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Find out ahead of time where you can exchange your money before you travel. You'll get better rates if you take the time to shop around.
Exchange rates, fees, convenience and reliability will vary, depending on where you change your money. The most common places to buy foreign currencies in Vietnam are:
You can exchange foreign currencies at many different locations, including shopping malls and gold and jewelry shops. However, not all of these locations are legal. Use a reputable money exchange shop to legally exchange foreign currency at a good price.
Banks are considered to be the safest places to exchange foreign currency. You'll be able to buy a wide range of foreign currencies without worrying that you'll be scammed.
HSBC's global network spans transaction offices in 64 countries and territories. This ensures timeliness and convenience if you need support related to banking services anywhere. Also, our 24/7 customer service hotline worldwide is ready to assist you when your card is lost or misplaced, or you're having issues with your security device.
Taking your cards with you means you won't have to rely on cash. There are some costs to be aware of when spending or withdrawing money while overseas:
In addition to banks, you can also consider a reputable shop that won't shortchange or cheat you with fake notes. However, smaller shops will often have fewer notes in stock, so you'll be charged a premium for exchanging your money. Don't be tempted to change your money at the airport, either. These currency exchange shops know they're the last stop before you travel and have no qualms about charging you unfavourable rates.
Besides exchanging a little cash before your trip to pay at places that don't accept cards, using an international debit card will help reduce significant costs during the trip, simply because you can:
When using a local ATM to take out money, make sure it's one that's in your bank's network. Otherwise, you could be charged a much higher transaction fee. You can withdraw money with HSBC bank cards (debit and credit cards) at ATMs with VISA logo worldwide. It's free of charge to withdraw money from HSBC ATMs around the world with your HSBC Visa Platinum Debit Card.
As well as debit cards, credit cards are also good for overseas transactions. They're a convenient payment method, especially when traveling abroad, for redeeming reward points with a wide range of airlines and hotels, or for dining without cash.
If you'd rather use a credit card, choose one that's created specifically with travel in mind. The HSBC TravelOne Credit Card, which offers an overseas administration fee of only 1.99%, is the first HSBC Credit Card to offer instant hotel and airline redemptions. It also comes with complimentary travel insurance, daily offers and the ability to earn you accelerated points for both domestic and overseas spending. All of these benefits can be accessed within the HSBC Vietnam app.
A certain currency conversion rate is applied for credit card transactions abroad. Therefore, if you prefer to use a credit card when you travel, maybe consider using your ATM card instead to withdraw cash when you need it.
Ensure your credit cards are still available while you're abroad by notifying your bank which country you are going to visit.
When your credit card transactions are overseas, unlike domestic notifications, the recorded transaction is considered fraudulent. If your bank does not receive a timely response after sending that transaction confirmation alert, your card may be temporarily blocked.
Try to avoid the weekends because most markets around the world are closed. You'll get the best rates when you exchange foreign currency during bank hours. Why will you pay more? Since banks don't know what the new rate will be on Monday morning, they charge a slightly higher rate to protect themselves against currency fluctuations when the market re-opens.
Many currency exchange shops will give you a great rate on the board but they may not include all the details. Ask whether they charge commission or transaction fees. That good rate might only apply to notes of a certain denomination or year. If they ask you to convert a certain amount to get that rate, this could be their way of adding fees to your exchange.
At HSBC, fees, charges and interest rates are all listed on our website. Read our Personal Banking Tariff and HSBC Premier Tariff for more information.
At HSBC, you can exchange foreign currencies at branches and transaction offices with attractive exchange rates. You should ask your bank if any of their accounts come with better rates. For example, we offer HSBC Premier customers preferential foreign exchange rates on over-the-counter foreign exchange transactions.
You can estimate your currency exchange in more than 10 currencies with our Exchange Rates Calculator.
If you have an HSBC Vietnam account, you can exchange your deposited Vietnamese dong for foreign currency. When exchanging money, you'll need to provide:
FX rates will change over time and depend on each bank. You should see the exchange rate information on your bank's website before visiting branches or transaction offices.
To find out more about HSBC Vietnam forex and branch details, including location, phone number, opening hours and customer service hotline, visit our online branch finder.
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