Vietnam SWIFT Codes & BIC Directory

Vietnam SWIFT/BIC bank directory

The directory below lists the curated head-office BIC for every bank in this country's dataset. A BIC identifies the receiving institution and location; it does not identify a customer's account. Ask the beneficiary for current payment instructions before choosing a branch suffix.

The primary/branch column shows the safe eleven-character primary-office form and, where relevant, a branch-code reminder. A suffix is not inferred from a city or postcode; confirm any named branch BIC with the receiving bank.

Understanding Vietnam BICs before you send

SWIFT codes use four blocks: a four-letter bank identifier, a two-letter country code, a two-character location code, and an optional three-character branch code. An eight-character BIC is normally the primary office; appending XXX creates its eleven-character primary-office form.

The list is useful for comparing bank names, registered cities, and code blocks, but a directory cannot confirm whether a branch is open or whether a beneficiary account exists. Treat the recipient's current bank certificate or statement as the final authority.

How to read the Vietnam bank table

Read a BIC from left to right. The first four characters identify the bank, the next two identify the country or jurisdiction, and the next two identify a location or processing centre. An optional final three characters identify a branch or department. When the final block is XXX, it is the standard primary-office form rather than a promise that the beneficiary's account is physically at headquarters.

The head-office column in this directory is the eight-character code recorded for the institution. The primary/branch column adds XXX when a form requires eleven characters. That is the safest general conversion because banks commonly accept the primary office and route the payment using the account identifier. A named branch suffix can be more precise, but only the receiving bank can confirm whether it is active for this account and currency.

City is a useful cross-check, not an independent routing key. A bank can centralise international payments in one city while serving customers across the country. It can also publish different BICs for subsidiaries, branches, custody desks, or currency corridors. If a beneficiary's statement differs from this table, use the statement and contact the bank rather than selecting the row that merely looks closest.

These rows identify banks, not accounts. A valid BIC does not prove that an account is open, that a beneficiary name matches, or that a currency can be credited. Account numbers, IBANs where supported, local clearing details, intermediary instructions, and compliance documents remain separate parts of an international payment instruction.

Before and after sending a Vietnam payment

Before submitting, compare the beneficiary's current bank certificate with the form: legal name, country block, BIC, account identifier, city, currency, and payment purpose. Check whether the sender's bank asks for an intermediary. For a corporate payment, keep the invoice, contract, tax details, and source-of-funds explanation ready so a compliance team can match the payment without an avoidable repair.

Charges also affect the result. OUR usually asks the sender to cover bank charges, SHA shares them, and BEN deducts them from the beneficiary's amount, although availability varies by bank and currency. Compare the quoted fee, exchange rate, expected net amount, and value date before confirming. A lower fee can mean an intermediary chain or a slower route, so choose based on the beneficiary's required amount and deadline.

After sending, keep the payment reference and wait for the quoted window. If the payment is late, ask the originating bank where the message is: correspondent, repair queue, receiving bank, or returned. Request a SWIFT trace or equivalent message reference and give it to the beneficiary. Do not alter the BIC or send a duplicate until the first payment is resolved; two simultaneous wires create a larger recovery and compliance problem.

How to use a SWIFT code for an international transfer

Collect the beneficiary's legal name, address, account identifier, currency, and current receiver-bank BIC before opening a wire form. The sending bank may also request an intermediary BIC, purpose text, invoice, or tax information.

1. Select an international SWIFT wire and enter the receiver-bank BIC exactly as supplied by the beneficiary.
2. Enter the account number or IBAN without spaces, then match the beneficiary name and address to the bank record.
3. Choose the currency and verify whether a correspondent bank is required for that currency.
4. Review OUR, SHA, or BEN charges, the expected value date, and any purpose-of-payment field.
5. Save the confirmation and payment reference so the sending and receiving banks can trace the message.

Common Vietnam SWIFT mistakes

Timing, tracing, and beneficiary checks

A correct BIC does not guarantee same-day credit. Cut-off times, holidays, intermediary screening, currency controls, and beneficiary-name checks can all affect timing.

If a payment is late or returned, ask the sending bank for the exact reject or repair reason and a SWIFT trace reference before sending a replacement.

A final Vietnam payment checklist

Compare the country block in the BIC with the country where the account is legally held, not merely the country where the bank group has its headquarters. Then compare the bank prefix and location block with the beneficiary's statement. If the name, city, or legal entity differs, pause and ask the receiving bank which instruction is current. This simple comparison catches many cross-border errors before a message reaches an intermediary.

Keep account-level information separate from bank-level information. The BIC identifies the institution, while an IBAN, local account number, branch number, sort code, ABA number, or other clearing field identifies the customer account. A payment form can display several of these fields at once, and copying a value into the wrong field can create an otherwise avoidable reject even when every value is individually valid.

Finally, record the amount, currency, charge option, value date, beneficiary reference, and confirmation number. These details let the sender and recipient distinguish a correspondent delay from a beneficiary-data error. When the bank confirms a correction, update the saved payment instruction and retain the old version for audit purposes. Do not publish or forward a synthetic test BIC as if it were a real account instruction.