Bank controversy over account management fees

Some customers say banks are "collecting money" while experts advise reviewing and closing accounts that are no longer in use.

From December 1, the Vietnam Export Import Bank (Eximbank) officially collected an account management fee of VND11,000/month for accounts with an average balance of less than VND500,000 and no transactions for a long time. The new regulation immediately created many different reactions. Some customers said the bank was "collecting all the money" while experts advised users to review and close accounts that they no longer needed.

Frustrated users

According to information from Eximbank, previously the bank only applied fees to accounts with an average balance of less than 300,000 VND/month, now it has increased to 500,000 VND to limit "junk" accounts, which are accounts that are opened but do not generate transactions, causing costly management and system maintenance costs.

Not only Eximbank, International Bank (VIB ) has also just implemented a new fee schedule, when collecting 10,000 VND/month (excluding VAT) for payment accounts that have not generated transactions within 12 consecutive months. Inactive accounts and accounts with insufficient balance will also be charged a fee.

Although not announced, a series of other large banks also quietly collect this type of fee for accounts with low balances. Banks all explain that collecting management fees for accounts with low balances or inactive accounts is necessary to reduce the number of abandoned accounts. Because, even if there are no transactions, banks still have to spend resources on security systems, infrastructure and risk management. "If customers really do not use the account, it is best to close it to avoid fees and risks related to fraud" - a bank leader commented.

Eximbank charges account management fees with balances under VND 500,000/month, no long-term transactions

In fact, when announcing the fee adjustment, VIB also sent a recommendation to customers to go to the transaction counter to close accounts that are no longer in use, to avoid incurring unwanted costs.

However, from the customer's perspective, many people disagree when banks charge management fees for accounts with small balances. Many people argue that the fees are not too high, but charging account management fees makes customers feel "overcharged". In fact, the fee schedule for personal customer services at many banks shows that in addition to account management fees, users have to pay dozens of other fees such as transfer fees, counting fees, fees for checking/cancelling money transfer orders, etc.

Increase competition, clean customer data

This is not the first time that some banks have collected controversial service fees. Previously, many banks increased SMS Banking fees (balance fluctuations) according to the actual number of messages - which also caused many customers to react. At its peak in March 2024, many Eximbank customers also reported that the bank debited SMS Banking fees, account management fees (collected if the account balance was less than 300,000 VND)... When closing the account, customers were required to pay fees ranging from several hundred thousand VND to millions of VND. Some other banks also applied fees when the account balance was 0 VND for many years. After being reported, the banks removed the above controversial regulations.

Talking to a reporter from the Lao Dong Newspaper, banking finance expert Dr. Chau Dinh Linh said that many customers have been accustomed to free account services for many years, so when banks start charging fees again, especially for accounts with small balances, they easily feel "overcharged". However, customers can completely take the initiative to choose, and should only maintain 1-3 accounts at banks they regularly transact with. At the same time, close accounts that are no longer needed to avoid unnecessary costs.

According to Dr. Chau Dinh Linh, the balance in the payment account is the customer's property, and the bank is only the service provider. To operate a 24/7 payment system with many layers of security and complex technology infrastructure, the bank must spend maintenance, operation and new investment costs. Therefore, charging fees to maintain service quality and develop the system is normal and reasonable. "For a long time, many banks have waived fees to attract non-term deposits. When this goal is achieved and the market becomes more competitive, banks begin to adjust policies, such as charging fees for accounts with balances under VND500,000 and waiving fees for accounts with higher balances" - Dr. Chau Dinh Linh analyzed.

According to some other experts, the banks' move is also part of the effort to clean up customer data and maintain only "live" accounts according to the general policy of the State Bank. The latest data updated by the State Bank up to mid-November 2025, the entire banking industry has more than 136.1 million individual customer records (CIF), more than 1.4 million organizational customer records that are biometrically verified via chip-embedded ID cards or VNeID applications.

Fee levels need to be clearly announced.

Regarding the controversy over bank service fees, experts believe that the role of the State Bank at this time is to ensure transparency, requiring commercial banks to clearly announce the fee levels, and the amount of fees is determined by each unit. In particular, competition on fees between banks will make customers self-regulate. Customers will come to banks with good service quality, stable systems, high security and reasonable fee policies.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/lai-tranh-cai-ngan-hang-thu-phi-quan-ly-tai-khoan-196251201220006379.htm