We would like to inform you of amended circulars pertaining to foreigners, issued by the State Bank of Vietnam, with regard to opening of accounts, debit cards, savings accounts and term deposit accounts.
1/ REQUIRED DOCUMENTS TO OPEN A BANK ACCOUNT
As stated in Circular Nos. 19/2016/TT-NHNN and 26/2017/TT-NHNN, a foreigner is considered eligible to open a bank account and use bank cards if he/she is permitted to stay in Vietnam for 12 months or longer.
As per Circular 19/2016/TT-NHNN and 26/2017/TT-NHNN issued by the State Bank of Vietnam, foreigners who are able to provide documents confirming their residential status in Vietnam for at least 12 months will be eligible to open bank accounts. The required list of documents are as follows:
- Valid Passport as per law, in an acceptable condition that is clearly readable and identifiable (picture and text) for verification; AND
- One of the following valid documents with at least 12 months validity*:
+ Vietnam visa, OR
+ Temporary resident card, OR
+ Permanent resident card
*The above documents do not need to have 12 months remaining validity from the date of applying to join Timo.
2/ SAVINGS ACCOUNTS
As stated in Circular Nos. 48 & 49/2018/TT-NHNN, the State Bank of Vietnam has modified the conditions for foreigners to hold savings and deposits with banks in Vietnam as follows:
Goal Save Accounts
- Foreign nationals are no longer eligible for Goal Save Accounts as stated in Circular no. 48/2018/TT-NHNN effective 5 July 2019
- If your Goal Save balance is 0 VND or below by 5 July 2019, you will not be able to open a new Goal Save account.
- Contributing towards your existing Goal Save Accounts will be unavailable from 5 July 2019. All existing funds must be moved into your Spend account before 31 July 2019.
- By the end of 31 July 2019, your Goal Save account will be disabled, any remaining balance will be forced to moved to your Spend Account.
Term Deposit Accounts
- From 5 July 2019, foreigners with a valid document proving residential status in Vietnam with at least 6 months validity will be eligible to open Term Deposit Accounts with a Term NOT greater than the remaining of its validity.
- Existing Term Deposits opened before 5 July 2019 will be continued until its maturity.
- In the event that you do not satisfy the requirements above and have not updated your Valid Visa or Resident Card details with us, please visit your nearest Timo Hangout to update them and to continue enjoying an uninterrupted banking experience.
Read about the detailed Circulars mentioned above below:
- Savings Accounts: https://thuvienphapluat.vn/van-ban/Tien-te-Ngan-hang/Circular-48-2018-TT-NHNN-on-savings-deposits-405871.aspx
- Term Deposit Accounts: https://thuvienphapluat.vn/van-ban/Tien-te-Ngan-hang/Circular-49-2018-TT-NHNN-on-term-deposits-405872.aspx
- Required documents to open a bank account: https://thuvienphapluat.vn/van-ban/Tien-te-Ngan-hang/Thong-tu-19-2016-TT-NHNN-hoat-dong-the-ngan-hang-316056.aspx
For any questions or concerns, please contact our Timo Care team via email care@timo.vn or via the Call Centre on 1800 6788. You can also read our FAQs on Goal Save and Term Deposits here.
