Vietcombank arranges customer support staff

Early biometric information update

According to the provisions of the 2023 Law on Identification, non-chip ID cards or citizen ID cards will expire after December 31, 2024, even if they are still valid. This means that customers must switch to using a chip-embedded citizen ID card and update relevant information with the bank to continue using banking services.

In addition, the State Bank of Vietnam also issued Circular No. 17 regulating the opening and use of payment accounts at payment service providers and Circular No. 18 regulating bank card operations. Accordingly, from January 1, 2025, payment account and bank card holders will be suspended from performing certain transactions if they have not updated their biometric information. Customers who have not updated their new identification documents to replace their expired or expired identification documents; and those who have not updated their valid documents proving their residence in Vietnam for foreigners will also have their banking transactions suspended.

For corporate customers, from January 1, 2025, payment accounts will be suspended from payment transactions and withdrawals when the identification documents of the legal representative and chief accountant expire. When the identification documents of the person authorized to use the payment account expire, transactions made by that person will be suspended.

The regulation is like that, but many people, especially in rural areas, far from transaction offices, still do not care about this issue.

Mr. Hoang Trong Linh in Phong Dien district is one of them. The reason is that his bank account is only used to transfer money to his daughter who is studying far away from home, and occasionally receives small amounts of money from his siblings to his mother, so he rarely uses his bank account. Therefore, when asked about updating his citizen identification and biometric data, he was quite surprised and said he would update it in the near future.

Agribank staff support customers to update biometric information

Not difficult to do

In fact, the implementation of the regulation on updating biometrics for transfer transactions over 10 million VND or total transactions over 20 million VND according to the regulations of the State Bank of Vietnam implemented from July 1, 2024 shows that customers can update related information before July 1 very conveniently, but after July 1, it is quite inconvenient due to frequent network congestion and some problems during the operation.

To ensure uninterrupted transactions, most banks have issued documents and warning information on banking apps, sent messages, and made phone calls to customers. Accordingly, VietinBank Thua Thien Hue branch requires customers with Vietnamese nationality to promptly update biometric information and/or valid identification documents on VietinBank iPay Mobile and VietinBank transaction offices. For foreign customers, it is necessary to update documents proving the valid period of residence in Vietnam at VietinBank transaction offices. For corporate customers, it is necessary to update valid identification documents of the legal representative, chief accountant, and authorized person to use the payment account at VietinBank transaction offices. These activities must be carried out before January 1, 2025.

Vietcombank Hue branch also issued a similar announcement. At the same time, this bank also said that it will open the Hue branch and Huong Thuy transaction office every Saturday to serve customers to update biometric information.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Hien, Deputy Director of Vietcombank Hue branch, the rate of Vietcombank customers who have updated their chip-embedded citizen identification data; updated biometrics has not yet reached the set plan. Therefore, in addition to increasing customer support outside of working hours, Vietcombank Hue branch has also sent official dispatches to most agencies and businesses that are making salary payments via Vietcombank, sending staff to support at the facility; promoting communication on digital banking services; notifying each customer and sending specific instructions for customers to perform the installation.

Some other banks also launched gift programs to encourage people to update information and biometrics early. In particular, BIDV offers 130,000 VND including 30,000 VND in transfer money and 100,000 VND in vouchers for movie watching, taxi calling, and shopping services on BIDV SmartBanking when customers register and complete biometric authentication as soon as possible each week. MBBank launched a weekly cash gift program with prizes of up to 1 billion VND/week for customers who successfully update biometric authentication on the MBBank App.

It can be seen that banks are quite "impatient" when the number of customers performing biometric authentication is not as expected. Also according to Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Hien, Deputy Director of Vietcombank Hue branch, banks are trying very hard to support people to update biometrics. However, if there is no active cooperation from customers to update related data soon, after January 1, 2025, transactions will be interrupted. This is something no one wants. Therefore, what people need to do now to ensure smooth banking transactions is to quickly update related biometric information. This does not take much time and is very easy to do.

Article and photos: Hoang Loan