Freelancers & agencies: receive international payments into a Vietnamese bank account
Delivering projects, services or SaaS to overseas clients? TCONNECT helps freelancers, agencies and software companies receive fees and revenue straight into a bank account in Vietnam — directly through the banking rails, at low cost, with no intermediary wallet and no need for a foreign company.
Vietnamese freelancers and agencies often receive money through an intermediary wallet and then withdraw it — high fees, poor FX rates, and sometimes held funds. TCONNECT lets you receive project fees, service revenue and SaaS income straight to a bank in Vietnam, directly and transparently, with no foreign legal entity required. This is a deep dive for people who serve international clients; if you want the big picture first, read the pillar article Cross-border payment: receiving international money in Vietnam.
Where does the international income of freelancers & agencies come from?
Before optimizing the cost of getting paid, you need a clear view of which channels your incoming cash comes from — because each channel has its own quirks around currency, timing and reconciliation.
- 1Direct clients: overseas businesses or individuals sign a service contract and pay against an invoice. This is the most stable source, and it is also where a professional image matters most — large clients are often wary of sending money to a personal wallet.
- 2Freelance platforms: marketplaces such as Upwork, Fiverr or Toptal (given as generic examples) hold your money in an internal wallet; you only get it after withdrawing, and each withdrawal adds a fee and an FX spread.
- 3SaaS subscription revenue: monthly or yearly subscription fees from international users, usually via a collecting gateway. The hallmark is many small transactions across many currencies that need to be aggregated and reconciled automatically.
- 4Royalties, affiliate, marketplace: software royalties, marketing commissions and template/asset sales on international marketplaces — small individually but meaningful in aggregate.
A typical freelancer or agency receives money in several currencies (USD, EUR, GBP, AUD…) from different sources within the same month. If each source flows through a separate wallet, both cost and reconciliation effort multiply with the number of channels. Consolidating into a single collection route reduces both fees and admin time.
Where does receiving international money get expensive?
The real cost of receiving money through an intermediary wallet is often hidden across several fee layers and FX spreads, so many people only see a shortfall in the final figure without understanding why.
- !Double fees: a fee to receive into the wallet + a fee to withdraw to the bank, plus an unfavorable FX spread.
- !Held funds: a wallet may freeze part of your balance for review, hurting personal and team cash flow.
- !Entity barrier: many agencies feel forced to set up a foreign company just to accept payments from large clients.
- !Manual reconciliation: it is hard to match each receipt to a contract/invoice when money travels a roundabout path.
- !Prolonged FX risk: leaving money in a wallet while waiting to withdraw means accepting exchange-rate volatility until the conversion happens.
How the "double fee" really eats into your fees
What surprises many freelancers is that the total cost is not a single number but three stacked layers. Let's look at how a fee gets whittled down through each layer.
- 1Layer 1 — Receiving fee into the wallet: the platform or wallet takes a percentage as money flows in from the client/marketplace.
- 2Layer 2 — FX spread: when converting the currency, the wallet applies a rate worse than the market rate; this gap is an invisible cost that is not labeled a "fee" and so is hard to spot.
- 3Layer 3 — Withdrawal fee to the VN bank: each withdrawal takes a fixed amount or a percentage.
An invoice of USD 2,000 (illustrative). Assume a receiving fee of ~2%, an FX spread of ~2%, and a withdrawal fee of ~1% plus a few fixed charges: total shrinkage can reach around 5% or more — that is over USD 100 "evaporating" per invoice, not counting the wait time to withdraw. For an agency running 10–20 invoices a month, the yearly total is significant. (These rates are illustrative only and are not TCONNECT's fee schedule.)
A direct-to-bank collection route removes the wallet fee layer and cuts down the number of conversions, so the share of the fee you keep is usually markedly higher. See how the overall process works in the article Cross-border payment: receiving international money in Vietnam.
Holding a balance in a wallet: a risk few account for
Beyond fees, leaving money in a wallet creates operational risks that individuals and teams often only recognize once something has gone wrong.
- !Held for review: a wallet may "freeze" part of a balance when it detects unusual activity or per compliance requirements, leaving you unable to withdraw exactly when you need to.
- !Team cash-flow impact: for an agency, money stuck in a wallet means contractor pay, tooling costs and operations get delayed too.
- !Dependence on third-party policy: withdrawal limits, processing times and terms can change beyond your control.
- !Accumulating FX risk: the longer a foreign-currency balance sits waiting, the greater the exposure to exchange-rate swings.
When money is credited straight to a VN bank, you stay in control: use it immediately for operations and reduce the time balances sit "parked" with a third party.
Receive fees & revenue straight to a VN bank
TCONNECT provisions a named collection account so international clients and platforms can pay in via SWIFT or local rails. The money is converted transparently and credited straight to your bank account in Vietnam, with data to reconcile against each contract. TCONNECT's cross-border offering is a service delivered directly with a partner bank, on Visa Direct infrastructure — covering 180+ countries and 30+ currencies, supporting both SWIFT and local rails.
| Criteria | Intermediary wallet | TCONNECT (direct) |
|---|---|---|
| Money path | Client → wallet → withdraw to VN | Client → named account → VN bank |
| Fee layers | Receiving fee + FX spread + withdrawal fee | Minimized, transparent |
| FX rate | The wallet's FX spread | Transparent |
| Held funds | Balance may be frozen | Minimized |
| Speed to VN | Depends on withdrawal schedule | Credited straight to the bank |
| Reconciliation records | Fragmented, manual | Attached to each receipt |
| Foreign company | Often needed for large clients | Not needed |
Getting paid through a bank: more credible to large clients
With large enterprise clients, how you get paid reflects your professionalism. Many corporate finance departments have internal rules that limit sending money to personal wallets, and prefer partners who can issue invoices and receive through official banking rails.
- ✓Receive through banking rails instead of a personal wallet — easier to get approved by the client's procurement/accounting team.
- ✓No need to set up a foreign company just to have an "international receiving account," saving the cost of forming and maintaining a legal entity.
- ✓Consistent records across contract, invoice and the amount actually received — building trust for repeat, long-term engagements.
Match receipts to contracts for easier reporting
One of the biggest pains when money runs through a wallet is reconciliation: at period-end it is hard to tell which receipt maps to which contract after fees have been deducted and conversions done in several steps. A direct collection route attaches data to each transaction.
- ✓Match to contract/invoice: each credit carries information to reconcile against the corresponding invoice.
- ✓Easier reporting: clear figures help you prepare reports and file obligations on time, with fewer errors.
- ✓Transparent trail: easy to explain the origin of funds when needed to a bank or regulator.
This content is only a general note on records and reconciliation, not specific tax advice. Tax obligations on income from abroad depend on your operating form (individual, household business, company) and current regulations. You should check the current tax rules that apply to your situation or consult a tax professional.
Milestone/acceptance-based payments for agencies & outsourcing
Software and outsourcing projects are rarely paid in one go. It is usually milestone-based payment: an advance, partial acceptance, and final settlement. Each milestone is an inbound cash flow that must map to the corresponding piece of work.
- ✓Advance at project start: receive the deposit into the bank to kick off, without waiting for money to be "released" from a wallet.
- ✓Acceptance by stage: each payment milestone maps clearly to a deliverable, making it easy to reconcile and report progress to the client.
- ✓Final settlement: aggregate the milestones to close out the contract, with consistent records from start to finish.
With the milestone model, having each amount arrive correctly, in full and with records helps preserve a trusted client relationship and reduces payment disputes.
Should you set up a foreign legal entity?
Many freelancers and agencies are advised to "open a company abroad" to get paid. That is a big decision with attached costs and obligations; weigh it against the framework below instead of doing it by default.
| Situation | Usually NO foreign entity needed | May consider a foreign entity |
|---|---|---|
| Main goal | Just to receive fees/revenue into VN | Need legal presence, signing contracts in that market |
| Clients | Pay against a service contract, accept banking rails | Require the partner to be a local entity |
| Cost & operations | Want to stay lean, avoid formation/maintenance fees | Willing to bear multi-country accounting and compliance costs |
| Scale | Individual, small to mid-sized team | Large expansion, fundraising, need an international structure |
If your need is mainly to receive money into Vietnam, a direct collection route through a bank is usually enough and far cheaper than forming and maintaining a company abroad.
Who is it for?
- ✓Freelancers: development, design, writing, marketing, consulting… receiving fees from overseas clients.
- ✓Agencies & studios: marketing, creative and software development receiving project payments under contract.
- ✓Software & SaaS companies: collecting subscription revenue from international users, many transactions, many currencies.
- ✓Outsourcing providers: receiving milestone/acceptance-based payments from overseas partners.
Why freelancers & agencies choose TCONNECT
- 1Keep more: reduce double fees and FX spread — retain the bulk of your fee.
- 2Cash-flow control: money reaches your VN bank promptly, independent of a wallet's withdrawal schedule.
- 3Lean legal & tax: collect straight to a Vietnamese entity, with clear records that are easy to reconcile and report.
- 4Professional with large clients: receive payments through banking rails, with no need to build a foreign company.
A clean, professional checklist for receiving international payments
A clear collection process both helps you get paid in full and creates a professional impression with clients. Use the checklist below as a framework.
- ✓Agree the terms: currency, timing, milestones and fee responsibility spelled out in the contract.
- ✓Issue proper invoices: tie each receipt to an invoice with a code, description and due date.
- ✓Choose a direct receiving channel: prefer receiving through a bank rather than a personal wallet, to cut double fees and boost credibility.
- ✓Reconcile per period: match each credit to a contract/invoice and keep complete records.
- ✓Track FX & fees: know the conversion rate and all fees so you compute the true amount received.
- ✓Check obligations: review for yourself the tax/reporting rules that apply to your model.
Start receiving international money in Vietnam
TCONNECT's cross-border payment is delivered as a service, working directly with a partner bank. Get in touch for consultation and onboarding tailored to your business model.
TCONNECT is a payment infrastructure platform: payment APIs (VietQR, payment gateway, POS, Soundbox) and e-invoicing, together with a cross-border payment service — for PSPs, SaaS, ERPs and businesses in Vietnam.