How to transfer money from an overseas bank to a BIDV account in Vietnam?

In September 2026 BIDV branch staff explained that card-number transfers go through euros and the bank does not accept them, and advised sending money by SWIFT to the recipient's account number instead. The sender also wanted this route for a clean paper trail, for example for salary transfers and savings.

On 5 September 2026 an attempt to send a SWIFT transfer to an account number failed: the sending bank said transfers to that bank were not working for now, for both BIDV and Vietcombank. Before sending, check with your own bank whether this route is currently available.

In September 2026 one participant noted that a legal transfer can go through another sending bank if you do not mind higher fees. He added that in the sending bank's directory the Vietnamese banks are listed not as BIDV and Vietcombank but under their official full names, which is worth knowing when you search for the recipient bank in the app.

In late August 2026 a transfer to a BIDV card was converted into euros through a British intermediary: the bank could see the money among the card transactions, but for a while it did not show in the account balance. In early September another sender received an SMS from BIDV saying the transaction had been cancelled for an unknown reason and would be refunded, yet the next day the funds still arrived in the BIDV account.