How to open a bank account in Vietnamese

Hi viktoriach,

i have created a topic with your post on the Vietnam forum, it might help you to obtain more clear responses from members.

Thanks

Priscilla 

Usually they issue you a form which has English as well. I have an Account with Standard Chartered and the service is OK compared to TechCom Bank or Sea Bank.

Hello Vikoriach
I have some opinion for you in Acb bank.
When you go to a bank, you must have passport and valid visa. The staff will ask you a few questions :
1. How long have you stayed in Vietnam? If you stay in Vietnam more 1 year and your visa is valid , you can open a current account or visa card, and you can deposit your salary you earn in this account. Your salary will deposit wthin a mont when you receive ut
2. If you stay in Vn < 1 year, you just open an account which receive money from foreign country. It is not deposit by you. And you must deposit 20 usd at the first time.
3. Time deposit: only Vietnam dong, and your maturity depends on your visa in Viet nam.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me

thank you  Anna Vo  and  SilentnQuiet
I come to Vietnam with visa for 3 months .I'm going to open a small business in this country.
if all goes well I'm going to live in Vietnam 1 year or more
Can I open a bank account with  visa for 3 months that would transfer money to this account .
What bank is better to use?
thank you again
Viktoria

HI viktoriach

I am not sure if you will be able to open a bank account with 3 months visa. My company helped me with opening a bank account and my experience with Vietnamese Banks were not so good. So i opened up an account with Standard Chartered and the service is good plus most of the staff speaks English even if you call the customer support.

Usually in other countries its not an issue but Vietnam in my opinion is a bit of a strange place so you never know what the law is? If you need, i can provide you the contact details of the SCB representative who helped me open the account is the main point of contact in case of any clarifications.

Best of Luck !!!

Hello!

      I was able to get a back account with no problem thru Vietinbank with a 3 month Visa. 

Good Luck!
Mark

Dear Viktoriach,

It is easy , just bring your passport to ACB ( Asia Commercial Bank ) and USD 20 to open your account.

Best regards,

Phu

Thank you very much for your answers.
I'll be glad to any contacts that will help me to make everything easier.

Dear Viktoriach,

You can drop by ACB at 41 Mac Dinh Chi District 1, HCMC for your account.

Best regards,
Phu

thank you

When i tried to open a bank account without working contract and resident card they said its not possible.Did this change recently?
Can i open a US dollar account in any Vietnamese bank without working contract or residence card?

It's all hit and miss - like everything in Vietnam. Easiest is to get a very good trusted friend to open a current account (with visa debit) with VND 100k using their ID.  Has to be someone very trustworthy 😉

@blackdept: when you want to open Us dollar account,the staff will ask you what purpose you want to open? If you want to receive money from your country or another country, it is normal to open. You must deposit Usd 20 first. If you want to deposit your account from your salary, you must have contract and resident card because it is prove your money you earn is legall.

We tried,but i got the same answer in every vietnamese bank. Can not open bank account without working contract and/or resident card.

I will ask my college and answer you later because i work in a bank

Thank you very much:)

Hi

Just come to vietcombank, they will answer you all processes to open account in bank.

Thank you

@Blacksept:what's your purpose you want to open account?
@dungnvikh: Blacksept already has come to bank and they refuse open account for him. I think bank staff don't know his true purpose

A bank account is a bank account. In Vietname people are too inquisitive / nosey and talk too much about other people's business.

Hello Guys

I also have some questions  about opening Bank account in Vietnam.

First  of all i need to open cooperate bank account for  my company  and i have just got my business registration in Vietnam.  So i went to open Bank account  in HSBC  because  i have no issue  with communication But  they said  they not allowed  new company  open account  in their bank  an at least  i need to show them 3 years bank statement  of my company, So i was wondering  why is that.

If  any body suggest me which  bank i need to choice  and no problem  with communication  with bank staff  any comments  highly appreciated

Best Regards

Collwing

Open an account for expat there are rules for Vietnam goverment. You must to have a prove where your money come from.example, If it is from you salary, you must have contract. If money come illegal example  sell drugs or do bad work, you can't deposit and transfer it.  Maybe @pilotadamp think I am too inquisitive but I just have knowledge my bank, my Vietnam government rules to help @Blacksept to know deeply rules my government

There are no rules in Vietnam - the banks do what they like. If you are a foreigner, the banks try to overcharge and manipulate. Everybody knows the 'game' so please stop writing nonsense.

Vietnamese are too interested in foreigners business - because they want to cheat  and make money. And most Vietnamese like you don't know how things work in practice; what you learn at school is nonsense (vo van) ..End of story

@pilotadamp: I work in a bank in 7 years and I have a little experience for this. Bank open an account for you and get fee, bank will have benefits for this, so why blacksept ask many bank and they refuse? Because rule is a rule

You work in a bank for 7 years and have little experience of this ?  Oi troi Oi.

I bank with a Vietnamese bank, and 3 things happen:

1. If I go to a branch to pay money in near Hoan Kiem Lake, no ID needed.

2. Same thing on Hoang Hoa Tham - the lady / cashier wants to write the deposit herself

3. In Cau Giay - only they want ID

4. In Ba Dinh the cashier stole VND 30k

This is Vietnam!

Hi
I know i cant deposit money in vietnam without proving where the money comes from.I do online business and recieve the money from abroad, as i know recieving money($$$)  from abroad should be ok.Three years ago i was able to open a commonwealth bank account, but they are australian and not vietnamese, but i heard their rules also changed in the last few years.

Last year we (my girlfriend and i) tried to open a bank account in some vietnamese bank, but they all said the same. Working contract or resident card, a few years ago it was easier to get a resident card, but now they have a lot more requirements, seriously vietnamese goverment is total f**** up. Their rules doesnt make any sense, they should be happy and welcome foreign money, but hell no...they make it harder and harder.

Should i mention that we contacted some "lawyers and experts" they all had a solution IF i deposit 500$-750$ first and the other part when they finished the job. We went to the goverment office and asked them how things works and what these so called experts said was all lie, they just wanted to squeeze as much money out of me as possible. Luckily i had some experience in vietnam earlier and didnt pay them:)

I am so happy you see through all the bxxxxt and corruption here; it's a nightmare.  A very trusted Vietnamese friend opened an account for me, and I use that.

Hello. I work in Axx bank (Axx) in Da Nang city. If u want to open Us dollar, i will help you. If you not live in Da Nang, you can come to Another Axx bank where you live. My bank need your passport and valid visa.. Don't need resident card. If you have resident card, you can open Vnd account. Your money from abroad can deposit in your account and u can transfer to another Usd account. It is something i want to say

I will give it a shot when when iam back
Thanks for your help Anna!

Vietcom bank is where I opened mine where are you located I can give you the address to where I opened mine

I used HSBC bank to open an account in Ho Chi Minh City.  Used USD $200 to open and had to provide passport and driver's license to prove that I am who I said I was.  I'm an America Citizen and I return to Vietnam ever few years.

I recommends  to all Expat open bank account in HSBC   you can have two account  with same time VND and USD  therefor you need  only  verified Vietnam Address and   clarified  your country address  so you can show any documents  you have  that mentioned  address.

HSBC  you will never get any problem with communication but if you go to another local banks  and you will such bad  service because of Poor communication.

Nearly all ACB branches have a person who can speak very good English. The problem is inconsistency in the existence and enforcement of procedures, not in English language communication.

HSBC is extortionate with their charging structure.

So what exactly qualifies as proof of residency? Could  it just  be a letter from your potential landlord or  does it have to be an actual resident card? I will most likely not be able to get a work permit so therefore I cannot receive a resident card...from what I have been reading. 

If I can open an account with just a letter of proof of residency from my landlord, what then is the process for depositing US money into the account? Do they ask for proof of income for tax purposes?

Phu,
Are you still working at the bank, I am looking to open an account here in HCM, I am presently only in posession of a visitors visa but have a permenant address here in District 2.
Thank you

I opened two accounts with Sacombank here in Saigon just last month, one in US$ and one in VND.  The former required $50 balance which was retained from the first transfer I made two weeks later.  The latter didn't require a balance and came with a debit/credit card.  I was offered a full credit card but declined since we've too many US-issued cards already.   

The only document I had to provide was my visa, not proof of residency or any other identification.  It's a simple procedure that took half an hour, which included a lengthy Q&A (I'm one of those annoying people who asks question after question on every potential scenario), card try-out at the ATM, and chitchat at the end. 

My type of account, however, wouldn't work for expats who want to deposit their Vietnamese income.  I didn't inquire about a deposit account since it wouldn't have served our needs.

Thanks for that one. Can you advise me which bank and where as I've read previous chats and the rules and acceptance differ from banks and even the location of  the banks. Just need to cut down the leg work and hit the target first time.
Thanks

Krisb747400 wrote:

Thanks for that one. Can you advise me which bank and where as I've read previous chats and the rules and acceptance differ from banks and even the location of  the banks. Just need to cut down the leg work and hit the target first time.
Thanks

You can open a bank account in any Bank; there will be no problem. But the problem is if you want to deposit.

Use Timo.

Sign up online and get bank card same day. Its not a Visa/Mastercard but it can be used in all the shops etc