Opening a bank account in Vietnam in 2026: a foreigner's guide

Back in 2022 you could land in Da Nang on an e-visa, walk into Vietcombank and leave with an account in an hour — 100,000 VND deposit, card mailed ten days later. In 2026 that same walk-in more often ends in a polite refusal: most big banks want a long-term visa or a TRC, and not every one takes an e-visa.

That does not mean an account is impossible. It means the "fly in and pop into a bank" plan is dead. Do your homework before you fly and your odds are still good. Below: what actually gets opened in mid-2026, which banks still take an e-visa, what documents to prepare, and why an e-wallet is sometimes more useful than a bank account.

What broke in 2024–2025

Until 2023, Vietnamese banks were arguably the most relaxed in the region. Vietcombank took an e-visa, BIDV took an e-visa with no deposit, MB Bank opened an account in ten minutes and handed over a card the same day. Plenty of long-stayers lived that way: land, open an account, receive a transfer, spend it, fly out.

It broke in three moves.

One — Project 06 digital ID. Since 2023 Vietnam has been building a national biometric identity system (Project 06 / CCCD chip). Banks are required to verify identity through it. A foreigner on a tourist visa has no Vietnamese ID, which means no complete KYC chain.

From 28 September 2026, a foreign national who lawfully enters or lawfully resides in Vietnam may request an electronic identification account. … However, eligibility does not mean that an account will be issued automaticallyYanyan Shang, Vietnam Briefing, 2026

Two — pressure from Western regulators. Through 2024–2025 Vietnamese banks grew wary of sanctioned money passing through local accounts and the risk of secondary sanctions. According to Vietnam Investment Review, as early as March 2022 the State Bank asked commercial banks to report on their dealings with Russian partners and assess how sanctions would affect customer payments.

Three — Circular 27/2025/TT-NHNN. From 1 November 2025 the central bank obliges commercial banks to report every international electronic transfer of $1,000 and above (Vietnam Law Magazine). Not a ban, but extra work for the bank — and less appetite for small non-resident accounts.

Added up, many banks find it simpler not to open an account for a tourist than to deal with the compliance later. Per Zora.vn, most banks want a visa of six months or more, or a TRC, but BIDV and VPBank still open accounts on an e-visa. There is no single rule and the branch decides: call the bank's hotline before you go and ask whether it accepts an e-visa.

Which visa you actually need

This is the first question. Get the visa wrong and every other step is pointless.

The 90-day e-visa is the only visa that still occasionally gets you an account in 2026 — mostly at the smaller banks. You apply online at evisa.gov.vn, usually within three business days; the fee is $25 for a single entry.

The TRC is the temporary residence card — Vietnam's residency document, valid for up to 10 years depending on the visa. Since February 2026 workers and their families get one only on an LD2 (work) or TT (family) visa; anyone who entered on another visa (DN1, e-visa) needs a conversion first (per Fragomen). Processing takes up to five business days and the fee is $145–165 depending on the card's term, per the Ministry of Public Security portal. The TRC must expire at least 30 days before your passport does. More on it in our guide to the Vietnam residence permit.

If you are a seasonal long-stayer here for three months, your real path is: 90-day e-visa plus a lottery at TPBank or MB Bank. More in the scenarios section below.

If you are a freelancer planning six months to a year, you either find an employer and get a Work Permit, or invest in a local company for a DT (investor) visa. Under 3 billion VND (about $115,000) gets you a one-year DT4 visa with no TRC; the card starts at DT3, from 3 billion VND.

Documents — gather them ahead of time

The full list of what a bank may ask for:

• Passport valid for 6+ months (original and a copy of the photo page).
• Visa or TRC (original + copy). For an e-visa, the printout with the QR code.
• Work Permit, if you have one (original + copy).
• Employment contract with a Vietnamese company (original + copy). Often required to confirm salary income.
• Proof of a Vietnamese address: a rental contract (hợp đồng thuê nhà), an electricity bill in your name, a temporary residence registration confirmation, or a hotel booking for short-stayers.
• A Vietnamese SIM with a local number — needed for OTP codes.
• The opening deposit: from 50,000 VND (MB Bank) to 1,000,000 VND (Sacombank).
• The application form — filled in at the branch.

The address is the catch: if you live in an Airbnb or a hostel, you have no contract. The fix is to ask your long-stay landlord or hostel for a contract (owners often oblige for a bottle of wine), or move into a serviced apartment with a formal lease for a couple of weeks. A Booking.com reservation is sometimes accepted too — but not at every branch.

Banks that actually open accounts in 2026

Below are the banks where opening an account in 2026 is still realistic. Prices and terms are as of mid-2026, cross-checked against bank websites and expat forums.

Vietcombank

Vietnam's largest bank, a dense branch network and a good English app, VCB Digibank. But it opens accounts only for holders of a 12-month-plus TRC or a Work Permit plus LD visa. Tourists, forget it. Minimum deposit is 50,000 VND (~$2). Maintenance runs 2,000 VND a month (about $0.08) for a standard account, up to 10,000 VND for premium. The Mastercard debit card is free for salary clients, otherwise 100,000 VND (~$4). Central branches have tellers with passable English.

BIDV

The second-largest state bank. Terms mirror Vietcombank — they usually ask for a TRC or Work Permit, but according to Zora.vn some BIDV branches still open accounts on an e-visa. Tariff: below 2 million VND balance, 5,000 VND a month; 2–10 million, 3,000 VND; above 10 million, free. English app is BIDV SmartBanking. Solid if you have a work visa.

MB Bank

One of the most popular banks with expats — a simple English app, eKYC for residents, the maintenance fee depends on your balance, so check the current tariff on the bank's website. In 2026, MB Bank is a lottery for tourists: some branches open the account, others refuse. The strategy is to hit central branches in the big cities (Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang), where staff are more used to foreigners. On Phu Quoc they often refuse, citing "need an employment contract."

TPBank (Tien Phong Bank)

The most foreigner-friendly bank in 2026. The TPBank Mobile app is in English, and LiveBank 24/7 eKYC terminals in big malls let you open an account without a live teller. For foreigners, though, eKYC requires 360 days of verified residence. On a 90-day e-visa they sometimes open one — 100,000 VND deposit, no interest, an 8,000 VND monthly fee. TPBank comes up again and again in expat reviews as the "lucky" bank.

Sacombank

Since July 2025 Sacombank has waived all in-system transaction fees (official announcement). For foreigners the minimum is 1 million VND (~$40) for a VND account or $100/€100 for a foreign-currency one. It opens easily on a TRC, and sometimes on an e-visa. The Sacombank Pay app is strong.

ACB (Asia Commercial Bank)

Minimum 100,000 VND (~$4), but for tourists it is a payment account only — no interest, mandatory closure after 3–6 months. Fine as a temporary account for a seasonal stay, not for settling in.

Comparison table

USD figures are approximate at mid-2026 (~26,000 VND = $1).

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Step by step at Vietcombank or BIDV

If you hold a TRC or a Work Permit plus LD visa, the process looks like this:

1. A week before you go — call the branch and check the hours for foreigners. Many banks staff only one or two windows with an English-speaking teller, and those windows are not always open.
2. Buy a Vietnamese SIM — Viettel, Vinaphone or Mobifone, any of them works. Register it to your passport at the operator's office (not at a beachside stall).
3. Get proof of address. A rental contract in your name is ideal. A temporary residence registration confirmation (filed by your landlord) is acceptable. A hotel booking is a gamble. How landlords file it: temporary residence registration.
4. Assemble the pack: passport + copy, visa/TRC + copy, Work Permit + copy (if any), employment contract + copy, rental contract + copy, deposit in cash in VND.
5. Arrive at opening time (8:30 at most banks). The foreigner window is least crowded first thing.
6. Tell the teller: "I would like to open a personal account" — that is enough. At Vietcombank and Sacombank the teller switches to English. If not, Google Translate's camera does the job.
7. Fill in the form. Write your Vietnamese address in Latin script, or copy it from the rental contract.
8. Pay the deposit. Minimum is in the table above. Cash, not card.
9. Get your account number as a printout the same day. The card arrives in 7–10 business days — either to the branch (you collect it) or to your address, depending on the bank.
10. Activate online banking. The teller helps set up the app, link the SIM and set a PIN.

The whole thing is 30 minutes to 2 hours depending on the queue. If it drags longer, you are probably being refused — gently.

Opening remotely — myth or reality?

Short answer: myth. You cannot open a full account remotely from abroad in 2026. Long answer: there are hybrid options.

Cake by VPBank, Timo, TNEX — digital banks

The ads say "open an account in 5 minutes through the app." For a Vietnamese national, yes. A foreigner can open an account on a passport and visa, but won't get a Visa card straight away. Timo by BVBank states it plainly: foreigners can apply for a Visa debit card only if they prove continuous residence in Vietnam for at least 360 days (source). Proving 360 days of continuous residence effectively means having a TRC.

Cake by VPBank lets you open a basic account on a passport via eKYC, but with no Visa card, no interest and limits on transaction size — closer to a beefed-up e-wallet.

MoMo, ZaloPay, VNPay — e-wallets

These are not bank accounts, but they cover about 95% of everyday payments. You register with a passport and a Vietnamese number, no TRC, in ten minutes.

• MoMo — the most popular, links to a Mastercard/Visa or a bank account, QR payment at 90% of cafes and shops. The non-resident cap is around 20 million VND a month (~$800).
• ZaloPay — built into the Zalo messenger, handy for paying Vietnamese friends.
• VNPay — a bank alliance supporting 40+ banks, useful for transfers.

For a three-month stayer on an e-visa, MoMo plus a fee-fair travel card (Wise, Revolut) plus some cash is often a more workable setup than hunting for a bank that will open an account.

Getting money into your account

Say the account is open. Now you need to move money onto it from abroad — and that is its own quest.

The good news for most foreigners: the mainstream fintech rails work. Wise pays VND straight into Vietnamese bank accounts at the mid-market rate, with the fee shown upfront (per Wise, September 2026). Revolut is another option: check the Vietnam route and fees in the app before you rely on it. The catch is the compliance window under Circular 27: incoming transfers of $1,000 and above get flagged for reporting, so allow a little extra time on larger amounts.

The practical channels for a foreigner with a Vietnamese account:

1. Wise / Revolut — best default for a Western account holder. Fund your account directly in VND at a fair rate. Vietnamese banks report international transfers from $1,000 to the State Bank.
2. SWIFT from your home bank — works, but slower (7–14 days) and pricier, with correspondent fees. Get the sender's MT103 if it stalls.
3. Cash USD — bring it in (declare above $5,000 on entry to Vietnam) and deposit VND at any branch after converting. Downside: you convert on arrival.
4. Card top-ups + ATM — a Wise or Revolut debit card gives fair FX at the counter and at ATMs; combine with cash for big purchases.

Why you get rejected — and what to do

From expat forums and long-stayer chats in 2025–2026:

• "No TRC" — the most common refusal. Fix: either arrange a TRC through an employer or investment, or try a smaller bank (TPBank, MB Bank) at another branch.
• "No rental contract" — the teller won't accept a hotel booking. Fix: ask your landlord for a formal rental contract, or a temporary residence registration confirmation (filed by the owner). A notarised Vietnamese translation costs 50,000–100,000 VND.
• "No Vietnamese number" — even though you turned up with a Viettel SIM in hand. Often the SIM is not registered to your passport (a corner vendor registered it to a random local). Fix: buy the SIM at the operator's office, tied to your passport.
• "Cash deposit" — the ATM by the door caps at 3 million VND a pull, but you need 1 million (Sacombank). Fix: change USD to VND at a bank counter or a licensed exchange point and come with cash. Since 9 February 2026, exchanging currency outside licensed points is an offence (Decree 340/2025/NĐ-CP). A gold shop may change money only with a State Bank exchange-agent certificate, and a tourist has no way to check it. A bank is safer.
• "Come back in 7 days" — that is a polite no. After 7 days they will want the same documents plus a "letter from your employer." Fix: go to another bank.

Alternatives if you can't open an account

Six months of long-stayer experience says the same thing: if you are here for under six months and not working, a bank account is often overkill. Here are the alternatives.

Open it on a Vietnamese spouse

If your spouse is a Vietnamese citizen, the account opens in their name in half an hour at any bank. You get a power of attorney to use it — formally not the owner, in practice in control of the money. The easiest option for couples.

Open it on a Vietnamese company

If you plan to stay long term and work remotely or invest, you register a Business Registration Certificate (from $1,500 in legal fees), get a DT visa, and open a business account in a month or two. Not a personal account — but at Vietcombank or Techcombank you can open a linked personal one too.

Cash + MoMo + a fee-fair travel card

The simplest setup for a three-month stayer:

• Change USD cash at a bank or a licensed exchange counter, not at a gold shop (why — see the rejections section).
• Register MoMo for VND, link it to a Wise or Revolut card.
• QR payment works at 90% of venues.

Scenarios: tourist, long-stayer, relocator

One scenario, one strategy. Don't try to force a one-size-fits-all plan — choose by how long you are staying.

Two-week traveller (holiday)

No account needed. At all. For two weeks, cash and one fee-fair card do it.

• Change $1,000–2,000 in cash at a bank counter (Vietcombank, BIDV) or a licensed exchange point.
• A Wise or Revolut card works in POS terminals at big malls — Vincom, AEON, Lotte Mart — at 4–5★ chain hotels and often at mid-range cafes.
• MoMo registers with a passport and SIM — QR payment at 90% of street cafes.

Bank cost: zero. FX cost: about 0.5% of the amount.

Three-month stayer (90-day e-visa)

Here it gets fiddly. An account is desirable — running to exchange counters every time is tiring, and cards don't work everywhere.

A realistic plan:

1. Arrive, settle in, rent an apartment with a lease in your name.
2. Buy a Viettel SIM at the operator's office (not a stall), tied to your passport.
3. In the second week, try to open an account at TPBank or MB Bank at a central branch (Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Hanoi). No deposit bigger than 100,000 VND, no illusions.
4. Refused? Try ACB or Sacombank the next day at another branch.
5. Refused everywhere? Fall back to "MoMo + travel card + cash."

Budget for banking over three months is about 20,000–30,000 VND (~$1) if you got the account. Without one, you lose 1–3% on USD exchange and card FX.

Relocator, 1 year+ (no TRC yet)

If you don't have an LD2 visa yet but the plan is long term, you need a hybrid setup.

Months 1–2:

• 90-day e-visa, or convert to a Vietnamese visa through an employer.
• In parallel, look for an employer or register a company.
• Open a TPBank/MB Bank account as a temporary base.

Months 3–4:

• Get the Work Permit: gathering documents through a lawyer or HR takes weeks, and the review itself is 10 business days under Decree 219/2025.
• LD2 visa (at the border or a consulate in Cambodia).
• Apply for the TRC — five business days of processing.

Months 5+:

• With the TRC, open a full account at Vietcombank/BIDV.
• Route your main cash flow there.
• Keep the old "temporary" TPBank account as a backup, or close it.

Total setup cost over the year: the Work Permit fee + $145–165 (TRC) + $25–50 (e-visa) + $1,500–3,000 (lawyer, if you set up a company and a DT visa). See our Vietnam residence permit guide for the visa side.

Relocator with a TRC

The easiest scenario. With a TRC, every bank's door is open. The strategy is a reserve account and an operating one.

• Main: Vietcombank (salary, incoming transfers from abroad, employer payments). Big network, reliable, a branch in every district.
• Operating: TPBank or MB Bank (everyday app payments, QR, paying friends).
• Savings: Techcombank or Sacombank — fixed VND deposits of 6–12 months at 4.5–6.5% a year as of mid-2026.

The downside of holding VND: the exchange rate to the dollar swings, and interest doesn't always cover it. For large sums it can make sense to hold a USD account at Techcombank or BIDV — but domestic payments inside Vietnam are VND only.

Tax basics for foreigners

A YMYL topic, so keep it concrete. This is not legal advice — talk to a tax adviser before acting.

Reporting a foreign account back home

Many countries require residents to declare foreign bank accounts — the US via FBAR/FATCA, the EU and UK via various reporting regimes. Vietnam is not in the CRS automatic-exchange network as of 2026 (OECD, September 2026), so information is not shared automatically — which puts the reporting burden squarely on you. Check your own country's rules; penalties for non-disclosure can be steep.

Income tax in Vietnam

Hold a TRC or spend 183+ days here in a calendar year and you become a Vietnamese tax resident, which means Personal Income Tax on your worldwide income. That is a whole topic on its own — rates, the 183-day test, social contributions and which treaty saves you from paying twice — so we keep it in a dedicated guide rather than half-cover it here: freelancer taxes in Vietnam.

What to change if you stay long term

If your horizon is not "a winter here" but a year, two, or five, the strategy changes. The move is to stop chasing lottery-bank accounts and get a TRC, which turns every bank's door from "no" to "yes."

Get a TRC first

Three routes get you there. Work: an LD2 visa off a Vietnamese employer (IT firms and English schools in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang often hire remote-leaning roles) plus a Work Permit gives you a 2-year card. Investment: a DT3 visa or higher, which takes at least 3 billion VND (about $115,000) invested in a local company, gets you the card and the right to work for yourself. A smaller stake means a one-year DT4 visa with no TRC. Marriage: a TT visa off a Vietnamese spouse, up to 3 years, the cheapest of the three. The paperwork, exact documents and fees for each route live in our Vietnam residence permit guide — this article picks up where that one leaves off, at the bank counter.

With a TRC — open at Vietcombank/BIDV

Now for the setup. The combo that works: a main account at Vietcombank for incoming payments and salary, a backup at TPBank or MB Bank for everyday spending through the app, and — if you are parking cash — a fixed VND savings deposit at 4–6% a year (as of mid-2026) at Techcombank or Sacombank.

FAQ