Best way to transfer money and best bank in Vietnam

Hello Patrick,

I think you should rename your post into "Best way to transfer money from US and best bank in Vietnam" because the best solutions for you will depend on the country your're from so you can skip unrelevant answers from users of other countries.

My own method could not suit you as I'm from Belgium. In Belgium, banks are still slow to implement international transfers (I'm talking about weeks to make a international transfert to Vietnam). So my solution is to use a 3rd-banking app. I use Wise. It takes 5$ fee when converting 500€ (or $ if you want) in Vietnam currency. When my Wise account get supplied, I can transfer money instantly to a vietnamese account (that of my vietnamese girlfriend).

And about best banks in Vietnam (there are so many), my girlfriend uses ACB and VietnamBank but she doesn't even know if those are best for her).

The main things that I am trying to find out is what is the best way to transfer money and what is the best bank account to open in Vietnam .     -@PatrickHaran

Welcome to the Vietnam forum Patrick

In order to answer those questions, we need to know if you, as a U.S. citizen:

1. Plan to maintain a U.S. address for a U.S. financial account?

2. Will have WHAT general sources for the money you want to send to Vietnam from America?

3. Will have a long-term (not tourist) visa or Temporary Resident Card (TRC)?

Vietnam doesn't currently have a retirement visa, unless you are willing to invest around $125,000 USD and leave it invested in order to get an investor TRC.

If you don't have plans to maintain a legal address and phone number in America, your account(s) there will likely be closed by the financial institution.

If you don't have a U.S. mobile phone number acceptable to the bank or other institution, you won't be able to receive security codes sent by the bank to confirm your identity from time to time.

If you are simply accessing (via ATM) or transferring (by wire) cash, a lot will depend on the U.S. financial institution you choose to use.

Some financial institutions (such as Charles Schwab bank) will rebate your ATM withdrawal fees, not charge a foreign transaction fee, not charge an extra foreign exchange fee AND give you the "mid-market" exchange rate from USD to VNĐ, which is always better than the official daily exchange rate set by the government and used by banks here.

Schwab also works well for me when I need to make a larger transfer ($2000 USD or more) by wire, but there's a cost for that ease of transfer:

Schwab charges a $15.00 fee for a wire transfer (free if you have a higher balance in all accounts) and then the bank in Vietnam normally charges a fee for receiving the money.

When your dollars are converted to đồng, you'll get the official exchange rate which is lower than the mid-market rate.

You may be required to access your funds with the Vietnam bank's ATM system, and each of those withdrawals will have a small fee attached.

Also a small monthly fee for using the account (a mobile banking fee).

If you are receiving Social Security payments in the U.S. and the Social Security Administration suspects you've left the country, they will suspend your payments in 60 days unless they receive a change of address from you.

I don't know for sure if the Veterans Administration will do the same thing.

As to the best bank in Vietnam, there's little difference between them.

The best bank will be the one where you are allowed to open a basic DOMESTIC deposit account.

Timo Bank and a few others will open an INTERNATIONAL account that allows deposits by wire, but you won't be able to interact electronically with the domestic banking system.

I personally recommend two things if you are planning to keep a US bank account open in the states:

1. Open a Charles Schwab investor account that includes an associated Schwab Bank account.

2. Use a mobile phone number from a recognized US cellphone carrier for your account.

3. Port your phone number to Google Voice AFTER the number is authenticated by Schwab, or, if you want to maintain a US carrier number that will work here, T-MOBILE works flawlessly for me.

Please take the time to search the forum for terms such as "banking", "wire transfer", "direct deposit" and others, as this subject is regularly rehashed ad nauseum.

Good luck!
   

Schwab charges a $15.00 fee for a wire transfer (free if you have a higher balance in all accounts) and then the bank in Vietnam normally charges a fee for receiving the money.





    -@OceanBeach92107

Ocean, I have no idea how you are so knowledgeable in so many areas and articulate as well but I'm sure glad that you are and willing to devote your time and energy for all us less fortunate in that area on this site. So much respect and appreciation Sir!   I have a Schwab account and am currently trying out the $15 wire service which is a good deal in itself. I have a checking and brokerage account with them. So when you say 'free' are you referring to those two accounts? And what is the minimum if you know? thanks

    Schwab charges a $15.00 fee for a wire transfer (free if you have a higher balance in all accounts) and then the bank in Vietnam normally charges a fee for receiving the money.     -@OceanBeach92107

Ocean, I have no idea how you are so knowledgeable in so many areas and articulate as well but I'm sure glad that you are and willing to devote your time and energy for all us less fortunate in that area on this site. So much respect and appreciation Sir!   I have a Schwab account and am currently trying out the $15 wire service which is a good deal in itself. I have a checking and brokerage account with them. So when you say 'free' are you referring to those two accounts? And what is the minimum if you know? thanks
   

    -@MikeTVN

This has changed a bit in the last couple of years, so best advice is to contact Schwab directly and inquire regard your unique situation.

Normally, an individual investor (everyone is considered an "investor, even if you only use the bank account) gets this perk:

"Wire transfer fee: With $100,000 or more in Household Balances, you will receive three free online domestic wire transfers per quarter" (link)

Important to note that you must maintain your residence in the USA or change your residence to a Schwab approved nation in an International account.

IF YOU CHANGE YOUR RESIDENCE TO VIETNAM, you will become ineligible to apply for a Schwab International account and your USA based account may be closed.

The $100,000 minimum for total balances appears to apply equally to both US accounts and non-resident International accounts.

If you are going to maintain account balances that high, you should talk with a Schwab account executive to compare the benefits vs limitations of changing from US based accounts to an international account.

Otherwise, the normal wire fee is $25.00 but it's discounted to $15.00 if you complete the entire transaction ONLINE.

Also, even though they refer to total account balances, Schwab wire transfers are ALWAYS made from funds in your investor account, not from the bank account.

So if all of your funds are in the bank account and you want to make a wire transfer you first must transfer sufficient funds from checking into investor account (Don't forget to include the $15 for the wire fee).

Thanks for your kind words.

Good luck with your plans..

I guess it depends where your home bank is, and how old you are?

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce used to have no fee senior (65) service charges and free international money transfers. Might have changed past few years?

Currently though, Bank of Montreal has low fee senior service charges, and Global Etransfer Fee of $5.00 to transfer money from Canada to Viet Nam.  minimum $100.00 amout.

Two day service but sometimes only 2 hours depending on time and day differential.