State Bank pilots peer-to-peer lending: Who can borrow and what is the interest rate?

(NLDO) - The interest rate is agreed upon by the lender and the borrower but does not exceed the interest rate ceiling as prescribed by the Civil Law.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has recently taken steps to create an environment and conditions for testing peer-to-peer lending (P2P Lending). Specifically, this agency issued Decision No. 2866/QD-NHNN stipulating that the maximum outstanding debt for a borrower at a peer-to-peer lending unit is 100 million VND, while the total outstanding debt of customers at all peer-to-peer lending units is 400 million VND, in order to limit financial losses for lenders and borrowers, contributing to stabilizing the financial system.

At the same time, the State Bank also issued Decision No. 2970/QD-NHNN, providing guidance on connecting, reporting and checking customer credit information between peer-to-peer lending companies and the National Credit Information Center of Vietnam (CIC).

This regulation helps peer-to-peer lending companies have a basis to manage the maximum outstanding balance of a customer on their platform as well as on other platforms. On the other hand, peer-to-peer lending companies can have more information about the borrower to provide to the lender (upon the borrower's consent according to current law), contributing to improving the quality of loans.

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On September 22, speaking to a reporter from Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper, a senior leader of the State Bank of Vietnam said that in order to implement the pilot of peer-to-peer lending (P2P Lending) solutions according to the provisions of Decree No. 94/2025/ND-CP, the State Bank of Vietnam has received about 10 applications from businesses registering to test P2P Lending. However, no business fully met the regulations, forcing the State Bank of Vietnam to request additional information and complete the application.

According to this person, customers use peer-to-peer lending solutions provided by peer-to-peer lending companies, including lenders such as credit institutions, foreign bank branches and individuals with Vietnamese nationality.

Borrowers are organizations and individuals, but do not include credit institutions or foreign bank branches. Loan conditions and interest rates are agreed upon by both parties, but the interest rate must not exceed 20%/year according to the provisions of the Civil Code.

Peer-to-peer lending is a form of online connection between lenders and borrowers through an online platform, without going through a bank or financial company.

Previously, due to the lack of legal regulations on licenses, charter capital, interest rate limits, transparency obligations, etc., some P2P Lending platforms, although not a unit under a bank, nor a bank, or even a financial company, still operated freely, leading to high bad debt in this field and uncontrolled credit risks.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/ngan-hang-nha-nuoc-thi-diem-cho-vay-ngang-hang-ai-duoc-vay-va-lai-suat-bao-nhieu-196250922144109764.htm