SIMs, bank apps and biometrics in Saigon

Short answer: register your SIM with your passport and your face, open a bank account in person, and do the bank's face check at the branch, or you'll find your transfers blocked the first week you need them.

The short version

Since 15 April 2026, new SIMs need facial biometric verification, and foreigners who registered SIMs with a passport were told to re-authenticate within 60 days [1].
Since 15 June 2026, moving your SIM into a new phone triggers a face check. Miss the two-hour window and outgoing calls and texts are suspended [2].
Online bank transfers of VND 10 million or more, or more than VND 20 million in a day, need a face scan. That rule started on 1 July 2024 [3].
From 1 January 2025, bank accounts without biometrics can't make online transfers. Foreigners have to verify in person at a branch [4].
Once you're set up, VietQR codes and bank apps run daily life, from street-side bánh mì to your rent.

Why this is harder than at home

In Australia, you can pick up a prepaid SIM at Woolies, and open a bank account in an app in ten minutes. Vietnam spent 2024 to 2026 cracking down on scam calls, junk SIMs and fraudulent transfers, and the fix was biometrics on everything.

For locals, the national ID chip card and the VNeID app make it painless. For foreigners on a passport, several steps still need you to turn up in person. That's the big difference: budget a morning for the phone shop and another for the bank, and bring your passport to both.

Step 1: your SIM

Buying and registering

The three big networks are Viettel, VinaPhone and MobiFone. You'll see their stores everywhere, and booths in the arrivals hall at Tan Son Nhat. A SIM registered to your own passport is the only kind you want. A cheap pre-activated SIM from a street stall may be registered to someone else, and under the current rules that's exactly the kind of number that gets cut off.

Vietnam's 2023 Telecommunications Law and Decree 163 make the registered owner legally responsible for a number [2]. Circular 08/2026 then set the face-check rules that took effect on 15 April 2026 [1][2].

Go to an official operator store with your passport and the visa or TRC in it.
Register in your own name. Staff check your passport and take your photo for facial verification [2].
Pick a plan. Monthly data plans are cheap by Australian standards. Pick one that suits your use; plan names and prices change often.
Check the registration. Make sure the name and passport number are right before you leave.
Install the operator's app. You'll need it for future face checks [1].

The rules that can switch you off

Situation	What you must do	What happens if you don't
New SIM since 15 April 2026	Facial verification at registration [2]	Number isn't activated properly
Foreigner with a passport-registered SIM from before	Re-authenticate within 60 days of 15 April 2026 [1]	Suspension, then possible termination [1]
SIM moved to a new phone	Face check within two hours, via the operator's app [1][2]	One-way suspension: incoming works, outgoing blocked [2]
Still not verified after that	Verify within the 60-day grace period [2]	Two-way suspension, then termination five days later [2]
Details don't match official records	Fix within 60 days of being notified [1]	Suspension [1]

The device-change rule is the one that bites expats. Buy a new phone in Australia over Christmas, put your Vietnamese SIM in it and ignore the message, and you may land at Tan Son Nhat unable to call your Grab. Do the face check in the app straight away, while you still have data.

Keep your number alive while you're away

Your Vietnamese number is your bank's one-time-password line and your login for most apps. If you're back in Australia for months, keep it topped up and active. Losing it means reverifying with the bank in person.

Step 2: a bank account

Who can open one

Foreigners can open a VND payment account with a passport plus a valid visa, a document in place of a visa (such as a TRC) or proof of visa exemption [5]. A 2025 amendment, Circular 25/2025, also allows other identity documents issued by foreign authorities, not just passports [5]. In practice, banks are much happier when you also have a work permit or labour contract and a TRC, and some limit what they'll offer short-stay visitors.

The big local banks, such as Vietcombank, Techcombank, BIDV and VPBank, have English apps and branches across the city. Foreign banks with a local presence are another option. Start with whichever bank your employer uses for payroll; same-bank salary transfers are simplest.

What to bring

Passport, original
Visa or temporary residence card
Work permit and labour contract, if you have them
Your Vietnamese phone number, registered in your own name
Your address in the city

The in-person biometric check

Here's the rule that matters most. Under State Bank of Vietnam Circulars 17 and 18 of 2024, from 1 January 2025, account holders, cardholders and e-wallet users had to have their biometrics on file to keep using online services [4]. Locals can do it by app with a chip ID card. Foreigners must authenticate in person at a bank [4].

Skip it, and the bank halts online transfers, bill payments and top-ups, ATM transfers and withdrawals, and card activation and renewal [4]. Ask the branch to do your face check when you open the account. Don't leave it for later.

The transfer limits

On top of that, a face scan in the app is required for [3]:

Transfer	Face scan needed?
Under VND 10 million, and under VND 20 million in total that day	Usually no
VND 10 million or more in one go	Yes
Any transfer that takes the day's total over VND 20 million	Yes

Paying a deposit on a District 2 apartment (now An Khanh ward) or a school term? You'll scan your face. That's normal. If the app fails to match you, which can happen after a haircut, new glasses or a change of phone, you go back to the branch to update your biometric record.

Step 3: paying and getting paid

VietQR and e-wallets

Vietnam runs on QR payments. Most vendors, landlords and even street stalls display a VietQR code linked to a bank account. You scan it in your banking app, check the name, and the money lands instantly through the interbank network. It feels like PayID, only it's on every counter.

E-wallets such as MoMo, ZaloPay and ShopeePay are popular too. They link to a Vietnamese bank account, and the biometric rules apply to e-wallet users as well [4].

Cards: Australian Visa and Mastercard cards work in hotels, malls and bigger restaurants, but small places want cash or QR. Your Australian card will charge foreign transaction fees unless it's a travel card.

Your salary in VND

Expect to be paid in dong into a local account. Moving it home is a separate step: banks generally ask for evidence of where the money came from, such as your labour contract and tax paperwork, before they'll send foreign currency abroad. Keep copies of your payslips and annual tax finalisation. Our guide to sending money home compares the ways to do it.

Australian angle and scam-proofing

Keep your Australian accounts alive. Keep at least one Australian account and your Australian mobile number active, or set up a cheap roaming or eSIM option, so your Australian bank can still send you codes. See keeping Australian accounts while abroad.
Tell your bank in Australia where you live and update your address. Some banks restrict accounts for customers who move overseas.
Scam calls are real here too. The biometric rules exist because scams were so common. Hang up on anyone claiming to be the police, your bank or the tax office who asks you to install an app or read out a code. Banks don't ask for your OTP.
The Australian Consulate-General won't call you for bank details. It has warned that scammers spoof its phone number [6].

Got a branch that's good with foreigners, or tips on passing the face scan? Share them in Cooee Vietnam, our Facebook group for Australians in Vietnam.

SIMs, bank apps and biometrics: getting connected in Saigon without getting cut off