Cash in Vietnamese Dong (VND)

History of the Vietnamese Dong (VND)

Before the emergence of the dong, from 1885 to 1952, the main currency of Vietnam was the Indochinese piastre (called "silver" by the Vietnamese at that time), which, in turn, was the monetary unit of the French colonies and protectorates.

In 1946, the government of Viet Minh (which was later renamed North Vietnam) introduced its first national currency, called the dong, which means "copper" or "bronze" in Vietnamese. The dong was issued to replace the Indochinese piastre, which is also in denomination. However, a few years later, the government of the then still Vietminh changed the denomination of the dong:

• in 1951 — in the ratio of 100:1 to the Indochinese piastre,
• in 1959 — 1000:1.

In South Vietnam, banknotes denominated in both dong and Indochinese piastres were issued in 1953. However, in 1975, forces of the Vietnamese People's Army and the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam captured Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, after which the currency of that country was replaced by the "liberation dong," the face value of which was valued at 500 old South Vietnamese dong. After the fall of Saigon, North and South Vietnam reunited, and in 1978, the government merged the currencies and issued a new dong, which was equal in denomination to the old North Vietnamese dong and 0.8 South Vietnamese "liberation dong."

Vietnamese dong coins and banknotes

Vietnam currently circulates new-style banknotes issued in 2003. The obverse of all banknotes features a portrait of Ho Chi Minh, a prominent Vietnamese statesman, politician, military, and party figure known as "Ho the Illuminator." As of August 2024, banknotes of the following denominations with images on the reverse are used in Vietnam:

• 10 000 (brown-green) with oil platforms on the reverse;
• 20 000 VND (blue-blue) with a covered bridge in Hoi An city;
• 50 000 dong (pink-purple) with a view of Hue city in central Vietnam;
• 100 000 VND (green-pink) depicting Van Mieu, a complex of pagodas with a park and Vietnam's first university, also known as the "Temple of Literature" and located south of the Citadel in Hanoi;
• 200 000 dong (orange-red) depicting the Gulf of Tonkin bay of the South China Sea, known as Halong;
• 500 000 dong (blue-green and purple) with a portrait of Ho Chi Minh on the reverse.

In addition to the regular ones, the Vietnamese state also circulates commemorative banknotes in denominations of 50 (pink) and 100 dong (pink and orange) to mark the 50th and 65th anniversaries of the founding of the State Bank of Vietnam. Both banknotes portray Ho Chi Minh on the front side, while the 100-dong bill also features the Vietnamese coat of arms. The reverse of both banknotes bears the image of the State Bank of Vietnam.

In the same year, 2003, when the new banknotes were issued, coins were minted, and the Vietnamese still use them to this day. As of August 2024, Vietnam circulates coins with the following denominations:

• 200 and 500 dong, made of nickel-coated steel — their reverse shows only the denomination;
• 1 000 and 2 000 coins made of brass-coated steel with the reverse showing the water temple and the high-altitude house on stilts in Tay Nguyen where Ho Chi Minh lived, respectively;
• 5 000 dong made of brass only with the image of the Thua Mot Cat Pagoda in Hanoi on the reverse.

Payments in Vietnamese Dongs

Cashless payments are actively developing in Vietnam. This process accelerated after the pandemic in 2020 when many residents were forced to switch to digital payments. According to 2019 data, about 95% of payments in Vietnam were made using cash, and only 31% of the country's adult population had a bank account.

However, even after the end of pandemic-related restrictions, the rapid growth of cashless payments has continued. According to OpenGov Asia statistics, as early as 2021, the share of cash payments in Vietnam was just under 30%, with cashless payments becoming the most common payment method.

This trend has continued: in the first quarter of 2024 alone, the number of mobile payments in Vietnam grew by almost 59%, and online payments in general by almost 49%. Because of this rapid growth in digital payments, the Vietnamese government issued new regulations on cashless payments as early as May 2024.

However, cash payments are still in high demand; for example, the share of cash transactions at the point of sale decreased by only 2% from 2019 to 2023, according to Statista. Although cashless payments are pretty developed in Vietnam in 2024, tourists and new residents are often advised to take cash with them, as in some regions of the country, it is only possible to pay for goods and services with it.