Banking when you move to Asia

Keep one Big Four account at home, use a Macquarie transaction account as your card overseas, and open a local account once you have a long-stay visa. That setup gets rid of the 3 percent fee most Australian cards charge on every purchase in baht or dong.

This is for Australians moving to Thailand or Vietnam. The sections on opening a Thai or Vietnamese account apply whatever passport you hold. Do the Australian side before you leave, because identity checks and SMS codes are much harder to sort out from overseas.

The setup I’d use

1. One Big Four account in Australia for income, bills and anything official. It’s the account least likely to be closed, and it works with Centrelink, the ATO and super funds.
2. A Macquarie transaction account as your everyday card overseas. It has no foreign transaction fee, no Macquarie fee at overseas ATMs and no monthly conditions (per Macquarie’s travel page).
3. Wise or a similar service to move larger amounts and hold baht. See sending money from Australia.
4. A Thai or Vietnamese account for rent, bills and cash, once your visa allows it.
5. An Australian mobile number on a cheap plan, so your banks’ security codes still reach you.

What a standard setup costs you overseas

• Foreign transaction fees. Most Big Four cards charge about 3 percent on every purchase in another currency. On A$3,000 a month of spending, that’s around A$90 gone.
• ATM fees. Thai bank ATMs charge foreign cards 220 THB (about A$9.40) a withdrawal, and some non-bank machines charge more. Many Australian banks add their own fee on top.
• Blocked cards and logins. Banks flag activity in South East Asia. If your codes go to a number you no longer use, you can be locked out for days.

Australian accounts worth keeping

ING dropped its monthly conditions (the old A$1,000 deposit and five purchases rule) on 15 October 2025, so the fee-free benefits now apply every month. The catch is in its terms: Orange Everyday is only for Australian tax residents with an Australian address, and ING may restrict or close accounts based on foreign tax residency. If you’re leaving for good, ask ING what will happen to yours before you rely on it.

That’s why I’d pick Macquarie. Its published rules treat customers with an overseas address as foreign residents for tax and withhold 10 percent from interest, but they don’t say the account gets closed. Open it before you go, because you need an Australian address and mobile number to do so.

Citibank’s Australian accounts are gone; they moved to NAB and closed in 2024.

Which accounts to close

• Accounts and cards with monthly or annual fees you won’t use from overseas.
• Store cards and credit cards you haven’t used in a year. Closing them remotely is slow.

Keep any account that receives Australian income, pays direct debits, or is linked to your super, Centrelink or the ATO.

Opening a Thai bank account

Thai banks tightened up in 2025 to stop scam “mule” accounts. Rules vary from branch to branch, but this is what to expect.

Who can open one

• Visa-exempt visitors: effectively no, at the major banks.
• Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) holders: Kasikornbank’s own page lists the DTV among the visas it won’t open accounts for, and other banks often refuse too.
• Non-immigrant visa holders (retirement O or O-A, work, study, marriage): yes, with the right documents. Bangkok Bank has been limiting accounts to long-term visa holders, people married to Thais and property owners.

What to bring

• Your passport with the non-immigrant visa or extension
• A second ID from home, such as your driver’s licence
• A document showing why you’re in Thailand: your retirement extension, work permit or school letter
• Proof of your Thai address (lease or TM30 receipt), which many branches ask for
• A Thai mobile number registered in your own name. Accounts linked to a SIM in someone else’s name can be frozen.

Kasikornbank (KBank) and Bangkok Bank are the usual choices. KBank’s K PLUS app works well in English, and Bangkok Bank has a long history with retirees. Suburban and shopping-centre branches tend to be more patient than busy city ones. Allow 30 to 90 minutes. You should walk out with an ATM card and the app set up.

On the retirement visa, open the account early. The 800,000 THB (about A$34,000) deposit has to sit in it for two months before you apply for an extension. See the Thailand retirement visa guide.

Opening a Vietnamese bank account

Foreigners can open accounts at Vietcombank, Techcombank, VPBank and others. You’ll need your passport plus proof of the right to live there, such as a work permit, temporary residence card or employer letter. On a tourist e-visa, many banks will say no.

Since 1 January 2025, Vietnamese banks require face verification before you can make online transfers. Foreigners register it with their passport at a branch.

Without a residence card, the realistic setup in Vietnam is a fee-free Australian card for ATM withdrawals, Wise for transfers, and cash for daily life outside the big cities. That’s mostly how it works for people on rolling e-visas.

Keeping ATM fees down

• Withdraw less often, in bigger amounts. The 220 THB fee is per withdrawal, so take out 20,000 THB rather than 3,000 THB.
• Use your Thai account for daily spending once you have one. Its own ATMs are free for you.
• Always choose local currency. When an ATM or card machine offers to charge you in Australian dollars, say no. That conversion is usually several percent worse.
• Exchange cash at licensed booths. SuperRich and similar booths in Bangkok give good rates if you’ve brought Australian dollars.

What the ATO can see

• While you’re an Australian tax resident, you declare all foreign income, including interest on a Thai account. You also answer yes on your return if your overseas assets total A$50,000 or more at any point in the year.
• Thailand has exchanged account information under the Common Reporting Standard since 2023, so assume the ATO can see Thai accounts held by Australian residents. Vietnam doesn’t take part yet.
• Once you’re a foreign resident, Australia doesn’t tax your foreign income. Thailand may, if you bring money in. See the Australian tax guide for leaving.