How to read Vietnamese bank statements — VCB, Techcombank, BIDV, MB Bank formats explained

Vietnamese bank statements use a different layout from US/EU formats and the field names are mostly in Vietnamese. This guide breaks down the most common format for each major bank, explains every column, and highlights the 8 fees Vietnamese banks charge that most account holders never notice.

Vietcombank (VCB) — the most common statement format

VCB statements typically have these columns:

Ngày GD — Transaction date (DD/MM/YYYY)
Số CT — Reference number (use this for disputes)
Mô tả — Description (often abbreviated)
Phát sinh Nợ — Debit (money out of your account)
Phát sinh Có — Credit (money into your account)
Số dư — Running balance after each transaction

Footer typically shows Tổng phát sinh Nợ (total debits), Tổng phát sinh Có (total credits), and Số dư cuối kỳ (ending balance).

Techcombank (TCB)

Techcombank uses a similar layout but adds:

Mã GD — Internal transaction code (different from Số CT)
Loại GD — Transaction type (chuyển khoản / thanh toán / rút tiền / phí)
Bilingual headers — most TCB statements include English under the Vietnamese labels

BIDV

BIDV statements are typically the densest visually. Key fields:

Ngày hiệu lực — Effective date (may differ from booking date)
Diễn giải — Narration (BIDV's term for description)
Số tiền — Amount (with sign indicating debit/credit, not separate columns)

BIDV PDFs are sometimes generated as images rather than text — if you can't select text in the PDF, you'll need OCR. Bills AI handles both natively.

MB Bank

MB Bank's statement layout matches VCB closely with one quirk: international transactions show both the original currency and the VND-converted amount, but the FX rate used is rarely shown — making it hard to spot the FX markup (typically 1.5-3% above interbank).

8 Vietnamese banking fees most customers don't notice

Phí quản lý tài khoản — Monthly account maintenance, usually 11,000-22,000 VND/mo
Phí SMS Banking — 11,000-13,200 VND/mo even if you barely use SMS notifications
Phí chuyển khoản liên ngân hàng — Inter-bank transfer fee, 7,700-22,000 VND each (Napas now mostly free, but some banks still charge)
Phí rút tiền ATM khác hệ thống — 3,300-5,500 VND per ATM withdrawal at another bank's ATM
Phí chuyển đổi ngoại tệ (FX markup) — Hidden 1.5-3% above interbank rate on international purchases
Phí thường niên thẻ — Annual card fee, 100k-500k VND/yr depending on tier
Phí thanh toán quá hạn — Credit card late fee (with interest spike)
Phí thông báo biến động số dư — Balance change SMS notification fee, usually bundled but sometimes itemized

Average detected fee burden per Vietnamese account: 290,000-450,000 VND/month (~$11-18 USD). Over a year, that's 3.5M-5.4M VND that most account holders never noticed.

How to audit your Vietnamese bank statement in 30 seconds

Upload your VCB / Techcombank / BIDV / MB / VPBank / TPBank PDF to Bills AI. The AI:

Reads Vietnamese transaction descriptions natively
Categorizes spending into food, transport, shopping, utilities, etc.
Flags every bank fee separately so you see the true cost of your account
Detects recurring subscriptions even when described in mixed Vietnamese/English
Calculates FX markups on international transactions

Works without bank linking — you stay in control of your data.

FAQ

Can I download my statement as Excel/CSV from Vietnamese banks?

Some banks offer it (Techcombank, VPBank), but most only export PDF. The free PDF to CSV converter handles VCB/BIDV/MB formats.

Why are my international charges always higher than the exchange rate?

Vietnamese banks add a 1.5-3% FX markup on top of the interbank rate, plus a 1-3% Visa/Mastercard cross-border fee. Total: 2.5-6% above the rate you see on Google. For frequent international spend, consider a Wise account or a card with no FX markup.

What if my bank statement is in image format (scanned)?

Bills AI uses OCR to read scanned statements. Upload normally — the AI handles both text PDFs and image-based scans.

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How to Read Vietnamese Bank Statements: VCB, Techcombank, BIDV PDF Format Explained