banks

If you are staying in a hotel they will hold your passport.

Yes, the hotel is required to keep your passport. Be sure to have a few copies of it for safekeping and to carry one copy with you whenever u are about for ID purposes when needed and to facilitate getting a new passport if it comes up missing/lost

Hotels are required to have all guests passports available for inspection for police on day of registration.

The  Neanderthal who runs Lao Cao Province has decreed the hotels shall hold passports until checkout.

Most hotels hold passports as security against payment and damage.I personally show the hotel my passport then give them a copy and pay for a nights stay but inly one night in case I don;t like the place.

As the husband of a mini-hotel I can tell you passport management can be a pain, my wife has a cupboard for things left for storage and inside are lockers in which are assigned to (and locked by) guests.

Accidents happen. Passports can be left behind (solution old hotel confirms details to new hotel and passport is forwarded by Mai Linh or Huong Long bus drivers - passport holder pays the freight). Other instances involve wrong passport handed out - hotel owner pays the freight.

I always advise people to settle their affairs with hotel day staff, collect their passport (& verify). Leaving everything to last moment is fraught with problems.

Most small hotels do not allow security access to money, property left in safe-keeping or account books.

A government owned hotel on Dong Khoi is ripped off hundreds of dollars a month. Anyone checking in after 22.30H and leaving before 07.30H pays the security guards who pocket the money. They also rent the hotel inside parking to nearby restaurants.

Always get a receipt for any money paid to anyone. And please don't steal the towels, ash trays, remote controls, etc!

WARNING: Room Safes are unsafe. A visitor saying at the Caravelle lost USD$1,500 - they denied liability. Only property accepted for safe keeping (optional) is the responsibility of the hotel.

It only costs a dollar to have your passport copied and laminated.  Easy to carry and keep.  Do not know of any bank that has safe deposit boxes.  It is best to use your ATM debit card and only take out money when you need it.  Agribank only charges $1 to take out $250(D 5,000,000).  If you are staying long term, yoiu can open a bank account here and get a debit card from the local bank.  You can wire transfer money from the US to the bank here for a nominal fee.