Alternatives to Western Union?

You can open actually pretty easy a bank account, in (almost) any bank. and transfer money to there. Depending on the bank, it might take 1 -30 days. A bank receiving commonly fast: vietcombank.


You also can use moneygram and asia pay. Vietcombank has both. I am not sure, if any of their branches has ist

Is there some consensus about a bank's foreign Dept.?
Not all big VN Banks handle Foreign transactions, i.e, BIDV, ( with CC anyway ).

Western Union, Moneygram and other quasi-US banks have appointed Agents in VietNam. You have just met the controlled economy of VietNam.

Unless you can satisfy a bank that you came by the money legitimately in conformance with their SBV regulations, you are stuck.

Best to use a (foreign) credit card for settlements.

The VietComBank is an authority on money things, but they have forms to fill like you have never seen. The HSBC is worse than useless - they always seem to have to call the SBV regulation 'interpretation' line.

You could buy USD$ notes from a jewellery store in Ha Noi and have a trustworthy friend to carry them out.

As for pay-days - that is an employer decision - presumably you are getting paid monthly. With Foreigners there is additional paperwork and deductions to complete and employers often wait to hear back from the Tax Man that they have everything correct.

My employer uses the Agribank as they all the payroll, tax deductions, etc., and deposit payments into employee accounts.

As long as you are legal in VN, and the bank is willing, you can open Dong or Dollar accounts. Not dependent on WP.

l3ully wrote:

You can open actually pretty easy a bank account, in (almost) any bank. and transfer money to there. I'm more concerned about transfering money overseas Depending on the bank, it might take 1 -30 days. A bank receiving commonly fast: vietcombank. Thanks for that - the other day it took me about 10 minutes to make a deposit into some colleague's bank account at BIVD (?). And she needed some proxy to send money to the Philippines. ** Seems the bank demanded a ton of paperwork for some $ < 500 transfer. 


You also can use moneygram and asia pay. Vietcombank has both. I am not sure, if any of their branches has ist

Moneygram has lower rates, I recall. Asia Pay, is that something similar to Paypal?

Jaitch wrote:

Western Union, Moneygram and other quasi-US banks have appointed Agents in VietNam. You have just met the controlled economy of VietNam.

Unless you can satisfy a bank that you came by the money legitimately in conformance with their SBV regulations, you are stuck.

Best to use a (foreign) credit card for settlements.

The VietComBank is an authority on money things, but they have forms to fill like you have never seen. The HSBC is worse than useless - they always seem to have to call the SBV regulation 'interpretation' line.

You could buy USD$ notes from a jewellery store in Ha Noi and have a trustworthy friend to carry them out.

As for pay-days - that is an employer decision - presumably you are getting paid monthly. With Foreigners there is additional paperwork and deductions to complete and employers often wait to hear back from the Tax Man that they have everything correct.

My employer uses the Agribank as they all the payroll, tax deductions, etc., and deposit payments into employee accounts.

As long as you are legal in VN, and the bank is willing, you can open Dong or Dollar accounts. Not dependent on WP.

Thank you for another really illuminating post! What kind of interest are banks paying for USD and VND deposits? ** Paypal doesn't work over here? I'd like my salary to be transferred overseas as I can use a cc at any ATM when I need cash. Got bills to pay and it's becoming an irritation TBH.

hs0zfe wrote:

When I asked a teller at the airport, he mentioned Western Union.

While I have bills to pay overseas, I'd hate to inconvenience a friend with a WU payment. Surely, one can send a wire as well? How much would that cost? Should I ask the employer to do it for me?

In Thailand, I could buy a cashier's check from a bank in a certain country, like HKD for Hong Kong with HSBC being the issuing bank at some $ 9 cost.

Until the WP is issues, I may not open a $ account - is that correct?

And what's the #1 bank for expats over here, if such a thing exists? Is there some consensus about a bank's foreign Dept.? Sorry for all those questions. Payday will be on the 10th (why not the 1st? Just wondering if this is customary)

What do people think about PayPal for moving money around?

I want to open a bank account in my own name in Vietnam and then I want to get a credit card and link it to a PayPal account...anyone done this successfully here? Any bank recommendation?

What do people think about PayPal for moving money around?

I want to open a bank account in my own name in Vietnam and then I want to get a credit card and link it to a PayPal account...anyone done this successfully here? Any bank recommendation?
Well, I've been using Paypal for a decade now. Once I deposited > $ 16,500 or whatever was the limit and they alerted my bank that my bank account was "hacked" and I needed to fax them my passport etc.

I'm now using it to pay for stuff I buy on Ebay.

In Thailand, one cannot transfer money to PP and then send it overseas, AFAIK. I'd eat the 4% fee (?) for instant payments. Once money is in my PP account, I can deposit it into my linked bank accounts in different countries. That takes a day or two but that's okay.

Hope for answers and reports from those who use PP here in Vietnam.

Tomorrow will be payday. Then I've got to send money overseas to pay some credit card bills.

Western Union to Thailand and Germany, is that the answer?

They said "no can do" when I asked for a wire. My employer was with me at the branch and they got my employment contract...

A colleague reports that she has had to use some middle man for her WU payments to the Philippines...

Given there is a sizable VNese community in Germany you should ask around and see of there is 'community' money transfer. Usually around USD$20.

Western Union and Moneygram report all transfers to the US government, and require two PICTURE ID. As US 'banks' they operate under US rules.