Opening a bank account in Vietnam

Julien wrote:

Hi all,

is it difficult for expats to open a bank account in Vietnam ?

With the right paperwork its very easy.

Julien wrote:

Which documents are required to open a bank account in Vietnam ?

Passport, residency book and work contract usually does the trick.

Julien wrote:

How long does it take to open it ?

About 30 minutes

Julien wrote:

Is there any restriction for expats regarding the services (loans for instance)  ?

Transferring money overseas can be a complicated affair. Can;t comment on loans etc

Julien wrote:

Which bank would you recommend ?

Tough call. I use HSBC for sheer ease and number of ATM's available. Sometimes depending on your employer you may have no choice.

Julien wrote:

Thanks in advance for your participation,

Your welcome.

Thanks for these tips laidbackfreak!

Harmonie.

Julien wrote:

Which bank would you recommend ?

Tough call. I use HSBC for sheer ease and number of ATM's available. Sometimes depending on your employer you may have no choice.

Absolutely agreed! Im using and recommend ACB, Vietcombank and Eximbank because you can link your Paypal account with those banks very easy. As investigation online which banks in Vietnam support to link/work with paypal, those bank are most useful:

ACB ( 30% )
Eximbank (18%)
Techcombank (12 %) not recommend, very bad services
Vietcombank ( 9%)
Đông Á (8%)
Sacombank, BIDV, SHB, AgriBank, VietinBank (2-3%)
Have a good evening!

Hi Julien,

I suggest you should choose HSBC. It's believable so that may foreigners open accounts here.

I'm the same as Loan....I opened an account with BoaViet Bank but then realized that the card I got was only an ATM and not a debit card (visa, MC, etc) so then I opened another one with ACB to get a debit card.  Needless to say I now have 2 accounts.  Also, I have had luck transferring $ into my (still current) bank in USA (BofA), but that was a pain so I try not to do it often and if I do then I will deposit alot at one time so I dont need to do it again (lots of paperwork).

Hope your found your answers..

Chris

I would recommend ACB (Asia Comercial Bank) because of their good service.
To open the bank account here in Vietnam, I was asked to provide my identity card or passport by a woman in charge. I said I was a Vietnamese citizen and I gave her my identity card. She gave me a form to fill out. The procedure finished within about only 10 minutes. So easy & very quick. So I think as an expat all you need to provide is your passport.

The best bank for transferring money is HSBC - but they are rear ends if you have to deal with them in person, soI also have a VN bank.

If you have HSBC bank outside VietNam you can requisition funds from it from within VietNam.

This is TOTALLY different from an ATM transfer/withdrawal.

Requisitioning your money uses the inter-bank SWIFT system. It creates a paper trail acceptable for you to send money from VietNam. ATM paper trails are harder and cause hassles.

You have to attend the HSBC Main branch on Dong Khoi(they know what it is about) and tell the Service Rep you want to REQUISITION MONEY FROM YOUR OVERSEAS ACCOUNT. Do not say transfer as this means something totally different to a banker.

You have to complete (another) form which requires full info about your overseas account. You will need picture ID. You will need patience.

Instruct the HSBC to hold the USD$ for you to pick up in cash (put this instruction on the requisition) and keep on confirming it verbally.

Banks love to keep your hard currency to sell to other clients.

HSBC also acquired the Tecombank and you have access to your money through their ATM network.

For internal VN banking I use Agribank for, as the name implies, they love farmers. Farmers live in more remote areas and they have ATMs in the countryside as well as on towns and cities.

Agribank think smart, they have all sorts of benefits for people living in VN. I pay my employees through Agribank direct deposit, Agribank even figures payroll tax and pays the government.

To open a bank account all you need is your passport, visa/work permit/proof of residence (hotel receipt or your pink book - aka So Khai Bao Tam Tru.

VN banks are much like overseas banks except they are a pain in the butt when it comes to documentation.

Thanks all of you for your help.

Harmonie.

Well, thank you for all this useful information. I already have a Vietcom bank account (USD and VND) ans plan to open a HSBC account as well

Not all people like HSBC.
Have a look to:
Forum - Asia - Vietnam - Banks and finance - Bad Experience with HSBC in Vietnam

I also was interested on HSBC because they have branch also in some Asian countries (similar to Citibank) .
But after I read this post, I decided for another bank.
For me the best on HSBC is that I don't have to pay any fee when I withdrawl money at ATM by my DKB Visa card . At all other ATMs I pay  fee between VND 45'000 and VND 60'000.

I choosed Sacombank.
I went to a medium size branch and asked about a Current Account.
I shown them my passport and gave them the address, email and phone number.
Then I deposited VND 50'000 and could use my account from this time.
E-Banking was also ready next day and the Visa card I got 1 week later.
The lady who opened the account for me, spoken not bad English.
But I recommend that you go there with a Vietnames speaking person.

If you need a current account for your Business in Vietnam, I recommend open mind in the Local bank. But  As an expat do you want to open an account for personal then I would suggest foreign banks such an as  HSBC, ANZ or Standercharted, because most of the staff can speak English and you can get the answer what you want. Usually, the local bank staff can speak English, but their knowledge is insufficient. You can ask then very general question, and they can answer, but if you were looking more details then they're unable to provide details.