Why Your Transfer to Vietnam Passes Through Three Banks Before It Arrives: Correspondent Banking Explained

Correspondent banking explains a detail most senders never learn. A traditional wire to Vietnam almost never travels directly from your bank to your family’s bank. This guide walks through the three-bank structure behind a typical SWIFT transfer and why one Vietnamese bank sometimes skips a step that others cannot. It also covers the specific fees hiding at each stop along the way.

Your bank confirms the transfer went out, and then nothing at all seems to happen for two or three full days. Correspondent banking is usually the reason. It is a system most people never hear about, until their money seems to vanish somewhere between sending and receiving.

This guide explains exactly what happens during that gap and why three separate banks are so often involved, instead of just two. It also covers what you can actually do about it.

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What Correspondent Banking Actually Is

Your own bank does not maintain a direct account relationship with every single bank on earth, and it never really has. Your bank might need to move US dollars into a Vietnamese bank account. It typically relies on a correspondent bank instead, an intermediary that already holds accounts with both your bank and, indirectly, the Vietnamese banking system.

This structure exists for a practical reason. Building and maintaining direct account relationships with thousands of banks worldwide would be impossibly expensive for any single institution. Instead, banks lean on a smaller number of correspondent relationships to bridge the gap. Your money passes through that bridge on its way to Vietnam.

The Three Banks in Your Transfer, Named

A typical SWIFT transfer to Vietnam genuinely involves three entirely distinct institutions, each playing its own specific role. Your own bank, the originating institution, debits your account and sends a SWIFT message describing the transfer. A correspondent bank receives that message next. Often a large global institution with deep relationships across many countries, it forwards the actual funds toward Vietnam.

The beneficiary bank receives the funds from the correspondent bank last. This Vietnamese institution, like Vietcombank, Techcombank, VietinBank, or BIDV, credits your family’s account. Each of these three institutions plays a genuinely different role. Any one of them can introduce delay or cost into the process.

Why Vietcombank Sometimes Skips a Step

Not every Vietnamese bank actually sits in the exact same position within this broader chain. Vietcombank was originally established as the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam. Over more than six decades of operation, it has built the deepest international correspondent relationships of any Vietnamese bank.

That depth occasionally lets transfers to Vietcombank route more directly from major US banks. It sometimes skips an intermediary hop that other Vietnamese banks still require. Techcombank maintains strong international processing capabilities too. Certain US-to-Vietnam corridors may still involve an additional correspondent bank, though, that a Vietcombank-routed transfer would not need. Which Vietnamese bank your family actually uses can genuinely affect how many stops your money makes along the way.

The Fee Hiding at Each Stop

Here is the detail most senders never learn until it costs them money. Each correspondent bank in the chain can deduct what the industry calls a lifting fee. That fee typically ranges from $15 to $50, simply for passing the funds along to the next stop.

This fee structure connects to a choice you may not know you had. International transfers typically use one of three fee arrangements. OUR means the sender pays all fees upfront, so the recipient gets the full amount. SHA splits fees between sender and recipient, the more common default. BEN means the recipient absorbs every fee deducted along the chain. Ask your bank which option applies. Requesting OUR specifically, when it matters, can meaningfully change how much your family actually receives.

The Actual Timeline, Day by Day

Understanding the day-by-day mechanics genuinely helps explain why a transfer that seems perfectly simple actually takes as long as it does. On day one specifically, your bank debits your account and submits the SWIFT message describing the entire transfer. Over the following one to two full days after that, correspondent banks process and forward the funds along the chain.

The receiving Vietnamese bank typically credits the account within another one to two days after that. Non-USD currency conversions can add further time on top. Transfers requiring two or more correspondent banks in sequence commonly stretch to four or five business days total. A more direct routing might complete in half that time.

What Is Changing This Structure

A genuinely growing number of providers now bypass the traditional correspondent chain entirely and skip it altogether. They connect directly into Vietnam’s own local clearing network instead, rather than routing through global correspondent banks entirely. This approach can genuinely turn a multi-day correspondent journey into something closer to a same-day local transfer. It skips the intermediary hops that create both real delay and lifting fees in the traditional model.

This does not eliminate correspondent banking as a concept. Plenty of transfers still route the traditional way, particularly through banks without direct local clearing access. It does mean the three-bank structure described here is no longer the only path available. Comparing providers on how they actually route your money, not just their advertised fee, increasingly matters.

Why This System Persists Despite Its Obvious Downsides

Correspondent banking might look outdated compared to newer alternatives. The underlying trust structure it provides remains genuinely hard to replace overnight, though. Each correspondent relationship represents years of due diligence and regulatory compliance checks. That established trust between two institutions exists specifically to move large sums of money safely across borders.

That trust infrastructure is exactly why banks have been slow to abandon correspondent banking, even as it introduces real friction for ordinary senders. Ripping out a decades-old relationship and replacing it with something entirely new carries genuine operational risk for a bank. That explains why change in this space tends to happen gradually, provider by provider, rather than as a single industry-wide shift.

What to Actually Ask Before Your Next Transfer

Given everything covered here, a few direct questions to your bank or provider reveal more than any marketing page will. Ask how many correspondent banks your specific transfer is likely to pass through, since that number directly predicts both your timeline and your total cost.

Ask which fee option applies by default. Find out whether you can switch to OUR, too, if getting the full amount to your family matters more than a slightly higher upfront cost. Ask, too, whether the provider routes through traditional correspondent banking at all, or whether it connects more directly into Vietnam’s local banking infrastructure instead. These three questions alone tend to surface more useful information than most senders ever think to ask for.

Where ZoltMoney Fits

Understanding exactly how your money reaches Vietcombank, Agribank, or BIDV helps explain both the delay and the hidden cost. Correspondent banking can add real friction to a traditional transfer. Check ZoltMoney’s current rate before your next transfer to Vietnam. Ask any provider directly how many banks your money actually passes through.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will correspondent banking eventually disappear entirely?

Not quickly. The trust infrastructure behind correspondent relationships took years to build through regulatory compliance and due diligence between institutions, making it genuinely hard to replace overnight. Change tends to happen gradually, provider by provider, as more companies build direct local clearing connections instead.

What is correspondent banking?

Correspondent banking is the system banks use to move money internationally. It comes into play whenever a bank lacks a direct account relationship with the destination bank. An intermediary bank, or correspondent, bridges that gap by holding accounts connected to both the sending and receiving institutions.

Why does my transfer to Vietnam pass through three banks?

A typical SWIFT transfer involves three institutions. Your originating bank starts it, a correspondent bank forwards the funds, and the beneficiary bank in Vietnam credits your family’s account. Each institution plays a distinct role. The number of correspondent banks involved can vary, too, depending on which Vietnamese bank receives the funds.

Why does Vietcombank sometimes process transfers faster than other Vietnamese banks?

Vietcombank was originally established as the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam. It has built unusually deep international correspondent relationships over more than six decades since. This depth occasionally allows transfers to route more directly from major foreign banks. It sometimes skips an intermediary hop that other Vietnamese banks still require.

What is a lifting fee?

A lifting fee is an amount a correspondent bank deducts, typically $15 to $50, simply for passing funds along to the next bank in the chain. Multiple correspondent banks in a single transfer can each deduct their own lifting fee. That reduces the amount that ultimately reaches the recipient.

What is the difference between OUR, SHA, and BEN fee options?

OUR means the sender pays all transfer fees upfront, so the recipient receives the full amount. SHA splits fees between sender and recipient and is the more common default. BEN means the recipient absorbs every fee deducted along the correspondent chain.

How long does a transfer with multiple correspondent banks typically take?

Transfers requiring two or more correspondent banks in sequence commonly take four to five business days total. A more direct routing can complete in roughly half that time. A bank with deeper correspondent relationships often provides exactly that shortcut.

Disclaimer

This blog is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. ZoltMoney facilitates transfers exclusively through authorised and fully licensed banking and financial partners. Fee structures, timelines, and correspondent banking arrangements mentioned here are illustrative and can vary by bank and corridor. Confirm current details directly with your bank before sending a large or time-sensitive transfer.