How Vietnamese Expats Can Track Multi-Currency Spending

The Multi-Currency Challenge

Vietnamese expats juggle an average of 3.2 currencies simultaneously—VND for family support back home, USD/EUR/AUD for daily expenses abroad, and often crypto for remittances. Traditional budgeting apps fail spectacularly at multi-currency tracking.

Why Traditional Apps Fail Expats

1. Single-Currency Assumption

Mint, YNAB, and similar tools assume all your money lives in one currency. They can't handle:

• Sending 10 million VND home while spending $2,000 USD locally
• Credit card charges in EUR converted from VND
• Salary in one currency, rent in another

2. Poor Exchange Rate Tracking

Apps use today's exchange rate retroactively, distorting your actual spending. A $100 purchase 3 months ago shows as a different VND amount today—making budget tracking meaningless.

3. No Vietnamese Bank Support

Mint, YNAB, Monarch don't connect to:

• Vietcombank
• Techcombank
• ACB, VPBank, MB Bank
• Momo, ZaloPay

The Smart Approach to Multi-Currency Tracking

Step 1: Choose Your Base Currency

Pick the currency you think in—usually where you live:

• Living in USA → USD
• Living in Vietnam → VND
• Living in Australia → AUD

Convert everything else to your base currency using transaction-date exchange rates (not today's rate).

Step 2: Track All Currency Sources

Vietnamese expats typically have:

• Local bank account (USD, EUR, AUD)
• Vietnamese bank account (VND)
• Credit cards (may charge in original currency or convert)
• Payment apps (Wise, Remitly, PayPal)
• Crypto wallets (for remittances)

Step 3: Account for Hidden FX Costs

Every currency conversion includes hidden fees:

Method	Typical FX Markup	Example Cost (on $1,000)
Bank wire transfer	3-5%	$30-50
Credit card abroad	1-3%	$10-30
Western Union	5-7%	$50-70
Wise	0.4-1%	$4-10
Crypto (USDT)	0.1-0.5%	$1-5

Category Challenges for Vietnamese Expats

Family Support (Remittances)

Sending money home to Vietnam shouldn't count as "spending"—it's a transfer. But apps categorize it as an expense, inflating your spending numbers.

Solution: Create separate "Family Support" category, track separately from personal spending.

Travel to Vietnam

When you visit Vietnam, everything switches to VND. Your USD budget becomes meaningless for 2-4 weeks.

Solution: Set separate "Vietnam Travel" budget in VND, reconcile to USD after trip.

Mixed Transactions

Shopping on Shopee Vietnam from USA = USD charged, but in VND with FX fees.

Solution: Track actual charge amount in USD, note FX fees separately.

The Bills AI Approach to Multi-Currency

1. Automatic Currency Detection

Upload Vietnamese bank statement → automatically detects VND
Upload US bank statement → automatically detects USD

2. Transaction-Date Exchange Rates

AI uses historical exchange rates from the actual transaction date, giving accurate conversion to your base currency.

3. Vietnamese Merchant Recognition

AI correctly categorizes Vietnamese merchants that other apps don't recognize:

• XanhSM → Transportation
• Traveloka → Travel
• Shopee → Shopping
• Grab → Food/Transportation
• Momo → Transfers

4. FX Fee Detection

Automatically identifies foreign transaction fees on credit cards, showing true cost of international purchases.

Real Expat Budget Example

Phuong, Vietnamese software engineer in Sydney:

Income (Monthly)

• Salary: $8,500 AUD
• Freelance work: $1,200 USD (= $1,860 AUD)
• Total: $10,360 AUD

Expenses (Monthly)

• Rent: $2,200 AUD
• Groceries: $600 AUD
• Dining out: $400 AUD
• Transportation: $180 AUD
• Family support to Vietnam: 20 million VND (= $1,240 AUD) via Wise
• Vietnamese subscriptions (Netflix VN, Spotify VN): 500k VND (= $31 AUD)
• Credit card travel expenses: $800 USD (= $1,240 AUD) with $25 FX fees
• Total: $5,891 AUD

Savings Rate

43% ($10,360 - $5,891) / $10,360 = strong financial position

Best Practices for Multi-Currency Tracking

1. Use one base currency for all reporting
   Convert everything for apples-to-apples comparison
2. Track FX fees as separate expense category
   Reveals how much you're losing to currency conversion
3. Reconcile monthly in base currency
   Don't let exchange rate fluctuations confuse your budget
4. Use Wise or crypto for remittances
   Save 3-6% vs. traditional banks
5. Get credit cards with no FX fees
   Chase Sapphire, Capital One Venture—save 3% on all international purchases

Tools for Multi-Currency Expats

• Bills AI: Best for Vietnamese expats (supports VND, all major currencies)
• Wise: Best for cheap remittances
• XE.com: Track historical exchange rates
• YNAB: Manual multi-currency if you don't mind data entry

Start Tracking Today

Upload your Vietnamese and foreign bank statements to Bills AI. Our AI automatically detects currencies, applies correct exchange rates, and gives you a unified view of spending across all your accounts.