Vietnamese Currency Guide: VND Notes, Cash, Cards and ATMs

Vietnam’s currency is the Vietnamese dong, written VND or ₫. Read the full printed value before paying: 20,000 dong and 500,000 dong can both look blue, but they are very different amounts. Keep smaller notes for everyday purchases and a card for businesses that accept it; no single payment method works for every stop.

Reading prices without losing the zeros

A price written as 50k means 50,000 dong, while 1 million VND means 1,000,000 dong. Vietnamese displays may use a full stop between thousands, so 50.000 VND and 50,000 VND can describe the same amount. Confirm the currency if a menu, booking message or sign shows only a number.

Do not use a permanently fixed “divide by 23” or old USD conversion as today’s rate. For a rough comparison, use a rate with an identifiable source and time. The cash-buy table later in this guide is a bank reference, not a promise of the amount your card issuer or a shop will apply.

The banknotes you will handle

The Vietnam tourism authority’s practical guide lists note denominations from 200 to 500,000 dong. Its payment guide distinguishes small paper notes from larger polymer notes. The table below groups them for handling; it is not a price list or a catalogue of places to exchange money.

The State Bank’s issue description for the 10,000 and 200,000 polymer notes identifies the portrait as President Ho Chi Minh—not “Ho Chi Minh City”. It describes oil-and-gas extraction on the reverse of the 10,000 note and Ha Long Bay on the 200,000 note. The article’s currency collage is illustrative; use the actual note and its denomination-specific features for identification.

Coins are not a practical part of everyday visitor payments according to the tourism authority’s payment guide. That is different from making an unsupported claim that every Vietnamese coin has been legally withdrawn.

Check a note using more than one feature

Count cash at the counter, then look at the note itself. Hold it towards the light to inspect the watermark and the alignment of printed elements on the two sides. Feel the raised print and tilt the note to examine the security features appropriate to its denomination. Compare with another genuine note of the same value if available.

The State Bank’s published security guidance explains that the colour-changing ink feature is on the 100,000, 200,000 and 500,000 notes, while the small-window hidden-image feature is on 50,000, 100,000, 200,000 and 500,000 notes. Do not expect every listed feature on every denomination.

That guidance also warns that counterfeit techniques change and that simulated raised printing can be misleading. One convincing feature, colour or photograph is not an authenticity guarantee. If a note concerns you, ask the bank or counter to examine it before leaving. Do not deliberately damage a note to test it or pass a suspected counterfeit on to someone else.

Old cotton notes and damaged cash are different issues

A 2024 State Bank response published by the Government confirms that old cotton 50,000 and 100,000 dong notes ceased circulation in September 2007, and old cotton 10,000 and 20,000 dong notes in January 2013. Those withdrawn cotton notes can be exchanged at equal value through the institutions named in that response. Do not confuse them with the polymer notes of the same face value.

For a torn, heat-damaged or otherwise unfit note, keep the remaining pieces and ask a bank to assess it. The result depends on the note and the applicable exchange rules; do not assume every damaged note qualifies or that a percentage quoted without its conditions is enough. When receiving cash, requesting an acceptable replacement immediately is easier than discovering the problem later.

Paying by card and withdrawing dong

Hotels, restaurants, larger shops and tour businesses may accept international cards, while small purchases can still require cash. Ask which card networks the business accepts and whether it adds a disclosed surcharge. A local QR-payment sign does not by itself establish that your foreign banking app can pay it.

At an ATM, check that your card’s network is supported. The ATM’s transaction limit, your issuer’s daily limit and available funds can all affect a withdrawal. Read the fee before confirming and check your own bank’s foreign-withdrawal terms; do not rely on one universal Vietnamese ATM fee or limit.

If an ATM or payment terminal offers to charge you in your home currency, that is a separate currency-conversion offer. Compare the rate and charges shown with your card terms. Choosing VND leaves conversion to your card arrangements; it does not remove the ATM’s own withdrawal charge or guarantee your issuer has no fee. Avoid accepting an unfamiliar conversion simply because it displays a familiar currency.

Keep your PIN private, take your card and receipt, and check the transaction in your bank app. If an ATM debits your account without dispensing cash, record the machine details and contact the bank and card issuer rather than repeatedly submitting the same withdrawal.

Taking cash into or out of Vietnam

For passport-based international crossings, Circular 15/2011/TT-NHNN sets declaration thresholds of more than 5,000 USD or equivalent foreign cash, and more than 15,000,000 VND cash. They are separate thresholds, not an absolute maximum or a 120-million-dong equivalent.

Departures above the threshold require the appropriate supporting documentation. Article 3 includes an exception using the latest customs-confirmed entry declaration for the next exit within 12 months when taking out no more than was declared on entry. Inbound foreign cash intended for a Vietnamese foreign-currency payment account also has declaration conditions even at or below the ordinary threshold. Bank cards are not cash for these thresholds, and border-pass travel is governed separately.

For choosing an exchange method, buying foreign currency with leftover VND and the fuller customs scope, continue to our Vietnam money-exchange guide. Confirm unusual or high-value cases with Vietnamese Customs before travelling; a blog or exchange receipt is not a customs approval.