How is unfit money destroyed?

The Council for supervising the destruction of money that does not meet the standards for circulation is established by the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam. Its task is to detect any shortcomings in the process of destroying money and propose timely handling measures.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has just issued Circular No. 22/2025/TT-NHNN amending and supplementing a number of articles of Circular 19/2023 regulating the supervision of money destruction by the SBV.

A notable new point is that Circular 22 adds regulations on the composition of the Destruction Supervision Council, the composition of the Destruction Supervision Council's Working Group; some contents on money destruction supervision and the responsibilities of related units.

Accordingly, the supervision of the destruction of money that does not meet the standards for circulation is carried out at the following stages: counting and selecting samples, counting destroyed money and cutting (or melting for metal money). For damaged printed or cast money, supervision is carried out at the stages of delivery, counting and cutting (formatting or melting) into scrap.

The Council for supervising the destruction of money that does not meet circulation standards is established by the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam and is organized into two clusters, North and South, or according to each printing and minting facility.

Illustration of money not qualified for circulation.

The Supervisory Council is responsible for detecting any shortcomings in the money destruction process and proposing timely solutions; reporting to the Governor to temporarily stop or suspend the destruction in case there is a risk of loss or insecurity of assets during the destruction process.

The Circular also stipulates the tasks of the Support Team, which is mobilized according to the decision of the Chairman of the Supervisory Board.

In which, the Head of the General Supervision Team is the focal point for handling arising issues, monitoring via the camera system; supervising the delivery and receipt of damaged printed and minted money between the printing and minting facility and the Money Destruction Council at the time of delivery; receiving and being the focal point for receiving, synthesizing data, and monitoring reports from the Counting Supervision Team and the Destruction Supervision Team.

Circular 19 also regulates the supervision of counting and selecting samples of money that do not meet circulation standards before being destroyed.

Specifically, the Supervisory Council counts and selects samples of money that does not meet circulation standards (except for money that has been suspended from circulation, counterfeit money, and money that has been illegally destroyed) and makes a report before destroying it.

If the deviation rate does not exceed 0.01% of the value or 0.5% of the number of sheets, destruction will be carried out. In case of exceeding the threshold, the Council will draw up a record and request an increase in the number of samples.

The monitoring team is also responsible for monitoring the entry and exit of the counting area and the destruction area; monitoring cases where there is no task of destroying money. When entering the money destruction area, there must be written consent from a competent person according to the regulations on money destruction of the State Bank and must notify the Monitoring Council.

Monthly, witness the inventory of destroyed money and compare the destroyed data with the report, ensuring accurate and consistent results.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/tien-khong-du-tieu-chuan-luu-thong-duoc-tieu-huy-nghiem-ngat-nhu-the-nao-2434337.html