Cross-border financial needs Vietnam - Korea
Vietnam - Korea relations in recent years have continued to develop strongly in many fields, from investment, trade to tourism, education and labor. Not only is it one of Vietnam's major economic partners, Korea is also a familiar destination for Vietnamese people in long-term study, work and living activities.
In 2025, the number of visitors from Vietnam to Korea reached about 550,000, an increase of 9% compared to the previous year. Vietnamese people also lead the list of long-term foreigners staying in Korea. In the opposite direction, Korean visitors reached about 4.3 million, accounting for about 20% of the total 21.2 million international visitors to Vietnam.
The increasing shift of people between the two countries also entails many cross-border financial needs. For Vietnamese people living and working in Korea, it is the need to transfer money to their families, receive and send remittances. For international students or workers, the need to transfer money for study and living also occurs frequently.
Meanwhile, millions of tourists, business travelers or short-term residents in the two countries also want to be able to pay conveniently by familiar methods without facing many barriers in terms of currency or payment infrastructure.
Cross-border financial needs are therefore no longer limited to a single money transfer or payment transaction, but aim for a continuous financial experience, connecting many services and many markets.
Digital ecosystem promotes connectivity and international integration
Behind the financial transactions of each customer is the increasingly broad connection between banks, payment infrastructure, technology partners and financial institutions at home and abroad. From meeting those financial needs, the cross-border financial ecosystem is increasingly expanding.
One of the important foundations for this process is the strategic cooperation relationship between the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) and Hana Bank - 2 leading commercial banks of the two countries Vietnam - Korea. Since Hana Bank became a strategic shareholder of BIDV in 2019, the two sides have continuously expanded cooperation in many fields to develop financial services for customers of the two countries.
Next, in August 2025, within the framework of the Vietnam - Korea Economic Forum in Seoul, BIDV and Hana Bank continued to sign a new cooperation agreement in the presence of senior leaders of the two countries.
According to the agreement, the two sides coordinate to implement many key projects such as connecting cross-border QR payments between Vietnam and Korea; allowing customers to withdraw money with QR codes from the Hana Bank application at BIDV's ATM system in Vietnam; deploying 24/7 remittance service from Korea to Vietnam through HanaEZ.
Not only stopping at specific projects, BIDV and Hana Bank also orient to continue researching new financial initiatives, expanding cooperation in fields such as fintech, securities, insurance and digital financial services. This is also the foundation for the two sides to continue to expand the Vietnam - Korea financial ecosystem in the coming time.
In parallel with expanding international cooperation, BIDV also develops platforms such as Open Banking and BIDV Open API, strengthening the connection of banking services with digital platforms, partners and external ecosystems.
To realize these connections, BIDV continuously invests in developing digital banking infrastructure. According to the 2025 Annual Report, BIDV currently serves about 12 million individual customers on the digital platform and 193,000 corporate customers, with a system processing about 13.3 billion digital transactions per year. Along with the development of the BIDV Open API platform and the deployment of Payment Hub according to ISO 20022 standards, BIDV is gradually expanding its connectivity with domestic and foreign partners, creating a platform to deploy cross-border financial services faster, safer and more conveniently for customers.
BIDV meets diverse cross-border financial needs
BIDV is gradually expanding its cross-border financial service portfolio for individual customers, aiming to accompany users in many different needs, from money transfers, receiving remittances to payments.
Currently, BIDV provides international money transfer services to serve many legitimate purposes of individual customers, and at the same time deploys services to receive money from abroad to Vietnam, including remittance transfer services for the Vietnamese community in Korea. Some international money transfer transactions have also been integrated on BIDV SmartBanking, helping customers make transactions more convenient on the digital platform.
Besides the cash flow transferred and received between the two countries, payment has also become an important link in the financial journey of users.
In April 2026, BIDV cooperated with Vietnam National Payment Joint Stock Company (NAPAS), Hana Bank and GLN International to deploy cross-border QR payment service Vietnam - Korea. The service allows Koreans to travel, live, and work in Vietnam to use familiar banking applications or e-wallets to pay with QR codes at the VIETQRGlobal acceptance point network nationwide. In this project, BIDV takes on the role of payment bank, and directly develops a payment acceptance network, contributing to expanding access to services in fields such as tourism, retail and services.
Putting the service into operation is the result of the connection process between banks, payment infrastructure operating organizations and financial partners of the two countries. In the coming time, the parties aim to complete the two-way connection, expanding payment capacity for people.
From international money transfers, remittances to cross-border QR payments, BIDV's services are gradually meeting many financial needs arising in the process of studying, working, living and moving between Vietnam and Korea.
These connections not only contribute to expanding the scope of service provision, but also create conditions for domestic payment infrastructure to gradually connect with international financial networks, bringing a more convenient experience for customers when transacting across borders.
From the practical needs of each individual such as transferring money to family, receiving remittances or paying when traveling,... the connections between BIDV and Hana Bank, NAPAS, GLN International and many other partners are gradually expanding into a diverse digital financial ecosystem. Through this, BIDV not only serves the domestic digital transformation process but also contributes to strengthening financial connections and international integration, accompanying the increasingly deep development of cooperative relations between Vietnam and Korea.
