Originally Posted by
OskiBear
A few things:
1. Cash - my experience in Vietnam (from a couple of years ago) was that they are really picky about the state of your bills. If you are bringing cash, it's worth going to the bank to get new bills, without creases, tears, marks, etc.
2. ATM - some banks will issue you a special card to use while out of the country. I was majorly hacked in Brazil and had to get a new card afterwards. I have two bank accounts, one is not primary. A good way to handle this is just use your non-primary account and keep a limited amount of funds in it. This way, there's not much value to hacking your account
3. Transfers - I see that Xoom.com can send money to Vietnam. Not sure how the exchange rates works for you, but I use Xoom when I go to Argentina and it has been very handy.
Good luck!
Xoom left the Vietnamese market a few years ago - suggest you investigate their listing of countries where they do business. Paypal works in Vietnam.
On the subject of ATM usage, let me say that this is the only means of cash support that I've used in each of my six trips to Vietnam since 2008. As long as you inform your home bank of your travel itinerary, there should be no problem. Every bank seems to have a different daily limit, but I believe the limit is higher at the main branch of international banks in Hanoi and HCMC (the standard limit being 2,000,000VND).