Help me save money on banking fees!

Open a VN bank account if you are going to stay here long term.

Which banks can you recommend?  Thanks

I bank with HD Bank.

G'day Tiger,
What Yogi does is have an AUD$ with Vietcombank & a Dong a/c as well.
If you still maintain your Aussie bank accounts, organise for international funds transfer option on internet banking and just transfer to the A$ account .  Cost about $22 , regardless of the amount. 

Then I go into the bank and take it all out, and put some in the dong account and use that for,the occasional EFTPOS or ATM transaction which costs stuff all.   Yogi hides the remainder, and hits the gold shops every now and then to stock up on VND.  You get a better rate that way.

I only really need to do one or two transfers a year.   I usually go back every six months for a couple of weeks and return with a pocket full of AUD.   

I rarely use ATMs.    The dong AC is handy because I usually have the local card in my note clip.    My Aussie cards are hidden away.  I rarely need them, I have the details on my phone & email for hotel & airline bookings . 

Actually, it won't be long before the actual plastic card won't be needed.    I can use ATMs without it by using a special code sent to my phone.   You can also Tap & Go these days with just your phone OR a stick on chip attached.     

Technology ,,,,It's all happening mate.

Thanks Yogi. This is exactly the info I was after! Appreciate it mate 👍😎

No problem.
As a rule I usually only need one Internet transfer a year....if I get back to Oz every six months and return with a stash of cash , I don't even need that.

I rarely carry much cash on me for obvious reasons.   But the local ATM card is purely in my note clip for any unexpected expences when I'm out and about.

Vietnam is getting bad for ATM fraud and credit card skimming.  That's why I rarely use my Aussie cards here except for hotel & flight bookings thru a member account with those operators. 

There's lots of dickheads here that are criminals, and I've often been asked "can you book a flight ticket for me" and they'll pay me cash to settle, since they don't have cards or bank accounts.  These guys survive on western union cash transfers.    That's a No NO..

If the Feds are looking for these blokes, and find they've bobbed up going thru Bangkok airport on a ticket bought with a credit card,,they have the authority to STOP that card to ground the crim.   So , not only have you got a blocked credit card, but you are now a person of interest in a criminal case. 

I'm always curious about these assholes that float around the cheap end of SE Asia without credit cards, bank accounts, email address and have $10 phones.   They don't want to be found. 😳 They are usually camera shy as well.  You won't find these guys in anyone's selfies bobbing up on Facebook.

Don't use your card to book a hotel room for them either. If they trash the place or checkout late, guess who wears the cost.

It sounds like you have a nice budget set and a great grip on keeping costs down here. I need to get these things in order ASAP having been here over a year now I don't even want to know how much I've paid in ATM fees. My gf holds an account with techcombank so I will get this sorted this week! I used to ask these questions on the HCMC Expats group on Facebook... Glad I switched to here 😎