Vietnamese Currency

Vietnamese currency is known as “Dong” or “VND” as currency code. There are no longer coins but only paper and polymerized money so it is quite easy to carry around. Vietnamese banknotes, however, have many zeros: the smallest bills commonly in circulation are 1.000 VND, 2.000 VND and 5.000 VND; and the highest one is 500.000 VND.

DENOMINATIONS IN CIRCULATION

Vietnamese Dong denominations in circulation (the images from Wikipedia, for reference only. We don’t mention the denomination of 200 VND because it is rarely used)

NOTES

Avoid confusion of denominations with quite similar looks and colors as 10 000 VND vs 200 000 VND, 20 000 VND vs 500 000 VND.

Five hundred thousand Dong is the largest denomination now, it’s worth approximately US $ 22 (based on the exchange rate in 2020).

You need to carefully check the change and limited carrying large cash.

Cards are widely accepted in restaurants, hotels and other public amenities (but not at street-food stalls) and ATMs are placed densely. The most popular exchange rate when travelling in Vietnam is from USD to VND. It is known among travellers that the best exchange rate is given at jewelry shops, however, it is now considered illegal to exchange currency at those shops. So, the best way is to change money at the airport, local banks or ATMs.