Launching payments in Vietnam: the stack

By Polynopsis team · Last updated 28 October 2026

Inbound remittances to Vietnam are paid by credit institutions or by economic organisations licensed to receive and pay out foreign currency (77.7% of Ho Chi Minh City's remittances in Q3 2026 went through the latter), and local payouts run over NAPAS 247 in real time, 24/7, for amounts below VND 500 million per transfer. Cross-border payment companies typically use payout networks such as Nium, dLocal or Xendit, or wallet partners such as MoMo, while crypto-asset services are confined to a pilot market whose operators are licensed by the Ministry of Finance under Resolution 05/2025/NQ-CP and settle in Vietnamese dong.

Currency	VND
Local payout rails	NAPAS 247, VietQR (NAPAS 247 by QR), CITAD (high-value interbank)
Holiday calendar	Vietnam bank holidays 2026 and 2027

The Vietnam market

Remittances to Ho Chi Minh City totalled US$10.3 billion in 2025, according to the State Bank of Vietnam's Regional Branch 2. source
Remittances to Ho Chi Minh City were US$6.87 billion in January to September 2026, down 13.8% year on year; the third quarter brought US$2.83 billion, up 39.5% on the second quarter and 3.6% year on year. source
In Q3 2026, economic organisations that directly receive and pay out foreign currency handled more than US$2.2 billion (77.7%) of remittances to Ho Chi Minh City, while credit institutions handled US$631.4 million. source
Asia supplied 59.1% (nearly US$1.68 billion) of Q3 2026 remittances to Ho Chi Minh City and the Americas 26.4% (US$748.5 million). source
NAPAS 247, the national fast transfer service, connects 58 members, including banks and telecom companies. source

Licensing: who can pay out in Vietnam

Decree 52/2024/ND-CP on non-cash payments (15 May 2024, in force 1 July 2024) lists the intermediary payment services: financial switching, international financial switching, electronic clearing, e-wallets, collection and disbursement support, and electronic payment gateways. Non-bank providers need a State Bank of Vietnam licence and charter capital of at least VND 50 billion (e-wallets, collection and disbursement support, gateways) or VND 300 billion (switching and clearing). source
Decree 89/2016/ND-CP, as amended by Decree 23/2023/ND-CP (12 May 2023), sets the conditions for economic organisations providing services to receive and pay out foreign currency, both directly and as paying agents. source
Resolution 05/2025/NQ-CP (9 September 2025) launched a pilot crypto-asset market in which the Ministry of Finance licenses crypto-asset service providers; crypto assets exclude securities and digital forms of fiat currency, and offering, trading and payment must be in Vietnamese dong. Decree 284/2026/ND-CP (16 July 2026) sets fines for violations, including advertising or providing crypto-asset services without a licence. source
Under the pilot, foreign investors buy and sell crypto assets in Vietnam through special-purpose payment accounts opened at authorised banks, and Decree 284/2026/ND-CP, in force from 1 September 2026, fines foreign investors that breach the account rules VND 30 million to 50 million, or half that for individuals. source
NAPAS offers NAPAS 247 to its member banks, payment intermediaries and remittance service providers, so foreign senders reach it through a member. source

This page explains the rules in general terms and is not legal or regulatory advice. Check the primary source and take advice on how the rules apply to your firm.

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

The Vietnam payments stack, layer by layer

The providers below are a starting shortlist for each layer, described from their own documentation. Confirm terms, coverage and licences with each provider.

Payout and collection partners

Provider	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

FX and liquidity

Provider	What it does in Vietnam	Source
Vietcombank	Publishes cash buy, transfer and sell rates against the dong for 20 currencies, including USD, through a public rate feed.	source
BIDV	Offers foreign currency purchases by transfer in the currencies of more than 100 countries and territories through its foreign exchange and capital markets desk.	source

KYC and KYB providers

Provider	What it does in Vietnam	Source
FPT.AI eKYC	Reads Vietnamese ID documents by OCR, QR code and NFC chip, verifies chip-based ID cards and matches face biometrics for digital onboarding.	source
VNPT eKYC	VNPT AI's electronic identification and authentication (eKYC) product, used in banking.	source

Funding and prefunding VND payouts

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

Size the prefund to your runway target with the corridor runway calculator and the Vietnam holiday calendar.

Launch checklist

Plan: launch volume, the prefund sized to your runway target including weekends and holidays, the contracting entity and the funding route.
Open accounts: shortlist payout partners and a local banking route from the layers above, and prepare the onboarding pack.
Set up: read access to every new balance, a runway target with alerts, and the corridor in your daily reports.
Go live: the first prefund and a test payout, then daily monitoring.

Polynopsis turns this into one plan with named approvals, then shows every Vietnam partner, bank and wallet in one live position. See how a corridor launch works.

Frequently asked questions

Who can pay out remittances in Vietnam?

Credit institutions and economic organisations licensed to receive and pay out foreign currency under Decree 89/2016/ND-CP, as amended in 2023. In Q3 2026 those economic organisations handled 77.7% of remittances to Ho Chi Minh City.

What is the largest instant payout in Vietnam?

NAPAS 247 carries transfers below VND 500 million per transaction, 24/7. Larger amounts go over CITAD the same day, with cut-offs such as 15:30 (Nium) or 2 p.m. (Xendit).

Can I pay out to e-wallets?

Yes. dLocal pays to wallets such as MoMo, VNPAY, VNPT Pay and ZaloPay, and MoMo runs an international receiving service with remittance partners that credits users 24/7.

Are stablecoin off-ramps licensed in Vietnam?

Crypto-asset services are legal only within the pilot market set up by Resolution 05/2025/NQ-CP, where the Ministry of Finance licenses service providers, trades settle in Vietnamese dong and foreign investors trade through special-purpose accounts at authorised banks. Decree 284/2026/ND-CP fines crypto-asset services provided without a licence.

How large is the remittance flow?

Ho Chi Minh City alone received US$10.3 billion in 2025 and US$6.87 billion in January to September 2026, down 13.8% year on year.

Other markets

Sources

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