State Bank informs about regulations on deleting unverified bank accounts

(NLDO) – The State Bank will have regulations related to "erasing" millions of bank accounts without biometric authentication next September.

On the morning of July 17, speaking with a reporter from Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper , Mr. Pham Anh Tuan, Director of the Payment Department, State Bank, said that it is expected that in September 2025, the State Bank will issue a circular amending Circular No. 17/2024/TT-NHNN regulating the opening and use of payment accounts at payment service providers.

Regulations for deleting unverified bank accounts and things to know

In particular, the regulatory agency will have regulations regarding the removal of bank accounts that have not been biometrically authenticated.

"This regulation is expected to take effect in September. Only when there is a specific legal document will commercial banks implement it. No bank will delete customer accounts without specific regulations," said Mr. Tuan.

Customers can biometrically authenticate their payment accounts at the counter, in addition to authenticating via the banking app.

Previously, in his interviews with the press, Mr. Pham Anh Tuan stated that accounts that do not have biometric information verified could be "junk", "dormant" or fraudulent accounts, so they cannot be legalized. And the banking industry is making a revolution to eliminate fraudulent accounts. It is expected that in September, banks will close all accounts that have not been biometrically verified to prevent criminals from taking advantage of them for fraud.

As reported by Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper , according to data from the State Bank, by the end of June 2025, the banking industry had 119 million individual customer records (CIF) that had been biometrically verified via chip-embedded CCCD or VneID; more than 1.1 million organizational customer records had been biometrically verified.

80 million unverified accounts

By the end of 2024, the country will have about 200 million bank accounts. Thus, to date, there are still about 80 million bank accounts that have not been authenticated and biometrically verified according to regulations.

Regarding this issue, leaders of some banks said they are waiting for specific instructions from the State Bank, and not that unverified customer accounts will be deleted after September 1. Because commercial banks themselves cannot unilaterally delete customer accounts without detailed regulations.

According to records, many people have 3-4 payment accounts opened at different banks and have not used them for a long time. Therefore, when the banking industry requires biometrics for new accounts, millions of junk accounts and unused accounts, including accounts opened for fraudulent purposes, are created.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/ngan-hang-nha-nuoc-noi-gi-ve-thong-tin-xoa-so-tai-khoan-chua-xac-thuc-196250717105653859.htm