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Suddenly become a debtor
Immediately after the news of a customer who owed 8.5 million VND "giving birth" to 8.8 billion VND, many Eximbank cardholders were shocked and quickly tried to contact the bank to check the card status, account balance, credit balance..., and at the same time requested to stop transactions, close the card, cancel the card to avoid similar situations. And many cardholders were surprised when they suddenly became debtors.
Having not used his Eximbank account since 2020, Mr. LXT ( Hanoi ) was surprised to receive information that he owed the bank more than 1 million VND due to SMS Banking balance change notification fees and account management fees.
Similarly, Mr. TSN ( Ho Chi Minh City) after 3 years of not using his account, when he went to the transaction office to cancel his card, he was also required to pay more than 900 thousand VND in account maintenance fees and SMS Banking fees.
Opening an Eximbank account to receive salary payment via card according to the old company's policy, Ms. TTU (Ho Chi Minh City) also suddenly became a debtor after contacting the bank's call center. Accordingly, Ms. TTU was informed that she had 2 payment accounts and each account owed more than 700 thousand VND even though she had not used it for 14 years.
These are not all the customers who have contacted Eximbank in the past few days to check their accounts and request to close their cards, but what they have in common is that they have not received any messages from the bank notifying them of any deductions for the above fees, even though the bank still regularly collects monthly balance change notification messages.
"Although the debt amount is not too large, suddenly becoming a debtor is not pleasant. From a positive account balance to a negative account balance, without a single notification message despite still charging monthly SMS Banking fees, we cannot understand. Many banks apply a policy of locking accounts after a specific period of time, about 6-12 months, if there are no transactions, and there is a notification by text message, email or call from the switchboard to customers," Mr. TSN shared.
According to Ms. TTU, many people receive their salary through their accounts, but when they change their workplace or the company switches to another bank to pay their salary, the old account is often forgotten and few people proactively contact the bank to cancel the account.
Immediately after these scandals, the latest information from Eximbank said: To avoid similar cases, for customers' payment accounts that have not been used for a long time, have not generated transactions and have a balance of 0 VND, Eximbank will not debit SMS Banking fees or account management fees. At the same time, for customers who want to close their accounts, they will not have to pay the fees that have been debited in the past, but will be proactively considered and processed by branches and transaction offices, free of charge.
"In the coming time, the bank will continue to implement transparent, complete and clear communication programs about the rights and responsibilities of cardholders as well as customers using the bank's services," said an Eximbank representative.
Spreading the "wave" of card cancellation
The story of credit cards does not stop at Eximbank, many other bank cardholders have also contacted to close their cards to avoid similar debts. Many people have even expressed that they will be more careful when opening cards in general, especially credit cards.
Mr. Ngoc Toan (Hanoi) said that he received many calls from bank employees inviting him to open a credit card, sometimes with a limit of 70 million VND, sometimes only 30 million VND.
"They called me so many times that I was embarrassed, so last month I agreed to open a low-limit card. I thought if I opened it and didn't use it, that would be fine. But after the incident above, I will probably close the card because I really don't need it," said Mr. Toan.
Unlike Mr. Toan, Mr. Tran Quang (Hanoi) owns credit cards from many banks and some of these cards have not been used for a long time. "Previously, money transfers between banks were not convenient and service fees were high, so I opened accounts at different banks for the convenience of customers. Many credit card companies offered free card opening and cashback incentives for spending, so I also opened a card to use. Even in some places, when borrowing capital for business, bank employees asked me to open a credit card for them to have enough sales. So now my credit cards and accounts have nearly ten different banks, but I don't always use them," Mr. Quang shared.
According to this customer, he contacted many banks to close his accounts and cards. Some banks also deducted fees to negative accounts similar to Eximbank and the total amount of card closing fees and debt collection fees that Mr. Quang had to pay to close 7 bank accounts was about several million VND.
On social networks, there are many posts encouraging people to close their bank cards. Comments with content such as: "After this, say goodbye to credit cards!", "Don't invite me to open a card again!"... appear very commonly.
According to experts, after the incident at Eximbank, many other banks will be "collateral damage" because consumer confidence in credit cards is shaken. Developing new cards in the near future will not be easy when customers are more cautious and careful when choosing to use banking services and products, and more importantly, customers have paid attention to only opening cards when there is a real need to use them.
Is credit card spending a concern?
A credit card is a type of payment card that allows the cardholder to spend money now and pay later. Each credit card has a credit limit, which is the maximum amount of money the cardholder can spend. This limit is based on many factors such as the cardholder's income, credit history, and assets.
Banks are applying an average interest-free policy of 45-55 days for credit card spending. After the interest-free period, cardholders can pay the minimum balance or pay the entire balance according to the monthly card statement.
According to Ms. Nguyen Hong Thanh, Head of the Card Association Policy Subcommittee, Vietnam Banking Association, the country currently has more than 140 million payment cards, including 10.2 million credit cards. The value of credit card transactions in 2023 will reach over 1 million billion VND. Credit cards not only serve high-income customers but also middle-class and mass customers.
The benefits of credit cards are obvious, such as spending now and paying later, interest-free for 45-55 days, cashback after spending and payments, adding miles with airline-linked cards... But there are also risks.
Ms. Thanh noted the risks of credit cards such as late payment, affecting credit scores when applying for new credit such as home loans, car loans; risks of losing card information, generating fraudulent transactions if the card is not kept carefully, giving the card to others to use; risks of spending beyond one's needs and financial capacity...
Therefore, customers need to carefully study the usage regulations, regulations on interest calculation, fees, and related responsibilities stated in the card usage contract; carefully study the fee schedule, how to calculate interest for the card, monthly transaction statements, as well as payment due dates to avoid overdue debt.
Economic expert Dr. Can Van Luc affirmed that lending interest rates in general and credit card interest rates in particular are always announced. In particular, when the debt is due, customers must pay on time because if overdue, the penalty interest rate for credit cards is relatively high. Not only in Vietnam but also in banks in other countries.
Regarding the case of a customer named PHA (address in Cam Tay ward, Cam Pha city, Quang Ninh) opening an Eximbank credit card with a debt of 8.5 million VND after 11 years, becoming 8.8 billion VND, on March 21, Mr. Nguyen Ho Hoang Vu, Deputy General Director of Eximbank, said that Eximbank and the customer agreed to handle the case, ensuring a reasonable interest rate for both parties and will notify the media as soon as possible. There is no story that the bank collected 8.8 billion VND.
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