The State Bank has just issued Circular No. 45/2025 amending and supplementing a number of articles of Circular No. 18/2024 regulating bank card activities, effective from January 5, 2026.

According to Circular 45, card issuers must meet in person and compare and match the biometric information of the cardholder (for individual customers) and the legal representative (for corporate customers). The Circular also adds some exceptions for corporate customers.

The Circular requires card issuers to check and authenticate the cardholder's phone number (for individual customers) and the legal representative (for corporate customers) when customers register for transactions via applications and online services of the banking industry.

Regarding the conditions for allowing cards to participate in electronic transactions, Circular 45 amends Clause 6, Article 16 of Circular 18, according to which cards can only be used for electronic transactions when the verification of identity documents and biometrics of the cardholder/representative with biometric data has been completed, including:

Biometric data stored in the information storage unit is encrypted on the Citizen Identification Card (CCCD) with chip or authenticated data via the electronic identification account created by the electronic identification and authentication system;

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Illustration: Hoang Ha

Or the biometric data has been collected and checked (ensuring the match between the person's biometric data and the biometric data in the encrypted information storage of the CCCD card, or the identity card has been authenticated as being issued by the police agency, or with the person's biometric data through the authentication of the electronic identification account created by the electronic identification and authentication system;

Or biometric data collected through face-to-face meetings (applicable to foreigners without electronic identities, Vietnamese people whose nationality has not been determined);

Or biometric data stored in the National Population Database (in case of using CCCD card without encrypted information storage part).

Circular 45 also adds a provision: customers who are organizations must authorize in writing an individual to use the organization's card, and the authorized individual will be called the supplementary cardholder.

Card acceptance devices can be installed at branches, transaction offices, and payment agent points of card payment organizations to provide cash to cardholders.

Regarding the limit, the Circular stipulates that the total limit for cash withdrawal by credit card, calculated by BIN, is up to 100 million VND/month for each cardholder.

In addition, the Circular does not require individual foreign customers to have a minimum residence period of 12 months (360 days) from the time of requesting card issuance; instead, the card validity period must not exceed the remaining permitted residence period in Vietnam.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/bat-buoc-doi-chieu-sinh-trac-hoc-khi-phat-hanh-the-ngan-hang-tu-2026-2468592.html