Banking in HCM

Hi pinhcm!

Welcome to Expat.com!

Armand

I was at a local Bank this morning to pay my electricity bill. The lady greeted me amicably and then took my bill away. She later asked me for the money and then asked me to sign a form. Then it was waiting time, for a full 25 mins while others were being served. Finally she came back with my change. All this just to pay a bill. BTW this Bank was awarded the Best Domestic Bank in Vietnam in 2012 by AsiaMoney organization. Such service!! LOL

I have paid my EVN bill many times at Vietin Bank with no fee and have never waited for change.

I openend a prepaid account with no minimum balance at Asia Commercial Bank in 2010. I only had to bring my passport, complete a short form and pay a small fee.  The atms are everywhere. They have other types of accounts and credit cards.

Some banks do not let foreigners open accounts.

Virtually any bank will do. Just look for bank branch near your home/work, where you feel comfortable with the service/language.
I am using Vietcombank and Vietinbank

hi there, i am singaporean and will be shifting to vietnam soon (in the coming days in fact)!

i did a little research and for me, i would be going for HSBC because i think it will facilitate funds transfer later on if I need from SG to VN.

I hate hate hate hate HSBC! Very poor cust. service

FYI HSBC Vietnam has no relationship with any other HSBC bank outside of Vn.

Welcome you to the expat forum

VungTauDon wrote:

I hate hate hate hate HSBC! Very poor cust. service

I second that motion. HSBC also will issue you a Visa Debit card but it is only good where they take ATM cards.

pinhcm wrote:

1. Do i open a local bank account or foreign bank?
2. For either of the above local/foreign option, which is the best bank to go too?

My purpose for the bank account is to keep some $ for my local spending while im here in HCM. I doubt i will transfer money back to Singapore but more likely to transfer money in to HCM. Therefore, im looking for a savings account. at the same time, i also like to apply for credit cards.

Open an account with any local banks. The banks will issue you with the credit cards if you qualify.
However, credit cards are not as widely used as in Sing
For convenience, find a bank near your home or work.