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How do US expats handle finances in Hanoi? Which banks provide the best services considering convenience, timeliness and fees? Does your US bankcard or debit card work there? What are the fees for withdrawals? How do you transfer funds between US and Vietnam?
bank finance transfer atm (add tags) Why? Details of tags
answered about 13 months ago by Angel
ATM cards with Visa/mastercard and AMEX work. Not all ATMS accept VISA so if the first bank doesnt work, there will be an ATM round the corner that does.The most you can withdraw at one time is 2 million Dong, and you can only do that 3 times a day. The large stores accept most cards but for everyday use its best to carry cash money. I bank between Denmark and Hanoi, and I use HSBC, they only have one branch in Hanoi at sun tower, but the atm card works everywhere of course. The transfer fees seem reasonable, and the service is fast and fantastic IMO. Transfer time is 2 working days. Banks are not open saturdays so be aware of this.
answered about 13 months ago by Dakotaroos
Thanks Angel. Does HSBC allow you to transfer money from Denmark to your Hanoi account free or for a fee? Is it expensive or cheap? Thanks in advance.
Free? its a BANK! :) I paid the costs danish side (around 20 dollars) and HSBC charged me around 5 or 10 dollars I think.. But it was all worth it for the service I recieved, they are very quick and efficient- the fastest thing I've done in Hanoi so far... :)
answered about 13 months ago by Tamvong
Most ATMs accept a Cirrus card and Citibank ATM's let you take out 3m at a time for a daily total of 9m. 20,000 VND fee per 3m plus whatever your US bank charges. However, Citibank don’t do retail banking here. I have a USD account at ANZ and a VND account at Vietcombank. The main advantage of Vietcombank is they have ATM’s everywhere and no charge for withdrawals. Their ATM card is free. Downside is customer service is pretty ropy and internet banking non-functioning - at least I couldn't get it to function. They charge 0.15% for electronic incoming transfers (with a maximum charge of $150) plus $10 for transfers from the US and $20 from elsewhere. ANZ is much more like a Western bank (which it is of course) and, while they’re increasing their number of ATM locations, they’re not nearly as widespread as the local banks. Their debit/ATM card is $10. You can check out their charges at:anz.com/Vietnam/Personal
answered about 13 months ago by grubby
Following up on Tamvong's answer, I haven't been able to get Vietcombank's online banking system to work either. As far as I can get is showing my balance, but not any statement details. The whole site looks like it was built by someone's nephew and doesn't inspire confidence in its security. So my question is, among the local banks with good atm coverage, which of them have operable online banking systems?
answered about 13 months ago by qwerty
"The most you can withdraw at one time is 2 million Dong, and you can only do that 3 times a day." I don't know if there is some special things about US credit cards, but I withdraw 16 million with my VISA card at the ANZ ATM with 4 millions at a time, and 20.000 in fees for every time. (Norwegian card)
answered about 6 months ago by Wiseman
hi dakotaroos, the best way to bank for an expatriate who is willing to balance security, felxibility and cheap fees is to set-up 2 bank accounts. 1- offshore bank account available in multi currency US$, euros or GBP with internet facility that you can use when abroad 2- vietnam based account in a prominent vietnamese bank with cheap fees for all vietnam dong transactions. vietcombank has a broad network of ATM as you do not want to go to most of vietnamese bank tellers as the level of understanding and exposure to international people needs is very low.
answered about 6 months ago by Elliewelliesj
Also just to note following the earlier post from Tamvong - Vietcom bank now charges $6 for the ATM card when you open the account.
answered about 6 months ago by lcobb02
It also depends on who your employer is and whether they can deposit $$ in your home account. I have not opened an account here, but my employer is US-based and deposits into my citibank account at home. There are two citibank ATMs here that I use to withdraw, though I have noticed recently that citibank started charging me a foreign fee despite using their own ATMs. As this is usually around $.60, it's not too bad.
