ATM's

How did they slog you?

There are often 2 limits in effect.

1. Maximum amount per transaction;
2. Maximum amount per day.

They vary from bank to bank. 1. is set by the dispensing bank; 2. can be set by the dispensing bank or your bank.

There are other limits is well, the balance or the cash available in the machine.

Most ATM's still seem to be giving only 2 million per transaction, but on some cards, I have done 15 withdrawals a day and i assume they would have given more.
Another foreigner reported ages ago, some ATMs dispensing up to 8 million per transaction, but i can not confirm or name the bank to it.
Possible best is asking your home bank, where they set the limit and if they have a partner bank in Vietnam.
We have for a few customers extra an account in the Vietinbank, as conditions and prices for transfers from US to here are much less.

Have you actually considered open a bank account here and maybe transfer only once in a while some moneys to here? A full international transfer will cost you on VN side 2% +10% below certain sums + that, what you get charged at your home bank, I am not really sure, where the better %%%% are starting ( but moving 50000 USD or more gets surely charged less), but they are surely available and the ATM charges in VN are not really that high.

VietNam is not known as the Black Hole of Currency for nothing.

l3ully said:
A full international transfer will cost you on VN side 2% +10% below certain sums + that, what you get charged at your home bank.

Incorrect, some banks charge zero, as in nothing.

Better to get a zero cost ATM than move money here.

Some banks, like ANZ, actually pay interest on Foreign Currency held in VN.

Banks such as HSBC screw you by gobbling Foreign Currency and substituting VND. Theye even denied a legally married couple (in VN) the use of a joint account as they weren't both VNese citizens. You don't need these arguments when you are transferring money.

I even use VietComBank, notwithstanding their penchant for forms, to bring money in. What they say goes, never been shafted by them on transfers. And they supply individual chairs for you to sit on whilst you watch the paper move.

Better still, they don't use the SecureKey that HSBC does, the biggest hassle in banking.

VietComBank and Agribank charge zero for using there own ATMs - most banks charge when using a 'network' ATM.

The VietComBank merchant charge on credit card transactions is 4%.

yeah I use Agribank atm's, they charge 20,000vnd per transaction. Add to this 3% from my bank plus a $5 atm fee (my bank has no affiliate bank in Vietnam). So each time I go to an ATM I get slogged approximately 5% of the transaction. It is outrageous theft...

Maybe you don't keep enough $$ in Agribank. Mine is 0%.

They do my payroll accounting, too.

Hi, can a foreigner open an agribank account and get an atm card ? also do you get interest on the money in the account ? I get charged so much as it is a foreign transaction.

thanks

My HSBC account from America results in no fees from Vietnam ATM's.... providing I use their machines...

Maximum withdraw is 5,600,000 Dong in one transaction...

panda7 wrote:

Hi, can a foreigner open an agribank account and get an atm card ? also do you get interest on the money in the account ? I get charged so much as it is a foreign transaction.

thanks

Yes, a foreigner can. There is actually a chance, that you can open that one without agency.

- You need an address, not hotel or guesthouse, ideally rental contract or police registration
- passport
- VND 50000 to pay in - not refundable
- some banks might close your account, if it's on the minimum and not active for longer periods (1 year?). Takes about 5 minutes (after queuing)

Some banks might have slightly different minimum amounts or might want to see different papers.
If it fails ones, try another branch/bank.
If that fails, go to the place, you have been told several times before in Ngyen Thien Thuat

If you're withdrawing from a foreign account...

The best I've found is TechComBank. I'm withdrawing using Visa and they don't charge me a withdrawl fee. Not sure the max per transaction but I got 5million out the other day in one transaction no problem.

Buzzer wrote:

The best I've found is TechComBank.

Unfortunately, TechComBank is owned by the HSBC and has the same anal-retentive management practices.

They are getting SecureKey next year. A better reason to change banks doesn't exist.

panda7 wrote:

Hi, can a foreigner open an agribank account and get an atm card ? also do you get interest on the money in the account ? I get charged so much as it is a foreign transaction.

thanks

Yes, AgriBank is easy, you can open with passport/address and 50 000 VND. An ATM you will get commonly only upon request ( I think, the first one is/was free)

thanks any idea if a standard agribank account pays interest to the account ? I heard deposit accounts can get 14%

techcom atm you can get 6m max I think...

panda7 wrote:

thanks any idea if a standard agribank account pays interest to the account ? I heard deposit accounts can get 14%

techcom atm you can get 6m max I think...

14% is dream now, even for savings well above the equivalent of 500000 USD, 9% max, but not on a current account, you have to put the money in a saving account for some month/years... This year is the first year in ages so far, where inflation is below the interest, so it might save a few quid.

Just went to Techcom Bank where I have been withdrawing money from my US ATM card for free  anywhere in Vietnam and Cambodia for the last 5 months.  As of March 2012, Techcom charges 30,000 dong for each withdrawal.  I am not sure if it's a flat fee or a percentage of the amount.  I withdrew 2,000,000 dong. 

HSBC was a **** in Phnom Penh, charged $4 for one withdrawal and did not give you an option to exit.  The 'no' button doesn't work and I had to withdraw some money to get my card back!  Techcom does give you a choice to exit.  You have to go thru the balance enquiry to exit and get the card back.  You don't need to have the balance printed.

30,000 is a flat fee, you will get very lousy foreign exchange rates using an atm but better than walking into the bank and withdrawing over the countr. to work out your exchange rate add the 30,000 to the 2,000,000 and then divide by what is ultimately subtracted from your US bank account. You will find that the foreign exchange cost is about 3.5 to 5%. compare the exchange rate to what you get for cash in the Vietnam.

panda7 don't forget to add what the US bank takes out also, B of A take's a flat $5.00 per withdrawal 2mil VND,or 20mil VND makes no difference  5 bucks a pop. I've been using  Techcom Bank ATM's for about a year now. I've been able to get up too 20mil VND per withdrawal up to last week. I can't get above 2mil VND per now. So I guess it's back to the Agri Bank ATM's, max 5mil VND per withdrawal.

yes the guy said his atm card was fee free so I accounted for that so the range after all costs is about 3.5% to 5%  of your withdrawal amount as most banks charge you a % fee of the total transaction as well as an atm fee.  Whatever way you look at it it is a rip off. 20m is good, you can also try sacombank, I think they will give you more than agribank. Seems to vary though like you say so perhaps we can start a Vietnam ATM app for travellers/expats locating the highest dispensing machines at any given location

Panda7 (or anybody) What's the max out of a sacombank ATM, any ideas? I'm going into Can Tho in the AM, I'll give them a try.

I usually go inside at vietcombank to their credit card desk and withdraw 40 million vnd  at a time. My bank in the US limits me to 2000usd per day. I get charged a flat fee of 3% but It beats standing at an atm and taking out 2 million at a time

the max I got out of a sacombank atm was 8m...that was in Nha Trang though so might be different in other places

VungTaoDon, is that a Vietcombank cost or overall cost ? have you accounted for your us bank fees, like a foreign exchange fee ?

3% is the fee at Vietcombank, the fee from my bank is only 3.95 usd. There is no exchange fee as I'm taking out as usd and exchanging for vnd after.

panda7 Only could get 2mil VMD at Sacombank ATM today in Can Tho so I canceled the transaction and went to an Agri Bank ATM.

VTD are you using a regular US Bank Visa card at VCB or a US Bank Debit card?

Budman1 wrote:

Panda7 (or anybody) What's the max out of a sacombank ATM, any ideas? I'm going into Can Tho in the AM, I'll give them a try.

Budman1,

The max withdrawal from Sacombank in Bien Hoa is 2 million if you are using a foreign debit card. 10 million for a Sacombank debit card. Also I went to withdraw at Techombank on the first and the max they would let me take out was 17.5 million which is still pretty good.

VungTauDon wrote:

3% is the fee at Vietcombank, the fee from my bank is only 3.95 usd. There is no exchange fee as I'm taking out as usd and exchanging for vnd after.

Can you still withdraw USD at the counter in Vietcombank in Vung Tau? They stopped doing that in Bien Hoa in November. That was always the cheapest way to do it.

I'm using my US bank debit card. I was able to get my bank manger to raise my daily limits to 2000usd at atm and 2500 by POS .

I haven't tried taking out in usd cash. The credit card receipt still says 2000 usd but I take it in vnd.

VungTauDon wrote:

I haven't tried taking out in usd cash. The credit card receipt still says 2000 usd but I take it in vnd.

Until November of last year you could take it in USD. I used to do that and exchange at the gold stores. But the bank told me new government regulations forbid them from paying out in USD.

I am considering using the Vietnamese Bamboo Banking System. They only charge 2% and depending on the time of day you can get it that day or the next morning and in dollars.

Haven't read all the post but someone mentioned getting 8m VND out of an ATM in one go.  You can do this a Citibank ATM's.

Parmyd here's what I got yesterday (this is off my on-line statement) The withdrawal was 5mil VND which they converted to $240.08, Agri Bank charged me $2.39 and my US bank charged me $5.00. Total $247.45 for 5mil VND. Quick math says I got  20,204.47VND for $1.00. I'm going to give VCB a try on Friday, hope it'll work like it does for VTD.

For US citizens Charles Schwab has 0.00 fees and reimburses you all ATM fees charged Internationally at the end of each month.

Are ATMs safe to use in Saigon?  Some people say you have to go in the bank etc, is that true?

Are ATMs safe to use in Saigon?  Some people say you have to go in the bank etc, is that true?

atms are safe.  Just take the usual precautions that you would with any ATM anywhere in the world (e.g., cover keypad, use ATMs inside stores & buildings).

AmericanNomad wrote:

Are ATMs safe to use in Saigon?  Some people say you have to go in the bank etc, is that true?

Oh no don't go into banks, so bureaucratic, tellers given zero responsibility, she (always very young 'she') will first confer with other tellers, then leave to get approvals from superiors, come back, then leave again...

ATMs outside banks will have a guard loitering during day/evening hours. Exercise ghetto street smarts like any city.

This is my experience with ATMs -- My CU in the US doesn't charge anything, but the Visa  debit card they issued me takes 1% on foreign transactions.  The best ATM fee I found previously was the 22.000 VND that Agribank charges on max 3.000.000 VND, so I've been paying about 1.7% to take out money here. 

A while ago, though, I used an MB ATM at the airport (which unfortunately I could no longer find when I came through last week) and found that there was no fee on the 500.000 VND I took out.  I've been on the lookout for MB ATMs since then. 

I finally found one and took out 3.000.000, and when I checked online, found I wasn't charged a fee.  In addition, I used my CapitalOne 360 debit card, where I keep a small amount of money, and found that the MC debit card they issued me doesn't charge an international fee, so I'm not paying any fees this way. 

Since my CapitalOne account is linked to my CU account, I will now just transfer money from the CU to CapitalOne and then take it out here in Saigon.  MB ATMs don't seem that common here in D1, but I've found three, one on Hàm Nghi, one on Bùi Thị Xuân by Cống Quỳnh, which was broken when I tried to use it last week, and one on Nguyễn Trãi by Nguyễn cư Trinh.

I have HSBC account in US. Decided it was not worth while to open an HSBC account in HCMC. I can take out 20,000,000.00 VND at a time with HSBC ATM.

Good news, thx, didn't know the limit was so high. I should open an account next time I am stateside. Although I can withdraw 8M from HSBC with my ATM cards, it still takes 2 visits for rent/utils.