ATMs and Bank Cards in Vietnam

The use of plastic cards in Vietnam is quite common: you can easily pay with a bank card in stores, hotels, travel agencies, or withdraw money from ATMs. However, after the departure of international payment systems from Russia and the introduction of an endless number of sanctions against the country, significant difficulties have arisen with their use. We will tell you in detail about all the features of using plastic cards in Vietnam, which Russian cards continue to work, where to withdraw money, what commissions are charged, and other issues:

Safety Issues

In advance before the trip, it is necessary to ensure that your bank's security system does not block your card after one or two transactions. For this, in some banks you can call the support phone number indicated on the card in advance, or contact the chat in the online bank and inform them about the travel countries and period. The bank's security service will put a corresponding mark, and your card will not be blocked. However, some banks do not accept such requests. In that case, you need to take the bank's phone numbers and data with you on the trip to be able to unblock the card: voice or digital access codes, passport data.

In general, if you take standard precautions when handling the card, no problems arise. Ideally, connect SMS notifications or notifications in the mobile bank about transactions to your phone, and monitor every message, as according to tourist reviews, there have been cases of double charges for purchases, use of your card number and the code on its back for online purchases. Receiving SMS on a phone with a Russian SIM card even in roaming will be free, but to receive notifications from the bank application, you will need to connect mobile internet via roaming options of your Russian operator or buy a local SIM card.

Features of Paying by Card in Vietnam

You can pay for goods and services by card everywhere in Vietnam, almost the same as here. Cards are not accepted for payment perhaps only in remote villages, and difficulties may also arise with payment in small hotels, guesthouses, and homestays. And of course, you cannot pay by card in private shops and markets; they only accept cash dong.

But before paying by card for services (accommodation in a hotel, excursion, tourist transport, entrance to an amusement park, etc.), it is better to clarify whether they will charge you a commission for payment. Unlike in the Russian Federation, where exactly the cost of the service is debited from the card, here they can easily add a percentage for transaction processing. This is how sellers here compensate themselves for commissions for accepting payments from the bank (acquiring). Usually it's 2-5%. On one hand, it seems like not much, but on the other hand, the larger the amount, the more commission you pay. Moreover, there may be a minimum commission, for example, $2. Fortunately, there are no commissions when paying in large stores and supermarkets like Go (Big-C), 7-eleven and the like.

Withdrawing Money from ATMs in Vietnam

ATMs in large cities and tourist areas are almost on every corner. The easiest way to find the nearest one is on Google Maps by searching for "ATM". You can only withdraw dong. We have not yet encountered any currency ATMs.

However, due to the difference between the official and real exchange rate, using a plastic card, and especially withdrawing cash, is currently not the best alternative to cash. Moreover, ATMs, in addition to your bank's commission, may charge their own commission, on average about 2% of the transaction or a minimum of 20,000 dong per transaction (varies depending on the bank that owns the ATM). When withdrawing, the ATM's commission amount is displayed on the screen without fail, but you can find out about the commission of your Russian or other bank only in the terms of your card agreement. The maximum cash withdrawal amount is usually limited to 2 or 3 million dong, which is approximately $150. The exchange rate conversion will occur at the official rate, and all this together will give a not very favorable result. Therefore, try to find an ATM that gives out larger amounts at once and charges a smaller commission.

Is It Profitable to Use a Bank Card in Vietnam

Regarding withdrawing money from ATMs, the question of profitability depends on the specific ATM in Vietnam and the conditions (commissions) of your bank that issued the card, and the currency on it. There is no universal recipe: you need to carefully study the tariffs of your card and try different ATMs. But in general, our experience shows that cash still wins, especially if your card is in rubles.

When paying by card in stores and hotels, the situation is also not in favor of plastic cards. The difference, although small, still gives the advantage to cash. Here is a specific example. A purchase of 400,000 dong was paid for with a Mastercard dollar card. At the time of purchase, the rates were as follows:

• Official rate – 23,296 (you can find the current official dong rate here)
• Rates at exchange offices – 23,350 and higher
• Actual card debit rate for the purchase – 22,714

As you can see, even with a dollar card, the exchange rate for the purchase turned out to be much lower than the official and real rates at exchange offices. When paying with a ruble card, the difference will be even higher due to double conversion. Also, don't forget that in Vietnam, small private stores and travel agencies may add a transaction processing commission of up to 5% to the purchase amount, which should be clarified in advance before purchase (see above).

Overall, it turns out that cash dollars or euros, which you bring here and exchange for local dong, remain a more profitable option in Vietnam than using a bank card, although also more risky.

What is the Current Situation with Russian Cards in Vietnam and Which Work

It's no secret that due to sanctions, the Visa and Mastercard payment systems have left Russia, and are unlikely to return in the near future. But fortunately, cards of the Russian payment system "Mir" and the Chinese "Union Pay", issued by Russian banks, work in Vietnam. More about everything:

• "Mir" Cards

  Cards of the Russian payment system work only in ATMs and payment terminals of VRB Bank (Vietnam-Russian Bank); all other banks in Vietnam do not accept them due to sanctions.

  

  Unfortunately, the Mir card is not suitable for widespread payment for purchases, as it is accepted in few places. There is a list with addresses of retail outlets on the VRB bank website where they work, it is posted here as a PDF file. This list contains store names and addresses, but there is no geographical map with the location of these stores.

  You can withdraw cash from Mir again only at VRB ATMs, and there are not many of them, they are only in large cities. Their addresses are again in the list via the link above (on the last page "List of MIR card accepting ATM nationwide"), but it's much easier to find them on Google Maps by searching for "VRB ATM VIETNAM", just look carefully, as the map "highlights" some other ATMs by mistake. Conditions are as follows*:

  • At VRB, you can withdraw up to 2,000,000 or 5,000,000 dong per transaction (approximately 75.95-190 USD), commission from VRB bank for two transactions per day is not charged.
  • Your Russian bank will also charge a commission for withdrawal at a third-party bank and abroad; its amount needs to be clarified in the card tariff. The commission may not be charged if you have a subscription, premium options or tariffs included in the bank, or simply due to a bank promotion. We repeat, all this needs to be clarified with the Russian bank that issued the card.
  • The debit occurs at the official Central Bank of Russia rate + commission up to 4.9%.

  * Unfortunately, these tariffs and conversion conditions may change; they can only be clarified with your bank's support and VRB bank, so "surprises" during payment and withdrawal are quite possible. You can follow the news about the Mir card at VRB bank here.

  

  We tested withdrawing cash from a VRB bank ATM several times and calculated everything, and honestly, the exchange rate result was so-so. This is even considering that the withdrawal was without commission from the Russian T-Bank, and other banks additionally charge their own commission on top of that, making cash withdrawal even less profitable. Here is the calculation:

  • Withdrawal of 1,000,000 dong – 3,356 rubles debited.
  • If exchanging these same 3,356 rubles at the same moment via cash dollars, you would have 1,084,000 dong in hand, i.e., 8.4% more than from the ATM.

  On one hand, 8.4% doesn't seem like a lot, and it really isn't for small amounts, which is suitable for a short vacation with small cash expenses. But if you have a long trip and need a lot of cash, it turns out that for every 10,000 rubles you lose 840 rubles on commissions through the ATM, with 50,000 rubles the loss is already 4,200 rubles, and with 100,000 - 8,400 rubles. But the decision, of course, is yours.

  We use "Mir" cards from T-Bank (formerly Tinkoff). This is the only bank that does not charge a commission for cash withdrawals at ATMs in Vietnam. At least, we haven't found other such banks, but if you know any, share in the comments. You can withdraw up to 100,000 rubles per month from a T-Bank card in Vietnam without any commission at all, then there will be a commission of only 90 rubles per withdrawal. Of course, this applies only to debit cards; credit cards are not very suitable for cash withdrawals. You can apply for a T-Bank card via these promotional links and get additional bonuses:

• Union Pay Cards from Russian Banks

  Among the major Russian banks, only one working option for Union Pay cards remains - RSHB (Rosselkhozbank). All other Union Pay cards issued earlier, including Gazprombank, Russian Standard, and Tinkoff, no longer work. But unlike Mir, Union Pay is accepted much more easily and almost everywhere.

  If your card is in rubles, then with each transaction, two conversions will occur to recalculate the rate from dong to yuan, and then from yuan to rubles, and accordingly, more losses. Therefore, it is more profitable to open a card in yuan currency, and top it up at the bank's internal rate or even open a brokerage account and buy yuan there with a minimal commission, and transfer to the card. We calculated everything, and it turned out that a yuan card is about 2% more profitable than a ruble card when paying for purchases.

  And don't forget about commissions from your Russian bank for cash withdrawals at third-party ATMs. This information can only be found in the detailed description of the tariff specifically for your card, and you also need to consider connected options.

  Attention! It's important to understand here that even for the same card, different bank clients may have different tariffs and conditions, so you should not rely on the experience of other travelers that they share in blogs and chats. In other words, if someone writes that they withdraw money from an RSHB card without commission, this does not mean at all that you will have exactly the same. And of course, you should not believe advertisements promising "withdrawal without commission," as there are always conditions written in the "fine print."

  For example, currently (2025) under the most popular tariff "Svoia Karta Plus" at RSHB, a commission at other banks' ATMs will not be charged only if you had card expenses last month of more than 30,000 rubles. In other cases, the commission will be 3% of the amount and not less than 17 Chinese yuan for cards in yuan, and 1% and not less than 199 for ruble cards. So study the tariffs specifically for your card and before each trip, as they can also be changed by banks unilaterally without personal notification.

  Here is a comparison of Union Pay cards as of 2026:

  Tariffs and Commissions for Union Pay Cards of Russian Banks

  Bank and Tariff	Card Issuance	Card Maintenance	Commission for Cash Withdrawal	Commission for Payment at Terminals	Link to All Conditions
  Rosselkhozbank / Svoia Karta Plus	Free	Free	3% of amount (minimum 17 yuan) for cards in yuan, 1% of amount (minimum 199 USD) for ruble cards. Free if turnover for the previous month was more than 30,000 rubles	No commission	All Conditions Here
  Gazprombank / Universal (no longer works)	5000 rubles, refundable if conditions are met	Free	450 rubles per transaction	No commission	All Conditions Here

  Our practice of using the ruble card from Rosselkhozbank and precise calculations on it showed that it is inferior to cash exchange. Losses compared to exchange via cash dollars at the same moment ranged from 4% to 6% when paying by card in stores. And if you withdraw cash from it, then to these losses, significant commissions for cash withdrawal at third-party ATMs and the commission of the Vietnamese ATM will be added. So we advise using such cards only as a backup option during travel, and if possible, bring cash dollars or euros with you.

  A card in yuan currency shows much better results for payments. If you top it up in the bank application or from a brokerage account within the bank immediately before purchase, then the losses compared to cash are only 2-4%. However, the yuan card has higher commissions for cash withdrawals, and here it loses to the ruble card.