Currency to take to Vietnam

[Kenny202]

Off to Vietnam in a few weeks and wondering if I should take Thai baht with me? I would normally just draw money out from my Australian bank via an ATM in Saigon but I'm guessing it would be a crap exchange rate

[KittenKong]

USD!

[AJBangkok]

You will get better exchange rates for usd and you can use USD to pay for stuff pretty much anywhere in the south.

[martin81]

You can buy and sell VND at Super Rich exchange in Bangkok at a good rate. But there is also exchange at Saigon airport for most currencies including Thai baht.

But also USD is used for many transactions. Especially hotels seems to prefer USD over VND.

Anyway Commonwealth Bank ATMs has free withdrawals in Vietnam. Most other ATMs will charge a fee in Vietnam.

[Kenny202]

I have a commonwealth account but I bet their exchange rate is rubbish. Their is a Comm ATM at HCMC airport

[DogNo1]

Be very careful if you exchange money in HCMC. There are rip-off booths that will siphon off VND from the exchange rate. It's best to take USD and use them. VND can be a little confusing and you can mix up a 10,000 piastre note with a 100,000 piastre note. I did.

[samjaidee]

Do not use US$ to pay for things in Vietnam, you won't get a good deal.. Change whatever currency you have into Dong. I've lived there for a decade. I know what I'm talking about.

[pauleddy]

I was there 3 weeks ago. The hotel took my Credit Card as dollars total (I'm from UK).

I was told by old hands to "strictly take dollars" although the ATMs at the airport were fine with my normal cards. The bureau de C at the airport was fine about changing baht or dollars. I was getting a standard rate from ATMs with a UK bank card. Personally, I think one could survive with no dollars there, although a lot of lip service is paid to the dollar. I met one Indian guy who wanted to get my dollars for Dong, but he was a bit shifty.

I had bought 300 dollars at the SCB bank in BKK, so with the poor rates now, I'm not sure if I won on the roundabouts or the swings. The biggest headache was the high value of the VietDong in terms of zeros. A bowl of soup can cost 16,000 dong. Some days I had 2 million dong in my pocket, but that's less than 100 pounds (I think!). I came away more confused than when I arrived. The normal 7-11s and supermarkets display prices in Dong. What is the big fuss about taking a bagful of dollars, especially if you buy them at dismal rates in Silom.

Eddy

[stoli]

As stated by most, the USD is excepted everywhere. With the exchange rate at, as I remember, 21,700 dong to the dollar, the vendors will exchange it at 20,000. You can get a little better changing it at a bank in Vietnam, maybe 20,500. I also found many street vendors that will take the baht. To the Vietnamese, exchanging money is just selling another product. I don't blame them for making money on the exchange, we would all do that. It is a business. Have fun. You will love Vietnam.

[Kenny202]

I think I'll just draw out doing from my Australian commonwealth account there at the ATM. Well lose a bit on the exchange rate but won't be spending that much. Already paid for accommodation on line

[Kenny202]

As stated by most, the USD is excepted everywhere. With the exchange rate at, as I remember, 21,700 dong to the dollar, the vendors will exchange it at 20,000. You can get a little better changing it at a bank in Vietnam, maybe 20,500. I also found many street vendors that will take the baht. To the Vietnamese, exchanging money is just selling another product. I don't blame them for making money on the exchange, we would all do that. It is a business. Have fun. You will love Vietnam.

Been there many times although when I was living in Australia. Fell in love with the place and the people moment I got off the plane and have many friends there. I'm living in Thailand now and taking the missus so I'm wondering how it will be for me this time. There won't be any awesome nights at the Apo that's for sure :-(

[shaurene]

I have been many times and I take some Of my New Zealand dollars and US$. US$ are the number 1 there. I never use my credit card to get money rates are lousy and high charges.

[canman]

USD and exchange at gold shops for best rate.

[Kalserud]

Be very careful if you exchange money in HCMC. There are rip-off booths that will siphon off VND from the exchange rate. It's best to take USD and use them. VND can be a little confusing and you can mix up a 10,000 piastre note with a 100,000 piastre note. I did.

10 000 VND = 16 Bath

100 000 VND = 160 Bath

[canman]

Be very careful if you exchange money in HCMC. There are rip-off booths that will siphon off VND from the exchange rate. It's best to take USD and use them. VND can be a little confusing and you can mix up a 10,000 piastre note with a 100,000 piastre note. I did.

Something to watch for the 10K and 100K do have a similar color and can be difficult to tell apart, especially in a dark bar after a few.

[CrummyJuggler]

Hotels give prices in USD. Everything else is in Dong. Acquire only enough Dong that you will spend, try to leave with none. It is not easy to change back on your way out.

[jagfx]

One thing I'll add about US dollars after having visited there recently, just make sure they are crisp clean undamaged US notes. Do not even fold them. Every time I handed over a US note, there was a thorough inspection by the receiver on every note. Some were rejected by them due to slight damage only, that would normally be accepted anywhere in the US or other countries. But then they give you change in Dong that looks like it has been in circulation since before the Vietnam War. Just something to be aware of. I went from Thailand to Vietnam, just some USD and my ATM card. There are a few Aussie bank ATMs scattered around HCMC,so that suited me just fine. As other posters have warned, be careful when using Dong due to the number of zeros and similar colours on a few notes, especially after consuming a few bevvies...

[Cats4ever]

Ex Im bank does not charge ATM fees. Not too many branches though.

[ba ba]

ask aussie expats what bank atm to use and use your debit card not a c-card after 11 years in asia i have found a debit card from IMB is the best, you can open an account on line. Also diffrent banks diffrents limit same as in thailand i think a blue color atm i forget the name been about four years and we were geting a better rate than the yank dollar

[steven100]

Just take a couple of hundred USD and get your 100,000,000,000,000 Vietnam dong. And a wheelbarrow to carry it.

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

Do not use US$ to pay for things in Vietnam, you won't get a good deal.. Change whatever currency you have into Dong. I've lived there for a decade. I know what I'm talking about.

^^^This. US dollars are not accepted everywhere and you leave yourself open to a (guaranteed) ripoff. Example: A bottle of 500 ml water is 4500 dong. If you give $1, you will likely only get 15,000 dong back (if you buy from a non-chain mart and are lucky). The rate -- now at 22,000 -- should give you more change. A riverside kiosk one time asked for 50,000 dong for the same bottle of water. I couldn't help but laugh and walked away to a minimart.

If your visitor's experience is that they are accepted everywhere, then you probably didn't leave District 1 in HCMC. I lived there too. You want to take out dong from the ATM because ALL displayed prices are in dong, rarely are they also displayed in US$. The pain is that you can only take out 2,000,000 dong at a time, about $95US at most ATMs. At one time Sacombank let me take out 4 million, but they don't anymore. Try Agri-Bank ATMs, I remember getting more than 2 mil out, but that particular case was 2 years ago.

The other option is to buy AmEx cheques. Warning: your signature at the bank has to be exactly duplicated or they'll make you do it until you get it right before they give you the cash.

[thaigold]

USD or Super Rich / Your pick. Also, be aware of all your electronic transfers between Thailand and offshore accounts. You need to be especially aware of the postings to your offshore funds. I got double (ATM) dipped twice in the last 6-months and would have lost 60,000 baht, had I not caught it.

[Jonmarleesco]

Thai Baht? Why not VND? That is the legal currency, anyway, and these days, the only currency that most outlets will take. And you can now obtain VND at Don Muang; albeit not from all exchanges. If I recall correctly, I changed at Kiatnakin.

[Jonmarleesco]

Hotels give prices in USD. Everything else is in Dong. Acquire only enough Dong that you will spend, try to leave with none. It is not easy to change back on your way out.

Perhaps. But they charge in dong.

[tigermoth]

There is only one currency to take, $US. It's universal. I lived there for 6 years.

[Jonmarleesco]

As stated by most, the USD is excepted everywhere. With the exchange rate at, as I remember, 21,700 dong to the dollar, the vendors will exchange it at 20,000. You can get a little better changing it at a bank in Vietnam, maybe 20,500. I also found many street vendors that will take the baht. To the Vietnamese, exchanging money is just selling another product. I don't blame them for making money on the exchange, we would all do that. It is a business. Have fun. You will love Vietnam.

'As stated by most, the USD is excepted everywhere.' Excepted as opposed to accepted. Because accepted everywhere it is not. It was at one time, but as I pointed out in my earlier post, these days, many, if not most outlets, insist on VND.

[jomcondo]

all this talk of US dollars accepted everywhere is like something from 1972.

they are ok as a safety net but most retailers will turn their nose up at them.

[Jiggo]

Came back the other month....used USD, UK Debit Card and exchanged Thai Baht....no problem with any...downloaded the XE currency app on phone to check rates, and where good...

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

^^^I would add that if the shop is eager to take your US dollars, you are about to be drycleaned because the shop gets a cut from you and a good rate from the gold shop. They win both ways. Lucky if you get 15-18K to the buck if they think you're really stupid. If you use dong, all you have to do is read the price tag and fork over the dong. But if the clerk gets out the calculator, it might as well be a clothes hanger because you are about to be hung out to dry.

[sandyf]

Nothing stays the same.

HA NOI (VNS)— The State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) has issued regulations on restricting the use of foreign currency in the country.

Under Circular 32/2013/TT-NHNN, in the territory of Viet Nam, except for cases allowed, all transactions, payments, quotations, advertisements, pricing, prices in contracts, agreements and similar forms (including conversion or adjustment of prices of goods and services, the value of contracts and agreements) of residents and non-residents will not be allowed to be conducted using foreign currency.

Currently, Circular 16 also specifies those cases in which foreign currency exchanges are allowed in Viet Nam and in which banks, non-bank credit institutions and branches of foreign banks licensed to do business and provide foreign exchange services are allowed to perform transactions, payments, quotations, advertisements, pricing, prices in contracts, agreements in foreign exchange within the scope of business and foreign exchange services permitted by the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) in accordance with the law.

Other cases that allow foreign exchange transactions will be considered and approved by the SBV Governor based upon actual situations and the necessities arising with each case.

The Circular will take effect on February 10, 2014.