(Not) Earning Interest On Foreign Currency Accounts In Vietnam

@OceanBeach92107

Would it make a difference if you exchange your USD into VND, then deposit your money in VND?

   @OceanBeach92107
Would it make a difference if you exchange your USD into VND, then deposit your money in VND?
    -@Brian999

Yes, it would IF you qualify for a savings account and IF the bank agrees to open a savings account for you.

Even though most people on longer visas & TRCs (12 months or more) technically qualify to open a savings account UNDER THE LAW, my experience so far (on a 3 year TRC) is that many/most banks won't allow it.

Thanks for the quick reply.   I got married in VN about a year and half ago.  I started an account(with some difficulty) with my wife right there next to me.  They wouldn't allow me to give them USD cash, they wanted there to be a paper trail I think.  While I had a good amount of cash on me, I could only end up depositing $50 USD.  I don't remember if we changed it over to VND first, and I haven't checked to see if any interest has been earned.  It will be interesting to find out because the interest rate for savings was phenomenal compared to the U.S.  It will be interesting to see when I go back if anything accrued.

Thanks again!

    Thanks for the quick reply.   I got married in VN about a year and half ago.  I started an account(with some difficulty) with my wife right there next to me.  They wouldn't allow me to give them USD cash, they wanted there to be a paper trail I think.  While I had a good amount of cash on me, I could only end up depositing $50 USD.  I don't remember if we changed it over to VND first, and I haven't checked to see if any interest has been earned.  It will be interesting to find out because the interest rate for savings was phenomenal compared to the U.S.  It will be interesting to see when I go back if anything accrued.
Thanks again!
   

    -@Brian999

I apologize. I misread your question.

Ideally you would need to open a foreign currency account, wire your currency to that account and then use the bank's FOREX function to convert your currency to VNĐ, or wire foreign currency funds to your domestic (not international) bank account here, with the local bank automatically converting your currency to VNĐ before crediting the funds to your account. (As a foreigner you can't simply deposit any type of cash at a Vietnamese bank branch.)

However, while many banks are still accepting wire transfers into the accounts of foreigners, they are not accepting such transfers in as prima facie evidence that the source of those funds is legitimate.

For instance, in my case, I receive monthly US Veteran benefit & Social Security direct deposits into my Charles Schwab account in the U.S.

But when I wire some or all of those funds to my Agribank or ACB accounts here, I muddy the ability to directly trace the source of my funds.

The only way for me to overcome that problem would be for me to change my US Government direct deposit destination bank to an account here; something I'm probably going to do soon with my smaller Social Security benefits.

Actually, there's one other solution I'm currently using: I convert funds to VNĐ and then give the cash to my wife, or transfer the cash to her Agribank account.

She is then able to open online interest-bearing term deposit accounts.

However, if she wanted to send those funds out of Vietnam she would have to provide documentation as to the source of her funds.

Simply saying that the money came from her husband is not sufficient.

I do the same, had to move all my saving to my wife account (VN account to VN Account).

New challenge since yesterday, she is not allowed to do a domestic transfer back to my VN Account as I am a foreign (TRC/WP) .  New restriction according to VIB .

    I do the same, had to move all my saving to my wife account (VN account to VN Account).
New challenge since yesterday, she is not allowed to do a domestic transfer back to my VN Account as I am a foreign (TRC/WP) .  New restriction according to VIB .
   

    -@Frede001 

Do you have a domestic account?

If your ATM card starts with 9704 and it has the NAPAS logo then it's a domestic account and ought to be possible although perhaps restricted by the bank's interpretation of the new rules and/or their willingness to allow those transfers.

New government restrictions are limiting transfers to ₫10,000,000 VNĐ per transaction and ₫20,000,000 VNĐ per day unless you have a Vietnam government issued chip ID card registered with the bank plus facial recognition on your smartphone in the bank's app.

https://vietnamnews.vn/economy/1658291/foreigners-advised-to-visit-bank-branches-for-biometric-verification.html

I (now) have a domestic ACB account and was able to take my passport into the main Đà Nẵng branch for authentication and their update/certification of my facial recognition setting in the app.

I also have a domestic account with Agribank but they are putting me off about updating to the new standards, but I'm still successfully transferring to my wife, and she to me.

I'll double check and have her send me a new transfer today.

More news as it happens... 😉

@ OB. Regarding VN domestic bank account. Holding a 3-year TRC and an employment contract with a local NV company, is it possible to open a domestic banking account? This being with one of the major VN banks. Tks.