A foreigner can register a MoMo wallet with a passport in 2026, but the wallet only becomes useful after a face check, a Vietnamese phone number and a linked Vietnamese bank card or account. Face verification became mandatory at the start of 2026 under State Bank of Vietnam Circular 41/2025, and a verified wallet is capped at 100 million VND a month per provider, roughly $3,800. How far you get depends mostly on how long your visa lets you stay, so I would settle that first.
I have lived and worked in Da Nang since 2017, and I handle e-visas and visa runs there at BestBus Vietnam. I have not sold anyone a MoMo account. Every rule below comes from MoMo’s own help centre, the State Bank circular as reported by Vietnam News and Vietnam Law Magazine, and expat payment guides, all checked on 7 October 2026.
What do you need to register a MoMo wallet as a foreigner?
You need four things: a valid passport, a Vietnamese phone number, a face scan and a Vietnamese bank card or account. MoMo’s help centre confirms that a foreign passport is accepted for verifying a wallet. The face scan is the biometric check required of new e-wallets since early 2026, and in MoMo’s own wording a wallet counts as verified only once a bank card or account is linked to it.
VietnamKB’s guide to Vietnamese banking apps calls a Vietnamese SIM close to a hard requirement for MoMo sign-up, and I found no MoMo statement that a foreign number works. Two expat guides add that the higher account tiers are built around the Vietnamese ID card, the CCCD, which a foreigner does not have. A passport account therefore stays at the basic tier.
How do you register MoMo with a passport, step by step?
Registration takes six actions in a fixed order, and the bank link comes last. The whole sequence runs inside the MoMo app on a Vietnamese number, and each action waits for the one before it. Allow time for the passport photo, since MoMo’s help centre expects some users to retry it.
- Buy a Vietnamese SIM and keep the number active, since sign-up runs on a Vietnamese phone number.
- Install MoMo and create the account with that number, confirming it when the app asks.
- Start identity verification in the app and choose the passport as your document.
- Photograph the passport data page flat, in even light, with all four corners in the frame and no glare.
- Complete the face scan the app requests. This is the biometric check Circular 41/2025 requires.
- Link a Vietnamese bank card or account to finish verification, then check the limits shown in the app.
Can you use MoMo without a Vietnamese bank account?
In practice, no. Without the bank link, MoMo’s help centre says the money in the wallet cannot be used, and its legal-basis page says a wallet neither verified nor linked to a bank account is temporarily locked under Circular 23/2019. I found no MoMo statement that a foreigner with only a passport and a SIM can use the wallet fully.
The bank is the hard part for a short-stay foreigner, because a refused account application leaves the wallet locked. Guides report that opening a Vietnamese bank account generally needs a longer-term visa or a temporary residence card, although I have covered two banks that issue a card on a 90-day e‑visa. For a plain trip you can file the e‑visa yourself on evisa.gov.vn. When the stay has to be long enough for a bank counter to take you seriously, I file the 90-day e‑visa and arrange the extension or the border run when the dates run short. Message me on WhatsApp with your entry date and I will check whether a 90-day e‑visa covers your bank appointment or you need an extension first. Your side is only the date and the city you fly into.
How do you top up MoMo with a foreign card?
A foreign debit card can fund a MoMo wallet once it is linked, and the top-up carries a fee. Linking a foreign card is a way to add money, and MoMo does not say it replaces the Vietnamese bank link that verification requires. MoMo’s help pages list 2,200 VND plus 2% of the amount for international Visa, Mastercard or JCB top-ups. The pages are undated, so read the fee screen before confirming.
MoMo’s top-up page describes the international card route as a debit card flow: link the card, choose it as the source, enter the amount, confirm with your password and the one-time code. Credit cards link for payments, and MoMo’s limits page caps those at 10 million VND per transaction. A 2020 promotion gave two free top-ups a month under 1 million VND, and I could not confirm it still runs.
Older MoMo pages still advertise about 5,000 cash top-up points. Circular 41/2025 bars e-wallet providers from accepting cash deposits or paying out cash at their own locations, so no plan should rest on cash. A transfer from a linked Vietnamese bank account is the route the circular leaves open.
What are the MoMo wallet limits for a foreigner?
Two layers limit a wallet: a monthly cap set by State Bank rules and daily limits that MoMo publishes in its help centre. The legal cap applies per customer per provider, so a second provider gets its own allowance. The table lists both layers in dong, with the source of each line.
| Limit | Amount | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cap, ordinary payments | 100 million VND per provider | Circular 41/2025 |
| Monthly cap, electricity, water, telecoms, tuition, hospital fees, insurance | 300 million VND per provider | Circular 41/2025 |
| Maximum wallet balance | 200 million VND | MoMo help centre |
| Top-up per day | 50 million VND | MoMo help centre |
| Payment or withdrawal per day | 50 million VND | MoMo help centre |
| Payment from a linked credit card | 10 million VND per transaction | MoMo help centre |
The daily figures come from undated MoMo pages and may predate Circular 41/2025, so treat them as ceilings and confirm them in the app. One guide puts a passport-only tier at about 20 million VND a month. MoMo publishes no such number, so do not rely on it.
Why does MoMo reject a foreign passport photo?
MoMo’s help centre names one official reason for a failed passport check, a photo with glare, a crooked angle or cut corners, and lists no other. Retry two or three times with the page flat and the corners in frame. If it still fails, send a support request from the app or call 1900 54 54 41, which MoMo bills at 1,000 VND a minute.
Other reasons appear in expat guides, such as a name that does not match the bank account. Only one guide lists them and MoMo has not confirmed them, so do not build a plan around them. A wallet opened on someone else’s papers fails the identity rules, so do not borrow a friend’s passport or SIM.
MoMo, ZaloPay or VietQR: which one should a foreigner pick?
A Vietnamese bank app with VietQR is the workhorse for expats, according to VietnamKB’s guide. VietQR is the national QR standard on the NAPAS network, Vietnam’s interbank payment switch, and it pays instantly, free, at any hour. MoMo adds bill payment and top-ups. ZaloPay is described as slightly easier to sign up for, though one guide says neither wallet works on a tourist entry.
| Option | What you need to start | Why people choose it | Status for a foreigner |
|---|---|---|---|
| MoMo | Passport, Vietnamese SIM, face scan, linked Vietnamese bank card or account | Bill payment, top-ups, transfers | Passport accepted by MoMo; full use needs the bank link |
| ZaloPay | The same basics as MoMo, per expat guides | Sits inside the Zalo chat app | One guide calls sign-up slightly easier |
| VietQR via a bank app | A Vietnamese bank account | Instant, free, any hour, printed codes at market stalls | The standard is not an app, so the bank account is the entry ticket |
| VNPAY | International number, passport and foreign card, per one guide | Onboarding aimed at visitors | Reported by one guide, not verified |
Every route in the table ends at the same requirement, a Vietnamese bank account, so the bank is the first real task. My walkthrough of opening a bank account as a foreigner covers the banks, and the broader payment methods guide covers cards and cash for the first days.
What should you do next?
Start with your stay. A longer permitted stay makes the Vietnamese bank account possible, and the bank link is what turns a passport-verified MoMo wallet into one you can spend from. Then buy the Vietnamese SIM, verify the passport with a clean photo and a face scan, link the bank card, and keep cash for markets while the wallet’s limits settle in.
The wallet is a free app, and you can do every step yourself with a SIM, a passport and a bank counter. If you would rather hand over the visa side, which is entry dates, validity and renewals, tell me your dates and I will map out what is left to file.
Frequently asked questions
Which e-wallets compete with MoMo?
As of 31 March 2025, State Bank data cited by Vietnam News counted 47 licensed e-wallet institutions and 46.01 million activated wallets. Besides MoMo, the main names are Viettel Money, ZaloPay, ShopeePay and VNPAY.
Can I register for MoMo while I am still outside Vietnam?
Circular 41/2025 allows a third party or authorised organisation to verify a foreigner who is outside Vietnam, and an electronic opening needs no meeting in person. The biometric check still applies, and I found no MoMo page that describes this route for individuals.
Does a MoMo account cost anything to keep?
Creating an account is free and there is no monthly fee. Charges attach to specific actions, such as international card top-ups and, per one expat guide, some merchant categories at 0 to 1%.
Can a MoMo wallet hold US dollars?
No. Guides report that Vietnamese e-wallets operate in dong only, so you fund them in VND and hold no foreign currency. Your card issuer converts at its own rate, so check its foreign-transaction fee.
Does MoMo pay interest on a balance or lend money?
No. Circular 41/2025 bans e-wallet providers from paying interest on balances and from extending credit to wallet users, so a MoMo balance earns nothing and cannot be borrowed against.
