + KRW remittance desk
Customer remittance fees to Korea are published at $25 online and $30 in branch ($30 / $35 for other international destinations). Online wires must clear before 4 p.m. Eastern with a $15,000 daily internet limit. Transfers to Woori Bank Korea accounts are marketed at 5 to 24 hours. Separate Woori KRW Remittance at branches (until 3 p.m. local) sends won to listed Korean banks including Woori, Shinhan, Kookmin, Hana, IBK, and Nonghyup, with a minimum about $200 equivalent and a same-beneficiary daily max about $20,000 equivalent.
FX and intermediary/receiving-bank charges still drive the all-in cost. Returned KRW wires may come back smaller after foreign fees. Compare net won against a remittance app you already trust.
SBA Preferred Lender + trade finance desk
Woori America markets SBA 7(a) loans up to $5 million, SBA Express up to $500,000, and SBA 504 financing, and third-party SBA trackers list the bank as a Preferred Lender with delegated 7(a) authority. A Fort Lee, New Jersey international trade desk handles commercial and standby letters of credit, trust receipt financing, and documentary collections for importers and exporters.
Preferred-lender status does not guarantee approval. Terms, collateral, and documentation still depend on underwriting. Ask your branch which product fits your shop or trade file.
Next steps
- Immigrant-Owned Small Business Financing Basics
Ownership maps, SBA and bank eligibility, personal guarantees, and backup capital for diaspora restaurants, agencies, clinics, and digital businesses when federal rules and family co-signing overlap.
- Send Money to Korea From the U.S.
How the U.S.–Korea remittance corridor works, common delivery paths, licensed provider types, and planning questions before you send to family in South Korea.
- Plan Korea Remittances in Your U.S. Household Budget
Cap sends to South Korea, separate holiday spikes from monthly support, and protect U.S. retirement when parents at home and abroad both need you.
- Family Support Budget Calculator
Map parent support, remittances, and sibling help against housing, debt, emergency savings, and retirement so family obligations stay visible in your monthly plan.
- Remittance Quote Worksheet
Copy two provider disclosures side by side to compare total paid, amount delivered, effective exchange rate, funding method, and delivery time.
- Household dashboard
Track family support beside U.S. bills and savings once the account is open.
- All planners
Send corridors and inheritance scenarios when banking is only one piece of the file.
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Related bank profiles
- Shinhan Bank America — A Korea-parent FDIC bank for Korean American households and small businesses. Smaller than Hope or Hanmi, with bilingual branches in NY/NJ, California, Georgia, and Texas.
- Bank of Hope — The largest Korean American bank by franchise scale — a super-regional built from Koreatown predecessors and expanded into a multistate multicultural bank.
- Hanmi Bank — The first Korean American bank in the U.S., still oriented to immigrant and multi-ethnic small-business communities in Koreatown and other Asian American MSAs.
- Metro City Bank — Atlanta’s flagship Korean American commercial bank. About $4.5B after buying crosstown rival First IC, with Southeast weight, SBA/USDA desks, and a thinner California toehold.
- PCB Bank — A Koreatown-rooted Korean American commercial bank (~$3.5B) with branches across Southern California, Bayside, New Jersey, DFW, and Suwanee, plus SBA and trade-finance desks.
- Chase — The national megabank first-gen story: payroll and ATMs almost everywhere, ITIN-friendly branch openings, Secure Banking as a no-overdraft starter, then wires and home lending as income stabilizes.