Are you wondering where to exchange money in Ho Chi Minh City? I am here to help!
When applying for a Chinese Visa the fee of $30 actually needs to be paid in US Dollars. I also had Thai Baht left from my stay in Thailand and wanted to exchange those to Vietnamese Dong. I was wondering where to exchange money in Ho Chi Minh and found my answer online. Apparently, jewelry stores are the best place to exchange money in Ho Chi Minh City.
Exchange your money at jewelry stores
Almost every single jewelry stores in Ho Chi Minh City will exchange your money. Jewelry stores in Ho Chi Minh City are known to give you the best rates and that’s true in my experience.
My experience at Ha Tam Jewelry
Upon looking into it further I decided to go to Ha Tam Jewelry, it was a recommendation by a local on Reddit. Ha Tam Jewelry is located at 2 Nguyễn An Ninh, Phường Bến Thành, Quận 1, Hồ Chí Minh and from what I could tell, selling jewelry is their side hustle. Behind the counter where approximately 7 people exchanging money and counting it.
My best piece of advice is to look up the current exchange rate first. I use the XE Currency App for this and absolutely love it as it works offline. Once you know the current exchange rate simply ask how much you’d get in exchange. I exchanged Vietnamese Dong to US Dollars and got the exact amount in Dollars, and the change in Vietnamese Dong. They didn’t take a commission nor did they deduct a certain percentage.
When I exchanged my Thai Baht to Vietnamese Dong the exchange rate wasn’t as good. However, that being said, it was still way better than holding on to a currency that I may not be able to use anytime soon. You’ll definitely get some of the best rates if you exchange Vietnamese Dong to US Dollars.
I hope this post about where to exchange money in Ho Chi Minh City was helpful! 🙂
Thanks for giving personal advice like this!
Author
No worries at all! 🙂
BEWARE of HA TAM! i went there today to exchange my remaining dong to singapore dollars. a 60ish year old man counted my money, 669k dong and typed it and the correct exchange rate, 17+k, into the calculator. he then kept punching in numbers. he turned the calculator around and showed me 30. i immediately protested having done the exchange in my head. a younger guy took over, punched in the numbers, gave me 39 plus 1k dong back. FIND THE EXCHANGE RATE ONLINE AND DO THE CALCULATION IF YOU DO GO TO HA TAM.
Author
That’s vital – regardless of the exchange place you go. Calculate it, show them, agree on it, and only then hand over the money. I have been screwed over in the past, because I didn’t do this!! 🙂
I am travelling next week and hoping to exchange gbp to Vietnamese dong here. Is it okay to pay by card or is gbp cash required?
Author
It’s an exchange place and cash is definitely required. I don’t remember them taking cards! 🙂
Just dropped by at midday today, sunday, its a very busy place and definately received an awesome rate for my Aussie dollars, higher than the exchange listed price – which i dont understand how they can do.. One thing was Australia has the fairly new $50 note, amongst the 500 i was exchanging was an older style note which they would not take. An asian guy behind me said it happens, they will change it but at a lower rate. I put it back in my pocket this time. This seems to be THE place for all Ben Thanh global travellers, worth the walk or drop off on the back of a Grab motorbike.
Nice discussion. Nowadays im using P2P mobile apps to match with real people around me to exchange money. I can negotiate the rate before i walk thousands of steps. Choose the best peer, meet in a cafe and perform exchange. Winngie Exchange Local currency application is my best so far. need to be more global but i believe it will be soon. Donnow if there are some others. So far Winngie Exchange Money Application is brilliant. Just like another uber for exchanging money. Never use Euronet bankomats or airport offices. they are all cheaters, unfair rates or high commission rates. You can also use “Winngie” to send money abroad. Just wanted to share my experience.