Social security payments in Vietnam

Hey Phillyrick,

SSA FSP Manila and I have been trying to resolve wire transfer issues to my bank, BIDV. I applied in November '18, submitted all my documents on January 9 '19 with a start date of February '19. Approval was granted April 8 '19 with direct deposit payments to begin on the third Wednesday of May per the direct deposit schedule. End of May, no money, end of June, no money. Five payments are now due. I'm glad I don't need the money right now.

Obviously, I've been working with BIDV to figure out WTF is going on. They say they can't find any deposit attempts in my name on the date specified, nor in the amount of the attempted deposit. FSP sent me specific deposit information with the exception of the name of the financial institution and account number of where the money is coming from.  I spoke with a friend that is the Vice Director of SeABank here in QN and she says any bank in VN can accept pension payments as long as the aforementioned financial institution and account numbers are valid and legal. I think the US Treasury qualifies, but I still asked the question of FSP.

Moving the process forward I asked another friend that works at BIDV to investigate the deposit mystery. I'm not sure which side of the pond is dropping the ball, but I hope to find out before the end of the year. Presuming the mystery can't be solved I'll use either my friend's bank or maybe try Citi Viet Nam in HCMC.

I'm not sure if any of that was helpful, but the point is to keep on plugging away until everyone gets on the same page... in the same book

That is very bad news indeed. I had a perfectly fine deposit account in the US, using my father's address for my bank. My payment is due on the 3rd of this July, I might have to go back to my American bank if I experience the same issues you have. I'm sorry you're having issues with your deposits. Hopefully you get them resolved soon and this is an isolated incident.

I just got married and missing my ss payment would be a bad thing right now.

If you have a workable solution now I'd stick with it until the bugs are worked out of the system on both sides of the pond.

I've been here long enough to know that literally shit happens all the time here. Lower the bar of expectations and go with the flow and things usually work out fine. Patience and persistence is a formula that works for me.

Thank you. I guess that's the best policy.

This thread seems to be parallel to this sticky one:  https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=761380

What I read is that it is still best to keep your SS payments going into your US bank and find the best way (many have been suggested) to move the money to Vietnam as needed.

I just started five months ago. I have long term plans in Viet Nam so it makes more sense for me to work through the system and get it set up correctly so I don't have to pay bank fees for across the pond transfers.

Right, I just got married here and my plans are long term. So I'll reside in Vietnam for the duration, I just want to know if ANYONE is successfully receiving deposits in any bank.

I'll post back here once I am successful. I'm not sure how long it will take, but that's okay as long as I figure it out

Thanks again. I'll keep an eye out.

Very much appreciated.

Good_Man wrote:

I just started five months ago. I have long term plans in Viet Nam so it makes more sense for me to work through the system and get it set up correctly so I don't have to pay bank fees for across the pond transfers.

FYI - there are plenty of banks in the USA that you can use to get money in VN without fees.  Example, Schwab allows $600 per transaction and -0- fees with my account.  I never took out that much in 1 transaction in VN as it was never necessary.

One caveat, Schwab has multiple accounts with ATM features and thus, people need to make sure they understand the benefits of the account they open.

An additional note, although ATM's in VN can limit each withdrawal (e.g., 2 million), I never had a problem withdrawing 3 or 4 times in a row from the same machine to get 6 to 8 million.

I had an account with capital one, zero fees on their side. I'm married here and plan to stay and build credit, buy land... So I decided to go with vietcombank. I wish I could reverse this decision at this point

Thanks for your reply.

I submitted paper copies to FBU Manila in August 2022 to change the deposit of monthly US Social Security benefit to VietinBank, then emailed them digital copies in November 2022 at their request, and they asked for another set of digital copies in January 2023. There was one deposit made in May 2023 and subsequent deposits were refused and returned for June, July, August, September, and October; SSA had been advised by the bank in May that the payments needed to be labeled with my full (passport) name but SSA persisted in using First, Middle initial, Last. In November I received all back payments and no problems since--15 months actually seems incredibly efficient for the US Govt.

I have been getting my SS checks deposited directly into ACB Bank here in HCMC sinse 2022. When I first set it up I did have to get the name on my SS card changed to match the name on my passport (Passport has full middle name while SS card did have middle inital only). Once I got that settled I have not had any trouble.  P.S. One drawback was I had to visit the SS office over in Manila, Philippines to change the name on my SS card but my wife and I made an enjoyable little vacation out of it. 

I have the Schwab investment checking account in the States. All my direct deposits go into it. I can withdraw up to 20 million VND at most ATMs in Da Nang at the full exchange rate with no fees. Also, at the end of each month, I'm refunded all of those pesky ATM fees, which can be stiff with local banks. I advise using your debit card at at a bank's ATM in case it gets eaten. Not often, but it happens.