Money in Vietnam 2026: complete practical guide for tourists (which currency to bring, where to exchange, and how much to take)

Exchange rate in Vietnam today: how much is the dong in rubles and dollars

The Vietnamese dong exchange rate is quite stable and hasn't changed sharply for about five years. To quickly convert dong to rubles, multiply thousands of dong by roughly 3. For example, 100,000 dong to rubles: 100,000 dong * 3 = 300 rubles.

And here's today's rate to the ruble, euro, and dollar. If the current date is displayed incorrectly in your browser, refresh the page with Ctrl+F5.

Market exchange rate (Vietnamese dong) for today (23/08/2026)

• 100 000 донг (VND) = 316,49 rubles (RUB)
• 1 US dollar (USD) = 26 123,30 VND
• 100 rubles (RUB) = 31 596,70 VND
• 1 euro (EUR) = 30 510,70 VND

Real currency exchange rate *

• 1 US dollar (USD) ≈ 25 600,83 - 26 071,05 VND
• 1 euro (EUR) ≈ 29 900,49 - 30 449,68 VND

* - The real exchange rate is calculated taking into account the fees charged by exchange offices and banks for the exchange. It can also be higher than the calculated one, but if you are offered an exchange rate lower than this, it's a reason to think about finding another place to exchange.

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Name, denominations, and design of Vietnamese money (dong)

The national currency of Vietnam is the dong. The dong is denoted as VND, D, or the official symbol – ₫. It's one of the lowest denomination currencies in the world, so all prices and calculations are in thousands of dong. Sometimes you can see prices in hundreds of dong on items in supermarkets, for example, a can of beer might cost 9,800 dong, but at the checkout when paying cash, they'll still ask for 10,000 dong, and either won't give change or will give you candy.

Vietnamese cash comes in bills and coins. Coins are almost never used, and if you get one, consider yourself lucky. Banknotes in circulation are in denominations of 500,000, 200,000, 100,000, 50,000, 20,000, 10,000, 5,000, 2,000, 1,000, and 500 dong. Large bills (from 10,000) are made of plastic, which significantly extends their lifespan: they are waterproof, tear-resistant, and barely wrinkle.

Officially, all transactions in Vietnam are conducted only in the national currency. But in practice, sometimes prices for hotels, tours, and tourist transport are quoted in dollars, although at payment they are converted and accepted in dong. Only rarely can you pay directly in dollars, and euros are accepted without much enthusiasm. Sometimes, mainly at markets, you can pay in a mix: dollars and dong, or pay in dollars and ask for change in dong (which is sometimes convenient and profitable).

How much currency can you bring in/take out of Vietnam, are there any restrictions

There are no restrictions on bringing in or taking out cash currency. The only thing you need to do is declare upon entry or exit any foreign currency equivalent to over 5,000 USD per person, as well as national currency over 15,000,000 dong per person. Declaring itself has no consequences or additional costs – it's a simple formality. If you have less than the specified amount, you don't need to declare anything. But if you don't declare money and get caught in a customs inspection, the consequences can be serious, including fines and confiscation.

Amounts in bank accounts and on cards are not counted and have no restrictions.

Which currency to take to Vietnam: dollar, euro, or yuan? 2026 comparison

Buying Vietnamese dong in Russia is currently almost impossible (or nearly). As far as we know, dong are sold for rubles in some Far Eastern banks, but we calculated the rate and it turned out to be less profitable compared to exchanging via dollars or euros. So you need to bring one of the world currencies: US dollars, euros, or yuan.

The preferred currency for bringing and exchanging in Vietnam is the US dollar. The euro rate may be slightly less favorable, although there will be no problems exchanging it – it's accepted everywhere. Chinese yuan can be exchanged at a fairly acceptable rate, but for now yuan isn't very common here, so you might have to search for an exchange office or bank. If you already have yuan on hand, don't exchange them for dollars or euros at home – you'll lose more on that exchange, it's better to bring yuan directly.

As you can see, the most profitable option is cash old-style dollars or new ones if you can buy them at the same rate as old ones in Russian banks (which is almost impossible). The worst is cash rubles – you lose almost 7% compared to dollars.

Do they accept old dollars in Vietnam and what's the rate?

There are no big problems with exchanging old-style dollars (without the blue security strip) in Vietnam. Banks, exchange offices, jewelry shops, and travel agencies accept them. The rate is 300-500 dong lower per dollar depending on the place, about 1.2-2% lower than for new bills. If they're willing to accept both at the same rate, it's likely that the rate there is already lowered for new bills as well.

But it's very important that the bills are in perfect condition: no creases, wear, or marks. Even if you fold such a bill in half just once and it gets a crease, they might refuse to accept it or accept it at an even lower rate.

Exchanging rubles in Vietnam: where and at what rate (our calculations)

Yes, exchanging rubles in Vietnam is possible, though far from everywhere and not at a good rate. At least at the moment, the objective situation is exactly like this, even though some bloggers and travelers in chats sometimes claim otherwise.

You can indeed find opinions online that direct ruble exchange in Vietnam is more profitable because only one conversion happens, not two as through dollars. But in reality, a simple calculation shows that the loss from direct exchange at one moment in time is greater than through dollars. This is all logical and explained by the fact that the spread (difference between buy and sell rates) for rubles is much higher than when exchanging rubles for dollars and dollars for dong. For example, you exchange rubles for dong and immediately lose about 20% in commission (spread), which is ultimately higher than the sum of spreads from two exchanges through dollars.

From our practice and precise calculations, we know that the loss from direct ruble exchange compared to exchange through dollars is 4-5%. This isn't actually that much if you're exchanging a small amount within 10,000 rubles. But if you have a long trip and need a lot of cash dollars, then it's already significant losses.

Now about where you can exchange rubles. In banks and airports, rubles are almost never exchanged. Even if you see a ruble exchange rate on the board at the airport or bank, it's far from certain that you can actually exchange them. At least we haven't been able to do it for experimental purposes. Real ruble exchange we've only encountered at street exchange points and in "tourist service centers" (actually just Russian-speaking travel agencies) at resorts popular with Russians in Nha Trang and Phan Thiet/Mui Ne, nowhere else. We won't reveal specific places to avoid advertising them, but you can easily find their coordinates through search engines, or ask other tourists or guides at your resort.

Another option is exchanging non-cash rubles for dong through shadow schemes (cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, etc.). The scheme is: a courier or "money changer" comes, you transfer rubles to a Russian bank account, and receive cash dong. You can find such exchanges on Telegram or through other tourists, but be very careful, otherwise you might fall for the classic "triangle" scam. The "triangle" is when you transfer money to the courier's account, but he says the money didn't reach him and you sent it to someone else by mistake, then leaves without giving you cash.

Where to exchange money in Vietnam profitably: overview of 5 options

You can exchange currency in Vietnam at exchange offices, banks, jewelry stores, travel agencies, airports, and even hotels. The most profitable are private exchange offices and jewelry shops, banks and airports have slightly worse rates, and hotels, travel agencies, and hotel guides may have the worst rates.

Watch our video about where it's most profitable to exchange currency in Vietnam with real numbers, and below we'll explain each option in detail:

• Exchange at jewelry stores: rate above the official one (our choice)

  Vietnam is one of the few countries where a unique cash currency exchange market has developed, where you can exchange cash dollars or euros at a rate higher than the official exchange rate. And such exchange is primarily available at jewelry workshops and jewelry stores, which sometimes don't even have a "Money Exchange" sign. For example, from our experience, on one day with the official rate at 25,300 dong per dollar (about this rate or slightly lower you'll find at exchange offices even in tourist areas), the rate at jewelry shops was 25,600 dong. This means that the difference when exchanging $100 would be 30,000 dong, about 1.2% of the exchange amount, and that's only from the official rate. And compared to rates at banks or travel agencies, the difference is even bigger. So if you need to exchange money profitably and aren't afraid of minor complications and the possibility of being cheated, head straight to jewelry shops.

  We personally always exchange money exclusively at jewelry shops and have never encountered fraud – the rate is almost always excellent. They usually don't have boards or papers with rate information. To find out the current rate, go into the jewelry shop and ask if they exchange currency (if you can't say it, just show a dollar bill and say "Exchange"). They'll show you the exchange rate, and you just need to decide whether to exchange and count the money you receive very carefully. It's better to visit several places to find the most favorable rate or negotiate and offer your own rate.

  Here are resort-specific locations where you can find the most profitable jewelry exchange offices:

  • Mui Ne – two jewelry shops at the local market in Mui Ne village.
  • Ho Chi Minh City – many jewelry shops in tourist district 1 where Pham Ngu Lao tourist street and Ben Thanh Market are located. We've been exchanging at Kim Mai Jewelry Shop for many years now.
  • Nha Trang – jewelry shops near the main Cho Dam market, especially great rates at Kim Vinh shop.
  • Hanoi – many jewelry shops in the tourist area on Hang Bac and Ha Trung streets (this street is west of the lake).

  For other resorts and other exchange locations, read our destination guides.

• At airports

  At the main international airports in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, unlike airports in other countries, the exchange rate isn't predatory, so you can safely exchange 50-100 dollars upon arrival for initial expenses, and then find a better rate in the city. For example, we compared the rate at Hanoi airport with exchange in the city – it was about 1.2-1.5% lower.

• At banks

  Banks offer less favorable rates than street exchange offices and jewelry shops, about 2-4% worse. Moreover, some banks even refuse to accept old-style dollars (from personal experience). But if you're concerned about safety, you can exchange at banks. Almost all bank branches exchange currency, but it's worth visiting several to find the best rate.

  Banks are usually open weekdays from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM, on Saturdays only in the morning from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM, and closed on Sundays and holidays. Many banks also have a lunch break from 12 to 1 PM.

• Travel agencies and hotels

  Travel agencies and hotels offer the worst exchange rates. They generally don't deal with exchange on a large scale, so it's not guaranteed that your hotel reception will offer exchange. We recommend relying on this option only as a last resort.

• Caution: exchanging via Telegram and the "triangle" scheme

  This exchange method has become increasingly popular in recent years due to its convenience, as you can exchange non-cash rubles, cash dollars, euros, or cryptocurrency for dong directly through money changers. You can find such changers through recommendations in themed chats or simply by searching on Telegram or the web with queries like "exchange rubles in Nha Trang" etc. However, there are nuances – read carefully:

  The exchange scheme is: you contact a money changer and agree on the exchange, a courier comes to you with cash, you transfer rubles to a Russian bank account, cryptocurrency to a wallet, or hand over cash dollars/euros, and after verification, you receive cash dong. There's also a remote exchange option where you go to an ATM and following instructions, transfer money and then receive cash dong from the ATM.

  But we have serious doubts about such exchanges and won't recommend them to you. First, there's a high chance of fraud, especially for exchanges via ATM without a courier. But even with a courier, you can fall for the old "triangle" scam. Second, we've studied the topic of Telegram exchanges many times, calculated the offered rates, and even tried to make such exchanges – the rate was always significantly lower than at jewelry shops. Even cash dollars are exchanged at rates up to 5% lower than jewelry shops, and exchanging non-cash rubles results in huge losses compared to buying cash dollars for rubles and exchanging those for dong.

  Therefore, we recommend using Telegram money changers only in the most extreme cases when you're in Vietnam without any other way to get cash.

How to find the best exchange rate in Vietnam

We've been following a simple algorithm for years: we check the current exchange rate at an exchange office, and if it's higher than the official rate, we exchange; otherwise, we look for another place.

You can easily check the current official rate above on this page (you can bookmark this page for convenience), on search engines like Google or Yandex with queries like "dollar dong exchange rate," or install a currency converter app.

Bank cards in Vietnam – can you use them and which ones work

Using plastic cards in Vietnam is quite common. You can pay with them at almost all shopping malls, restaurants, hotels, and travel agencies. ATMs in large cities and tourist areas are found on almost every corner.

However, if you delve into the details, using a plastic card, and especially withdrawing cash, is not the most profitable alternative to bringing cash dollars or euros. The fact is that Vietnamese ATMs, in addition to your bank's fee, will charge their own fee, on average about 50,000 dong per transaction (roughly 1.91 USD), while the maximum withdrawal amount may be limited (e.g., 2,000,000 dong, about 100 dollars), the conversion will be at the official rate, plus from a ruble card (if it's UnionPay) there will be double conversion, and all this together will give a not very profitable result. So try to find an ATM that dispenses larger amounts at once and charges a smaller fee. Fortunately, there are plenty of ATMs from different banks with different conditions.

As for paying by card only for purchases, there are also certain pitfalls:

• Vietnam is considered by banks to be a high-risk country for card use, so your card may be blocked by your own bank's security service.
• They may charge a 3-5% fee on top of the paid amount without even warning you. This happens when paying by card at hotels, travel agencies, and small private stores, where the owner can do whatever they want. At large shopping malls and supermarkets, we haven't observed such problems.
• Russian bank cards may stop working at any moment due to the current political situation.

And now, about the current reality of bank cards for Russian tourists:

• Foreign bank cards

  If you have a foreign bank card, including from Kazakhstan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, etc., you can safely use this card in Vietnam for payments in stores and ATM withdrawals, taking into account the restrictions and fees we mentioned above. Plus, don't forget about the fees you'll spend on transfers from rubles to the foreign bank and on conversion.

• MIR cards

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

  Unfortunately, for widespread payment for purchases, the MIR card won't work, since it's rarely accepted for payment. There's a list of store addresses on the VRB bank website where they work, posted here as a PDF file. This list includes store names and addresses, but there's no geographic map with their locations.

  You can only withdraw cash from MIR cards at VRB ATMs, and there aren't many of them – they're only in large cities. Their addresses are in the same 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 VRB ATM VIETNAM, just look carefully, as the map mistakenly highlights some other ATMs as well. The conditions are as follows*:

  • At VRB you can withdraw up to 2,000,000 or 5,000,000 dong per transaction (roughly 76.56-191 USD), with no fee from VRB for two transactions per day.
  • Your Russian bank will also charge a fee for withdrawing at a foreign bank abroad – you need to check the rates for your specific card. The fee may not be charged if you have a subscription, premium options, or special bank plans, or just a bank promotion. Again, you need to check this with the Russian bank that issued the card.
  • The charge is at the official Central Bank of Russia rate + a commission of up to 4.9%*.

  * These rates and conversion conditions may change – you can only check them with your bank's support and VRB, so "surprises" when paying and withdrawing are quite possible. You can follow news about MIR cards at VRB bank here.

  

  We tested withdrawing cash from a VRB bank ATM several times and did the math – honestly, the result was mediocre. And that's considering that the withdrawal had no fee from T-Bank (the Russian bank), while other banks charge their own fee on top of that, making cash withdrawals even less profitable. Here's the calculation:

  • Withdrawal of 1,000,000 dong – debited 3,356 rubles.
  • If you exchanged the same 3,356 rubles at the same moment via cash dollars, you would get 1,084,000 dong – 8.4% more than from the ATM.

  On one hand, 8.4% doesn't seem like much, and for short trips with small cash expenses, that's fine. But if you have a long trip and need a lot of cash, then with every 10,000 rubles you lose 840 rubles in ATM fees, from 50,000 rubles the loss is already 4,200 rubles, and from 100,000 – 8,400 rubles. But the decision is yours, of course.

  We use MIR cards from T-Bank (formerly Tinkoff). This is the only bank that doesn't charge a fee for cash withdrawals at ATMs in Vietnam. At least we haven't found any other such banks, but if you know of any, share in the comments. From a T-Bank card, you can withdraw up to 100,000 rubles per month completely free, after that there's a fee of only 90 rubles per withdrawal. Of course, this only applies to debit cards – credit cards aren't suitable for cash withdrawals. You can get a T-Bank card through these links and get additional bonuses:

• UnionPay cards from Russian banks

  Among large Russian banks, only one working UnionPay option remains – RSHB (Rosselkhozbank). There's also ATB, but it's not widely represented in the regions. All other UnionPay cards issued earlier, including Gazprombank, Russkiy Standart, and Tinkoff, no longer work. However, unlike MIR, UnionPay is accepted much more easily and almost everywhere.

  If you have a card in rubles, each transaction will involve two conversions to convert the rate from dong to yuan, then from yuan to rubles, resulting in higher losses. Therefore, it's more profitable to open a card in yuan and top it up at the bank's internal rate, or even open a brokerage account and buy yuan there with minimal commission and withdraw to the card. We did the math and found that a yuan card is about 2% more profitable than a ruble card when paying for purchases.

  However, don't forget about the fees from the Russian bank for withdrawing cash from other banks' ATMs. You can only find this information in the detailed tariff description for your specific card, and you also need to consider any connected options.

  Attention! It's important to understand that even for the same card, different clients may have different rates and conditions, so you shouldn't rely on the experience of other travelers shared in blogs and chats. In other words, if someone writes that they withdraw money from an RSHB card without fees, it doesn't mean you'll have the same. And of course, don't believe advertising promises of "fee-free withdrawals," as there are always conditions written in "fine print."

  For example, currently (2026) for the most popular "Svoi karta" plan at RSHB, the fee at other banks' ATMs won't be charged only if you had card expenses over 30,000 rubles in the previous month. Otherwise, the fee will be 4% of the amount and no less than 70 Chinese yuan for yuan cards, and 1.5% and no less than 250 for ruble cards. So study the rates for your specific card and before each trip, as they can also be changed by banks unilaterally without personal notification.

  Our practice of using a ruble RSHB card and precise calculations showed that it loses to cash exchange. Losses compared to exchanging through cash dollars at one moment ranged from 4% to 6% when paying by card in stores. And if you withdraw cash from it, then on top of these losses, you'll also add considerable fees for withdrawals at other banks' ATMs and the Vietnamese ATM fee. So we advise using such cards only as a backup option during travel, and if possible, bring cash dollars or euros.

  A yuan-denominated card performs much better for payments. If you top it up in the bank's app or from a brokerage account within the bank right before the purchase, the loss compared to cash is only 2-4%. True, yuan cards have higher cash withdrawal fees, so it loses to ruble cards in that regard.

  Here's a comparison of UnionPay cards as of 2026:

  UnionPay card rates and fees from Russian banks

  Bank and plan	Card issuance	Card maintenance	Cash withdrawal fee	Terminal payment fee	Link to all terms
  Rosselkhozbank / Svoi karta plus	First ruble card free, 380 yuan, 55 dollars, and 45 euros for currency cards respectively	Free	4% of amount (min 70 yuan) for yuan cards, 1.5% of amount (min 250 USD) for ruble cards. Free if previous month's turnover exceeds 30,000 rubles	No fee	All terms here
  Gazprombank / Universal (no longer works)	5000 rubles, refundable upon meeting conditions	Free	450 rubles per transaction	No fee	All terms here

See More about ATMs and using plastic cards in Vietnam.

Payment by QR code via Russian apps

VTB, MTS, and Sber have launched QR code payment from Russian apps. Payment is available at many large stores and supermarkets (Lotte, Co.opmart, Big C), but at small shops, markets, and cafes – probably not. So it's convenient for shopping, but not for everyday small expenses.

Of course, to make a QR payment, you need to have your bank's app installed and have internet access. For this, it's best to buy a local SIM card or an international eSIM, since international roaming from Russian operators is very expensive. We've detailed how to buy a SIM card in our guide: How to buy a SIM card in Vietnam. At some cafes or restaurants, you can connect to free Wi-Fi for payment, but that's rare for stores.

Is it profitable?

The conversion (at least for VTB – we haven't checked others) is at the official MIR payment system rate with no additional fees – all fees are already included in the rate difference. You can check the current rate on the MIR PS website.

We checked everything and calculated the profitability – it turns out that the loss from the official exchange rate is about 3.8%, and from real exchange through cash dollars or euros about 2-2.5%. So, for every 10,000 rubles, you lose 200-250 rubles when paying by QR transfer. This is quite acceptable for small payments during a short package tour, so we can safely recommend this option for payments as an alternative to cash or RSHB UnionPay cards. But if you have a long trip with large expenses, e.g., from $1000, cash currency is still more profitable, and in many cases the only way to pay (market purchases, transport rental, beach services, travel agencies, transport).

VAT refund in Vietnam

Since July 1, 2012, Vietnam has implemented a VAT (value-added tax) refund system for foreigners on goods purchased in the country. A similar tax refund system operates in Thailand, Singapore, and other popular tourist countries, designed to stimulate tourist demand for goods. The essence is that upon departure, you can get back part of the cost of goods purchased in the country in the amount of VAT included in the price.

For Vietnam, this amount is 10% of the product's value. An administrative fee of no more than 15% is deducted from the refundable amount. The VAT refund applies to each purchase with a receipt of 2,000,000 Vietnamese dong or more (roughly 76.56 USD). Another condition is that the tax refund must be claimed within 30 days of purchase.

The refund can be processed upon departure from the country (only when leaving the country, not on domestic flights) at Vietnam's international airports (see more about tax refund in Vietnam).

Tipping

There is no official tipping system in Vietnam and it's traditionally not practiced here, since not long ago communism was still being built here. All tourism workers, including porters, receive a salary (though very small) and don't count on or expect tips, though they would be very happy with a small monetary thank you from tourists.

Whether to tip or not depends entirely on your willingness. If you liked the service, you can leave a small amount. In a metered taxi, you can round up to thousands of dong (in fixed-price taxis, tips are out of the question). The same goes for change at a restaurant or cafe. For room cleaning or porter service, you can give 10-15 thousand dong (roughly 0.38 USD).