A Driving Force Behind the Development of the Vietnam-Korea Financial Ecosystem
The increase in exchanges, tourism, study, and work between Vietnam and South Korea is driving a growing demand for diverse cross-border financial services. From money transfers and receiving remittances to making payments while traveling, on business trips, or studying and living abroad, customers increasingly expect convenient, seamless financial experiences that are integrated within a single ecosystem.
In recent years, Vietnam-South Korea relations have continued to develop strongly across many sectors, from investment and trade to tourism, education, and labor. South Korea is not only one of Vietnam’s major economic partners but also a familiar destination for Vietnamese people seeking to study, work, and live long-term.
In 2025, the number of visitors from Vietnam to South Korea reached approximately 550,000, an increase of 9% compared to the previous year. Vietnamese nationals also topped the list of foreign nationals residing long-term in South Korea. Conversely, the number of South Korean visitors reached approximately 4.3 million, accounting for about 20% of the total 21.2 million international visitors to Vietnam.
The growing movement of people between the two countries has simultaneously driven an increase in cross-border financial needs. For Vietnamese living and working in South Korea, this includes the need to send money back to their families, as well as receiving and sending remittances. For international students and workers, the need to transfer funds for educational and living expenses is also common.
Meanwhile, millions of tourists, business travelers, and short-term residents in both countries also want to make convenient payments using familiar methods without facing currency or payment infrastructure barriers.
Cross-border financial needs, therefore, no longer stop at a single money transfer or payment transaction but are moving toward a seamless financial experience that connects multiple services and markets.
The digital ecosystem drives international connectivity and integration
Behind each customer’s financial transactions lies an increasingly extensive network of connections among banks, payment infrastructures, technology partners, and financial institutions both domestically and internationally. By addressing these financial needs, the cross-border financial ecosystem continues to expand.
One of the key foundations for this process is the strategic partnership between the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) and Hana Bank—two leading commercial banks in Vietnam and South Korea, respectively. Since Hana Bank became a strategic shareholder of BIDV in 2019, the two parties have continuously expanded their cooperation across various fields to develop financial services for customers in both countries.
Subsequently, in August 2025, during the Vietnam-South Korea Economic Forum in Seoul, BIDV and Hana Bank signed a new cooperation agreement in the presence of high-ranking officials from both countries.
Under the agreement, the two parties will collaborate on several key projects, such as establishing cross-border QR payment connectivity between Vietnam and South Korea; enabling customers to withdraw cash using a QR code from the Hana Bank app at BIDV’s ATM network in Vietnam; and launching a 24/7 remittance service from South Korea to Vietnam via HanaEZ.
Beyond these specific projects, BIDV and Hana Bank also plan to continue exploring new financial initiatives and expand cooperation in areas such as fintech, securities, insurance, and digital financial services. This also serves as a foundation for both parties to continue expanding the Vietnam-South Korea financial ecosystem in the coming period.
Alongside expanding international cooperation, BIDV is also developing platforms such as Open Banking and BIDV Open API to strengthen the integration of banking services with digital platforms, partners, and external ecosystems.
To realize these connections, BIDV is continuously investing in the development of its digital banking infrastructure. According to the 2025 Annual Report, BIDV currently serves approximately 12 million individual customers on digital platforms and 193,000 corporate customers, with its system processing about 13.3 billion digital transactions annually. Along with developing the BIDV Open API platform and implementing a Payment Hub compliant with the ISO 20022 standard, BIDV is gradually expanding its connectivity with domestic and international partners, laying the groundwork for the rapid, secure, and convenient delivery of cross-border financial services to customers.
BIDV Meets a Wide Range of Cross-Border Financial Needs
BIDV is gradually expanding its portfolio of cross-border financial services for individual customers, aiming to support users in a wide range of needs, from money transfers and receiving remittances to payments.
Currently, BIDV offers international money transfer services to support a wide range of legitimate purposes for individual customers, while also providing services for receiving funds from abroad into Vietnam, including a remittance service for the Vietnamese community in South Korea. Some international money transfer transactions have also been integrated into BIDV SmartBanking, helping customers conduct transactions more conveniently on the digital platform.
In addition to the flow of funds sent and received between the two countries, payments have also become a crucial link in users’ financial journeys.
In April 2026, BIDV partnered with Vietnam National Payment Corporation (NAPAS), Hana Bank, and GLN International to launch a cross-border QR payment service between Vietnam and South Korea. The service allows South Koreans traveling, living, or working in Vietnam to use their familiar banking apps or e-wallets to make QR code payments at the nationwide network of VIETQRGlobal acceptance points.In this project, BIDV serves as the acquiring bank and is directly developing the payment acceptance network, helping to expand access to the service in sectors such as tourism, retail, and services.
The launch of this service is the result of collaboration between banks, payment infrastructure operators, and financial partners from both countries. Moving forward, the parties aim to establish a two-way connection and expand payment options for the public
From international money transfers and remittances to cross-border QR payments, BIDV’s services are gradually meeting the various financial needs that arise during study, work, residence, and travel between Vietnam and South Korea.
These connections not only help expand the scope of service provision but also facilitate the gradual integration of the domestic payment infrastructure with international financial networks, offering customers a more convenient experience when conducting cross-border transactions.
From practical individual needs—such as sending money to family, receiving remittances, or making payments while 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 is not only supporting the domestic digital transformation process but also contributing to strengthening financial connectivity and international integration, while supporting the increasingly deep and broad development of cooperative relations between Vietnam and South Korea.
