Transfer money to Vietnam

If you're traveling around VN, you might not be near a Citi or HSBC so you're going to get stuck with withdrawal fees even if there's no fees for transferring to the VN bank. Look into Transferwise. They can deliver the money to you if you are in a large city. Yes there's a cost but it beats making multiple withdrawals at ATMs which will add up.

I use N26 -> Transferwise -> Sacombank.

Using Citi means two accounts, one in the US and one in Vietnam.  Transfers are free but currency conversion rates are not the best so that's the hidden cost.  Vietnam branches are only in Hanoi and HCM but (sorry to contradict Mr qnbui) once your funds are in the VN bank, getting "walking around" money is easy as Citi has free ATM use agreements that cover a long list of local banks.  There must be an Agribank in even the smallest rural town.  If you are talking "buy a house" or "start a business" money you may need to take it out directly from the branch.

Another alternative is a checking account with Charles Schwab bank.  You take the funds out directly.  You can pull VND funds at any ATM, accept the ATM fees, and Schwab will refund them at the end of the month.  I can't speak to conversion rates as we have a Schwab account but have not used it in Vietnam.  I wanted my wife to use ours the last time she was there in 2019 but I didn't properly explain why I wanted her to try out the method, so she didn't use it.  I know Ciamballa is an advocate for using Schwab.

For what it's worth I just got an email from Transferwise stating they have changed their name to Wise.  Supposedly no other changes - same login, password, account number, etc.  Just a company name change.

You might look into a Capital One 360 checking account.  They do not charge fees when I use their Mastercard debit card at ATMs here and at  least one Vietnam bank's ATMs do not charge a fee with this card -- TPBank.  Maritime bank ATMs also didn't charge a fee, but about 1-1/2 years ago their ATMs stopped accepting my debit card entirely.

I've also been able to withdraw up to 13 million dong in one transaction -- that's about $560 USD.

Thank THIGV.  You have always been helpful on the expat forum.  If the final mean to get the money is through ATM, then I will probably stick with Fidelity.  I have an account with them and they waive the ATM fee.  Not quite sure about their conversion rate.  As you mention this might be a hidden cost.  However since Fidelity is well know institution, I assume that they would give their customer a standard rate and not try to lowball their customer.

Thank qnbui, erikji, steinnebraska, paulmsn for your suggestions also.
I'll keep in mind that TransferWise (or Wise) is another option.

sampark789 wrote:

I will probably stick with Fidelity.  I have an account with them and they waive the ATM fee.

You might want to give them a call to see if they waive international fees as well as domestic.

@Thigv....I checked with Fidelity.  They do charge a fee for international ATM withdraw.  One can also google and see.  On the other hand  Schwab checking account does not.  Just want to share my learning in case it helps other people.  Thanks.

just be aware that Charles Shawab card may not work on all ATM's in Vietnam:
https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 75#4656382

FIgured i'd mention it, because if you need to withdraw cash immediately oneday and visit nearest ATM only to find it's a no go. Best to do a 'test' withdraw when you arrive in Vietnam and make a note of the ATM owning bank (then you know card definitely works at that bank) or have a backup card (method) for these situations.

sanooku wrote:

just be aware that Charles Shawab card may not work on all ATM's in Vietnam:
https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 75#4656382

FIgured i'd mention it, because if you need to withdraw cash immediately oneday and visit nearest ATM only to find it's a no go. Best to do a 'test' withdraw when you arrive in Vietnam and make a note of the ATM owning bank (then you know card definitely works at that bank) or have a backup card (method) for these situations.

I think that is something people experience with many cards, and there seems to be no rhyme or reason to it.  When I was first testing my debit cards in HCMC, I came across many ATMs that simply would not accept the cards, and when I had trouble last week with an ATM I normally use, I tried the one next to it, Shinhan Bank, and was rejected, even though it specifically mentioned foreign cards. 

Once you find a brand that works, look on Google Maps for others in the general area, because they do run out of money -- last time I had to go to three of them before I could withdraw the money for my visa extension.