This new regulation aims to meet the requirements of the 2023 Law on Identification, Circular 17 of 2024 and Circular 18 of 2024 of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV).

Circular 17 and Circular 18 require financial institutions to verify the validity of identification documents, authenticate biometric information, and update customers' residence information.

Accordingly, from January 1, 2025, payment account holders/bank card holders will not be able to make online transactions and transfer/withdraw money using QR codes at ATMs if they: have not completed the verification of the declaration and correct biometric information; have not updated the new information supplement to replace expired identification documents.

In addition, the 2023 Law on Identification stipulates that all 9-digit and 12-digit identity cards will expire from December 31, 2024, requiring people to switch to chip-embedded citizen identification cards (CCCD). This requires customers to update new CCCD information in their records to avoid transaction interruptions.

These regulations ensure the safety and security of online payments, thereby creating a healthy cyberspace, promoting sustainable development of cashless payments and protecting customers' rights.

Individual customers can update their biometrics themselves via the app as instructed. However, for devices that do not support NFC (wireless connection technology), customers need to go to any bank transaction point to request support from staff.

According to the State Bank of Vietnam, to date, about 70 million bank accounts have been biometrically authenticated. Banks are still making efforts to support biometric authentication for customers.

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More than 8.5 million accounts at Vietcombank have had their data cleaned. Photo: Hoang Ha.

From the beginning of December 2024, banks with large customer bases such as Agribank, VietinBank, BIDV, Vietcombank all work overtime to serve customers who come to register. Vietcombank and Agribank even work on holidays (Saturday, Sunday) until mid-January 2025 to serve customers.

Most customers come to the counter for biometric authentication because their mobile phones do not support NFC connection or change CCCD information.

According to Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank), to date, VietinBank has deployed biometric collection for more than 83% of customers operating on digital channels.

The bank has also just signed a cooperation agreement with the Center for Research and Application of Population Data and Citizen Identification (RAR Center) - Ministry of Public Security. The two sides will deploy electronic authentication services via VNeID on VietinBank iPay Mobile.

A series of banks such as Vietcombank, LPBank, NCB, Agribank,... also cooperate with the RAR Center. Customers of these banks can use the VNeID application to collect biometrics and update their identification documents.

According to Mr. Pham Anh Tuan, Director of the Payment Department (State Bank), the deployment of electronic authentication service via VNeID on banking applications and the RAR Center - Ministry of Public Security is a solid premise in enhancing management efficiency and developing electronic financial services safely.

At Agribank, up to now, the bank has cleaned up more than 6 million accounts out of a total of more than 12 million customers opening accounts at this bank.

The bank is urgently implementing cleaning for all customers and targeting all individual customers at Agribank according to the regulations in Circular No. 17 and Circular No. 18.

Vietcombank said that up to now, 8.5 million customers have successfully updated their biometrics, and this number continues to increase, ranking among the top in the market.

In some industrial zones, the number of customers who are factory and company employees coming to update their biometrics has increased dramatically, especially on weekends. These Vietcombank branches have mobilized all staff to work overtime to serve customers.

Which transactions are still being processed?

However, if biometric authentication is not performed, customers can still make cash withdrawals at ATMs using physical cards. Card transactions can still be made at card acceptance devices at the point of sale (POS).

For customers whose identification documents have expired, the bank will temporarily suspend card transactions on all transaction channels.

To avoid transaction interruptions, the bank recommends that customers who have not updated their biometric information and/or have not updated their ID information to replace their expired ID documents:

Method 1: Update biometric information on the e-banking application.

Method 2: Update biometric information and identification documents at all bank transaction points nationwide.

Customers only need to update their biometric information and valid identification documents once at the bank. When the biometric information changes or the identification documents expire, customers need to update them.