Vietnam is still a cash bank society, especially with foreign bank cards. This means that small restaurants, petrol stations and homestays might not take card at all. Hence always have enough cash on you for any curcumstance is a good idea.
The banks in Vietnam often charge a fee for using the ATMs and have a very small limit on how much you can withdraw. Meaning it is hard and expensive to withdraw a large amount of cash. Exchanging money at home to VND is also not ideal as it is not a common currency so the exchange rates in other countries is not that favourable. So what is the solution?
ATMs Without Fees
There are 2 banks in Vietnam that don’t charge a withdraw fee, TP Bank and VP Bank.
TP Bank is only common in the largest cities but has a number of ATMs in these cities. They are all purple and a large room instead of an outside ATM or being inside a bank so they do stand out.
There is a limit of 5mil vnd ($200) per transaction and a limit of 3 transactions per day.
VP Bank are more common in the smaller cities, but you will still not see these in the countryside. They are a more tradition ATM outside of a bank.
The limit is 20mil vnd ($800) per transaction / per day. Your own bank might limit you to less than this.
In the countryside both of these options will not be available but you will still find Agribank but there will be a small fee and a small withdraw limit.
Exchanging Money in Vietnam
In most of the major cities it is easy to find a place to exchange money. On our route maps you will find some of the places that we recommend for this. You can see a link to these routes here.
Although you can exchange any currency you will get the best rates with USD, Euro, GBP and AUD. The rate you will get in Vietnam will be much better than outside of Vietnam. In the cities the gold shops are the places with the best rates and better than the airports. When leaving if you have just a little bit left then the airport is the easiest but for large amounts use the gold shops.
Hostels and tour operates often offer money exchanges but will give a worse rate and then exchange in the gold shops afterwards.
How Much Cash Do I Need in Vietnam?
The biggest variable for the cash you need in Vietnam will be where you eat and how much you drink.
If you are booking accomodation online then you can pay this on card so that this will not affect your cash.
Food can range from 30k ($1.20) per meal to 200k ($8) or more per meal. While drinks can be as cheap as 12k ($0,50) – 30k ($1.20) per beer but having 10 beers and not drinking will change your daily budget alot.
When going by bike the petrol in Vietnam is quite cheap at about 20k – 25k ($0.80 – $1) per litre, the price fluctuates alot. A normal days ride would be 150km – 200km or about 4 – 5 litres pf petrol on a 110cc – 150cc bike. Realistically you will ride about 70% – 80% of the days you have a bike on a large trip so a rough calculation would be about $3.50 – $5 per day.
Tourist attractions have a huge range of prices and these vary alot so it is best to check these individually for the prices.
How Safe is it to Carry Money in Vietnam?
Vietnam is very safe and you can expect to never feel in danger or unsafe anywhere you go. The only risk would be of pickpockets which common late night in the centre of Hanoi or HCMC where they target drunk tourists. At these time you shouldn’t be carry large amount of money with you anyway.
Hostels and hotels will have safes for you to keep your important belonging so that you are not carrying these around and using these would be recommended.
In the countryside a safe will be uncommon but the risk of theft is very low and you can leave your belonging in your bag. If you have a private room then you can obviously lock the room and don’t have to worry about this. If you are in a dorm room then other backpackers would be more of a worry than any of the locals or staff.