K.A.I REVIEW

How to write your name so KYC passes and you get paid

Vietnamese names run in the opposite order to Western forms, so many people fill in First name / Last name wrongly when they open the account. The damage does not show up until the first payout, when the name on the firm account does not match the ID or the bank account. A name mismatch is the most common reason a payout bounces.

The golden rule: THE ONE RULE: open your passport and look at the two machine-printed lines at the bottom of the photo page (the MRZ). Copy exactly from there — no diacritics, no reordering, no dropping anything.

01Where each part of a Vietnamese name goes

The ICAO standard that all passports follow puts the entire family name in Surname, and the middle name plus given name together, in that order, in Given names.

Family name (e.g. Nguyen)

Goes in Last name / Surname / Family name. The family name only.

Middle + given name (e.g. Van An)

BOTH go together in First name / Given names, in that order: "VAN AN". This is the most common mistake — people enter only "AN" and drop "VAN".

When the form has a separate Middle name box

You may put the middle name there, as long as the combination still reads the same as the MRZ. If unsure, putting everything in First name is safest.

Compound names

E.g. "Nguyen Thi Minh Khai": the MRZ tells you exactly which part is the surname. Do not guess — read the MRZ.

02How to read the MRZ

The MRZ is the two machine-printed lines at the bottom of the photo page. The < character is a filler. Two of them, <<, separate the surname from the rest.

P<VNMNGUYEN<<VAN<AN<<<<<<<<<<<

Reads as: SURNAME = NGUYEN (before <<). GIVEN NAMES = VAN AN (after <<, single < is a space). So Last name = NGUYEN, First name = VAN AN.

No diacritics, uppercase

The MRZ strips every Vietnamese diacritic. Use this unaccented form on the firm form and on the receiving account.

Đ becomes D

Đ is written as D in the MRZ (Đặng → DANG). Do not write DJ or DD — follow your own passport.

03Three things that must match exactly

1. Name on the firm account

Set at sign-up. Changing it later usually means a support ticket and re-submitting documents.

2. Name on the KYC document

The passport or ID you upload. This is the reference the other two must match.

3. Name on the receiving account

Bank, Wise, Deel… The recipient must be YOU. Receiving through a relative’s account is an outright rejection and some firms treat it as fraud.

A missing middle name alone can stall it

It does not take much. "AN NGUYEN" on the firm account versus "NGUYEN VAN AN" on the passport is enough for the reviewer to hold the payout.

04Vietnamese bank accounts — new rule from 01/01/2026

Under Circulars 17/2024/TT-NHNN and 18/2024/TT-NHNN, from 01/01/2026 Vietnamese banks no longer accept a passport as the identity document for payment transactions and withdrawals by Vietnamese citizens.

What to use instead

Chip-enabled citizen ID, or a level-2 electronic ID (VNeID), or a still-valid older ID verified against the national population database.

Do this before your first payout

Update your bank record to the chip ID. If the account is still tied to a passport, transactions can be blocked exactly when the money arrives.

When the firm has your passport but the bank has your ID card

That is fine as long as the NAME on both documents is identical. If they differ, fix the document first — do not discover it at payout time.

05If you already signed up with the wrong name

Fix it now, not at payout time

Open a support ticket asking for a "name order correction to match passport MRZ" and attach the passport page showing the MRZ. Fixing it before there is money involved is far easier.

Do not open a second account to dodge it

Nearly every firm bans undeclared multiple accounts. Opening a new one to avoid a name fix is the fastest way to lose all profit.

Keep the paper trail

Screenshot the ticket, the firm’s reply and the dates. If a payout is later held over the name, you have something to point to.

Before your first payout — check these five

The firm account name matches the passport MRZ letter for letter.
The receiving account is in that same name, and it belongs to you.
Your KYC document is still valid — an expired one stalls it even with the right name.
Your Vietnamese bank record is updated to the chip ID (required from 01/01/2026).
Read the Payout section for your specific firm on this site — each one pays differently and asks for different documents.