Sending money from Germany to Vietnam: the payments stack
Sending EUR 140 from Germany to Vietnam cost 3.85% of the amount on average in Q3 2025, across 35 services in the World Bank's Remittance Prices Worldwide survey. Payouts in Vietnam typically run over NAPAS 247, VietQR (NAPAS 247 by QR); between now and the end of 2027 there are 3 weekdays when banks in Germany are closed but Vietnam keeps paying out, so the payout balance has to be funded before them.
| Average cost to send | 3.85% of EUR 140 (Q3 2025, World Bank RPW) source |
| Money transfer operators | 3.53% across 33 services |
| Banks | 8.99% across 2 services |
| Collect in Germany | SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst), TIPS (TARGET Instant Payment Settlement), T2 (RTGS and CLM), SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT), CENTROlink |
| Pay out in Vietnam | NAPAS 247, VietQR (NAPAS 247 by QR), CITAD (high-value interbank) |
What it costs to send EUR 140
The World Bank surveyed 35 services sending from Germany to Vietnam from 19 August 2025 to 20 August 2025. The average total cost, fees plus the FX margin, was 3.85% of the amount sent; money transfer operators averaged 3.53% and banks 8.99%. source
Bank and operator averages are worked out from the survey's provider types.
The send side: Germany
- PSD2 sets initial capital for payment institutions at 20,000 euros for money remittance only, 50,000 euros for payment initiation and 125,000 euros for the services in points 1 to 5 of Annex I (Article 7). source
- An e-money institution must hold initial capital of at least 350,000 euros at authorisation (EMD2, Article 4). source
- A payment institution that wants to provide services in another Member State for the first time notifies its home competent authority of the Member States, the services and any agents or branches it will use (PSD2, Article 28); agents are entered in the home register before they start (Article 19). source
Licences, sponsor banks, collections, ramps and KYC providers: sending from the Eurozone.
The payout side: Vietnam
| Payout partner | What it does in Vietnam | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Nium · our guide | Pays VND in real time 24x7 to 30+ major banks up to VND 499,999,999 per transfer, to wallets and via Visa Direct, and same day over CITAD above that; supports B2P, P2P and P2B flows. | source |
| dLocal · our guide | Supports payouts in Vietnam by bank transfer and to wallets such as MoMo, VNPAY, VNPT Pay and ZaloPay. | source |
| Xendit | Pays out VND over NAPAS (about 15 minutes, up to VND 299,000,000) and CITAD (same day, 2 p.m. cut-off, on activation) for B2C and C2C flows. | source |
| MoMo (M_Service) | Runs an international money receiving service with overseas and domestic remittance partners that credits verified MoMo wallet users 24/7, including weekends and holidays. | source |
Licensing, local banks, stablecoin ramps, FX and KYC in Vietnam: launching payments in Vietnam.
Payout rails in Vietnam
| Rail | Operator | What matters for payouts | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| NAPAS 247 | National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (NAPAS) | Real-time transfers to cards and bank accounts, also by phone number, e-wallet and mobile money, at any time including outside office hours and at weekends, for amounts below VND 500 million per transaction. | source |
| VietQR (NAPAS 247 by QR) | National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (NAPAS) | QR-based NAPAS 247 transfers between accounts at 50+ member banks, 24/7, below VND 500 million per transaction. | source |
| CITAD (high-value interbank) | Used for payouts above VND 500 million; Nium processes them same day with a 15:30 local time (08:30 UTC) cut-off for supported banks. | source |
Holiday gaps to plan for, to December 2027
Weekdays when one side of the corridor is closed. On the 3 dates when Germany is closed and Vietnam is open, the payout balance has to already hold enough to cover them. On the 12 dates when Vietnam is closed, instant rails may still pay out.
| Date | Germany | Vietnam | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 24 Nov 2026 | Open | Vietnamese Culture Day (Ngay Van hoa Viet Nam) | Vietnam banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Fri 25 Dec 2026 | Christmas Day | Open | Prefund Vietnam the day before: no funding from Germany, payouts continue |
| Fri 1 Jan 2027 | New Year's Day | New Year's Day | Both closed |
| Thu 4 Feb 2027 | Open | Tet holiday (28th day of the 12th lunar month) | Vietnam banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Fri 5 Feb 2027 | Open | Tet holiday (eve of Lunar New Year) | Vietnam banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Mon 8 Feb 2027 | Open | Tet holiday (3rd day of the 1st lunar month) | Vietnam banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Tue 9 Feb 2027 | Open | Tet compensatory day | Vietnam banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Wed 10 Feb 2027 | Open | Tet compensatory day | Vietnam banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Fri 26 Mar 2027 | Good Friday | Open | Prefund Vietnam the day before: no funding from Germany, payouts continue |
| Mon 29 Mar 2027 | Easter Monday | Open | Prefund Vietnam the day before: no funding from Germany, payouts continue |
| Fri 16 Apr 2027 | Open | Hung Kings Commemoration Day (10th day of the 3rd lunar month) | Vietnam banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Fri 30 Apr 2027 | Open | Reunification Day (Victory Day) | Vietnam banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Mon 3 May 2027 | Open | Labour Day compensatory day | Vietnam banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Thu 2 Sep 2027 | Open | National Day | Vietnam banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Fri 3 Sep 2027 | Open | National Day (second day) | Vietnam banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Wed 24 Nov 2027 | Open | Vietnamese Culture Day (Ngay Van hoa Viet Nam) | Vietnam banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
Full calendars: Euro area (TARGET2/T2 and SEPA) and Vietnam. Size the buffer with the corridor runway calculator.
Funding the corridor
- At the Bundesbank, T2 RTGS accepts customer payments from 02:30 to 17:00 and bank-to-bank payments from 02:30 to 18:00 on business days, so non-instant euro funding must be sent within those windows. source
- T2 has a non-optional maintenance window every week from 02:30 Saturday to 02:30 Monday, extended over TARGET closing days (for example from Good Friday to the Tuesday after Easter); when the optional weekday window (03:00 to 05:00) is activated, settlement of liquidity transfers in TIPS is affected while TIPS keeps processing instant payments. source
- NAPAS 247 handles transfers below VND 500 million per transaction at any hour; larger payouts move to same-day CITAD, which Nium cuts off at 15:30 local time. source
- Xendit caps NAPAS payouts at VND 299,000,000 and cuts off CITAD at 2 p.m. Vietnam time, so provider limits can sit below the network limit. source
- Nium notes that banks can ask for documents on transactions above VND 250 million. source
Running the corridor
Polynopsis shows every balance on both sides of this corridor in one live position: the collection accounts in Germany, the payout partners and banks in Vietnam and any stablecoin in between. It warns before the Vietnam balance runs dry, holidays included. See how it works.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to send money from Germany to Vietnam?
The World Bank's survey put the average total cost of sending EUR 140 at 3.85% in Q3 2025, across 35 services. Money transfer operators averaged 3.53%.
Which rails pay out in Vietnam?
Local payouts run over NAPAS 247, VietQR (NAPAS 247 by QR), CITAD (high-value interbank).
When do I need to prefund Vietnam payouts ahead of holidays?
Between now and December 2027 there are 3 weekdays when Germany is closed and Vietnam is open, the first on Fri 25 Dec 2026. The payout balance has to cover those days before they start.
Related corridors
Sources
- World Bank, Remittance Prices Worldwide dataset · World Bank
- T2 (opening hours and closing days) · European Central Bank
- TARGET Systems operating schedule, euro · European Central Bank
- Thong bao lich nghi tet Am lich va le Quoc khanh nam 2027 · Ministry of Home Affairs
- Viet Nam announces 2027 public holiday schedule · Viet Nam Government Portal
Know where all your money is.
Polynopsis gives cross-border payment teams one live position across every bank, payout partner, exchange and wallet, including money in flight, and warns before a corridor runs dry.