How to open a bank account in Vietnam

5 min readMay 1, 2023

Written by Phuong Anh

Vietnam, or officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, is a country in Southeast Asia. It has a territory of more than 300,000 square kilometers and is adjacent to 3 countries; Laos, Cambodia and China. Vietnam has a favorable geographical and climatic position with a coastline of more than 3,000 km bordering the Pacific Ocean. Vietnam has a total of 125 beaches and a multitude of mountains and natural caves. In fact, the largest natural cave in the world is Hang Son Doong in Vietnam. There are also two places recognized by UNESCO as natural heritages: Ha Long Bay and Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park.

In terms of economy, Vietnam is among the top countries with the fastest economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic. Last year, Vietnam’s GDP grew by 8.02%; the highest rate in the past 25 years. The currency of Vietnam is the Vietnamese Dong ($1= 23,578 VND).

Currently, in daily life, Vietnamese people still mainly transact in cash. However, for permanent residents studying and working in Vietnam, it is extremely necessary to consider opening a bank account. Procedures and documents for opening a bank account in Vietnam are relatively simple. In addition, opening a bank account in Vietnam is also more convenient and safer for foreigners living and working there.

Before opening a bank account in Vietnam, read through some regulations to see if you are eligible to open a bank account in Vietnam.

- Firstly, you are a foreigner with a lawful stay in Vietnam within one year or longer. On the visa or visa exemption document, it is stated that the duration of residence in Vietnam is more than 12 months. Therefore, tourists with short-term stay will not be able to open an account in Vietnam.

- For persons who are over 18 years old and have full civil act capacity as prescribed by Vietnamese law.

- Persons aged between 15 and under 18 years of age must not lose or limit their civil act capacity.

- Persons under the age of 15, persons with limited civil act capacity, persons with loss of civil act capacity according to the provisions of Vietnamese law shall open payment accounts through their legal representatives.

Persons with difficulties in perception and behavior control in accordance with Vietnamese law shall open a payment account through a guardian.

The required documents are extremely simple as follows:

- Passport

- Valid visa or visa exemption certificate

Most banks in Vietnam will have a free bank account opening service for foreigners. Some banks may charge a fee to open a card, but only in the range of 50000–100000VND ($2-$4).

The process of opening a card at the bank will be very fast. Please bring all documents to the nearest bank. Bank staff will verify and evaluate your application and documents. After all agreements are approved, you have completed the procedure to open a bank card in Vietnam. Your card will then be mailed to you or you can go to your bank to receive it within 3–7 days depending on your finance institution. You can then activate your card via an ATM, online banking app or a simple SMS message. After activating the card, you can start using the card and make payment transactions.

Some large, reputable, and safe banks in Vietnam:

1. Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank)

2. Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank)

3. Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Techcombank)

4. Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MB Bank)

5. Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV)

I will show you how to create a bank account at Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) online through Vietcombank’s online banking.

The following are detailed instructions to easily open an online bank account at Vietcombank. First, you have to download the application called Vietcombank on App Store or Google Play.

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/vn/app/vietcombank/id561433133

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.VCB&hl=vi