New Regulations For Foreigners

We would like to inform you of amended circulars pertaining to foreigners, issued by the State Bank of Vietnam, with regard to opening of accounts, debit cards, savings accounts and term deposit accounts.

1/ REQUIRED DOCUMENTS TO OPEN A BANK ACCOUNT

If you are a foreigner and 15 years old or above, you can open a Timo bank account at Timo Hangouts. You will need to bring your original valid passport in an identifiable condition, as well as one of the following documents:

Visa, OR
Temporary Resident Card (TRC), OR
Permanent Resident Card (PRC).

The validity of the residential documents, as listed below, will be used to determine the services that are available:

Note:

The documents mentioned above can have less than 3;6;12 months remaining, but they must be valid at the time of application for Timo.
Foreigners who can prove their continuous residential status in Vietnam for at least 6 months are eligible to open one or more Term deposits. The term of the deposit cannot exceed the remaining validity of their residential documents in Vietnam.
Similarly, foreigners who can prove their continuous residential status in Vietnam for at least 12 months are eligible to apply for NAPAS and Visa Debit Virtual cards.

2/ SAVINGS ACCOUNTS
As stated in Circular Nos. 48 & 49/2018/TT-NHNN, the State Bank of Vietnam has modified the conditions for foreigners to hold savings and deposits with banks in Vietnam as follows:
Goal Save Accounts

Foreigners are no longer eligible for Goal Save Accounts as stated in Circular no. 48/2018/TT-NHNN effective 5 July 2019
If your Goal Save balance is 0 VND or below by 5 July 2019, you will not be able to open a new Goal Save account.
Contributing towards your existing Goal Save Accounts will be unavailable from 5 July 2019. All existing funds must be moved into your Spend account before 31 July 2019.
By the end of 31 July 2019, your Goal Save account will be disabled, any remaining balance will be forced to moved to your Spend Account.

Money Pots

According to Clause 5, Article 14a of Circular 23/2014/TT-NHNN (amended and supplemented by Circular 16/2020/TT-NHNN) issued by the State Bank of Vietnam, the provision of electronic payment accounts is not applicable for individual customers who are foreigners. Consequently, Timo Digital Bank wishes to inform our foreign customers about the following changes concerning your Money Pot account:

For foreign customers currently using and having a balance in the Money Pot account:

If you wish to continue using this account, please arrange to visit a Timo Hangout to sign an additional request for use of the Money Pot account before August 26, 2023.
If you have no need for this account, kindly transfer the current balance in your Money Pot account to your Spend Account.

For foreign customers who have no balance in the Money Pot account: Your Money Pot account will be automatically deactivated. If you wish to continue using this account, please arrange a visit to a Timo Hangout to sign an additional request for use.

For foreign customers who do not have a Money Pot account: If you wish to use this account, please arrange a visit to a Timo Hangout to sign an additional request for use.

For foreign customers newly registering for a Timo Digital Bank account: Our a Timo Care Representative will advise you on registration and usage of the Money Pot account, if you wish to use it.

Term Deposit Accounts

From 5 July 2019, foreigners with a valid document proving residential status in Vietnam with at least 6 months validity will be eligible to open Term Deposit Accounts with a Term NOT greater than the remaining of its validity.
Existing Term Deposits opened before 5 July 2019 will be continued until its maturity.
In the event that you do not satisfy the requirements above and have not updated your Valid Visa or Resident Card details with us, please visit your nearest Timo Hangout to update them and to continue enjoying an uninterrupted banking experience.

Read about the detailed Circulars mentioned above below:

For any questions or concerns, please kindly contact our Timo Care team via email care@timo.vn or via the Call Centre on 1800 6788.

New Regulations For Foreigners

New Regulations For Foreigners

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