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[mark_in_saigon]

Those of us pulling money from our western accounts may be noticing that the banks all seem to have dropped their limit to 2 million VND. TechComBank was allowing 8, Agribank was at 5, but they have both dropped the limit. Agri is now at 2, not sure about TCB, one of the stupid things about some of these banks is they never communicate properly, and you get a message saying your withdrawal limit has been reached instead of they have dropped their limit. A bit disconcerting til you figure it out. If anyone knows of a bank that will allow larger amounts using a western Visa card, do tell, but I suspect they have all done it. I am going to start having some of my incomes sent over by Western Union in the future, as those 5 dollar charges amount to 5% or so on 2 million VND. Better to plunk the western income into your VN bank and then pull it out of that, avoiding the 5 dollar charges.

[Mushroom Druid]

[toiyeuthitmeo]

Hi Mark,

Citibank ATMs (One at Sunwah tower, one at Hung Vuong Parkson, a few more around town) allow 8 million a go. Certain Vietcom ATMs (one at Equatorial Hotel, one at Sheraton hotel) allow 5 million a go.

[mark_in_saigon]

Great info, thanks mucho for that Meo. That helps a lot.

Anyone have similar locations in any of the other larger cities that allow larger withdrawals, especially Ha Noi?

I am guessing that the more foreigners a location has, the higher the likelihood that the ATM has a higher limit. I did not realize that, but did see that all the ATM machines I used from various banks suddenly dropped down to 2 million.

[Tigerstyleone]

Mark,
I went to a random Techcom ATM near PML on Saturday and withdrew 11 million to pay my rent and other bills. Just an FYI.

[mark_in_saigon]

So it sounds like they ONLY have higher limits in tourist areas, as TCB was the one I always counted on, then all the machines I used in my normal areas dropped to 2 million.

Can anyone/everyone else confirm that you are only getting a max of 2 million outside of the tourist areas? This is multiple banks and locations. I can get 2, but the larger amounts no longer work.

[deadlift]

I've never had any such trouble using ANZ machines (with an ANZ card). The max can vary, but I've never seen it below 4 mil. I usually use a machine at a branch of ANZ and the max is usually 20 mil.

[TRH]

Personally I use Citibank to move US$ this way. I have a US account and an account in VN. Transfers used to be free and instantaneously, but they cut Vietnam out of that program implicitly because of cyber-crime. Now I use their other transfer service that takes 24 hrs and they charge $30 a time on the US end but they seem to refund it every month about two weeks later. After the funds arrive I have to make a second move into VND. This too is free but the exchange rate is a little lower than the "street." Up until going to the ATM, I can do it all on the internet. It is kind of cumbersome but it is essentially free except for the exchange rate. You can't move money the other way but the bank personnel say that is the VN government not bank policy.

I was reflecting on the amounts people say they draw. In the US, most banks I have done business with top out at $200-300 a pop and some have daily limits of $300. Compared to that, 2M VND is a little low but 4M seems about right. If AZN allows 4M to 20M that is very high compared to US banks.

[deadlift]

Definitely high by Western standards, but then this is a country where people buy motorbikes with cash and houses with gold.

[legionlabs]

I live in Go Vap, I used to (~2 months ago) be able to find an ATM that would let me withdraw 5 mil or so. I think it was near the Big C. I think it's limited to 2 mil as well now, so you might be right about the change affecting non-touristy areas.

My rent is 2mil/month out here though, so it affects me less

I'm pretty sure I saw ATMs in affluent areas doling out larger sums... I seem to vaguely remember one (was it ACB? AZN?) near diamond plaza, connected to the intercontinental hotel or somesuch.

-S

[sokunen]

I'm living in Nha Trang, and even in the touristic center, it's dropped low. The highest I can find is 3 million through an Agribank ATM.

[Tigerstyleone]

So you guys have to withdraw the max and then repeat? and pay the fee each time? Is that why they changed the amount so you have too make 4 or 5 withdraws and they can charge you each time because you're using a foreign bank card?

I used Techcom bank ATM card and machine yesterday and withdrew 10,000,000 vnd at AN AN hotel located 40 BV street. So I understand the limit is placed on foreign cards only.

[mark_in_saigon]

Looks to me it is most banks, most locations, if you are using a foreign card. ANZ may be the best bank for us to use at this time, but I think that is not going to work for guys from countries other than Australia and NZ, right? I might be able to transfer funds from my U.S. account to an ANZ account, but I might as well just set that up for TechComBank instead. Still hearing that in the tourist areas of HCMC, larger withdrawals are possible, but everywhere else, seems like most all ATM's dropped to 2 million about 3 weeks ago. Would like to confirm if Ha Noi tourist area ATM's are still giving larger amounts.

[deadlift]

[legionlabs]

You can always go to your bank and withdraw money too. I somehow manage to frequently forget this.

You'll need your passport (bank card and original account documents were not good enough when I tried). It didn't matter that I could empty the account with the card in my pocket... the cashier needed the passport

The amount of money I receive has matched the amount on the withdrawal slip almost 50% of the time. They didn't steal it, just withdrew the wrong amount. Still better odds than I've had with Canadian banking.

-S