Central bank asks for bank card reviews

Commercial banks are requested to guarantee their fees, interest rates and interest calculation methods available to the public and strictly follow the central bank's rules. They must also make sure customers are informed about their rights and obligations, especially for credit cards.

The central bank underlined the importance of handling complaints and reconciliations to ensure customer cases are resolved promptly.

The banks are held responsible for contacting their customers about unusual activities, as well as non-activities, regardless of their cards. They were also told to work together with Governmental agencies in security matters.

The SBV also tasked commercial banks to implement communication measures, through mass media, communication channels that customers can easily access, to keep them informed of their rights and obligations and to advise them on security measures to protect personal data and bank card information.

Earlier, a man in the northern province of Quang Ninh was informed he had a credit card debt which ballooned 1,000 times to VND8.84 billion (US$358,000) in 11 years because of compounding an usurious interest rate.

The SBV directed banks to audit their customers' debts, particularly focusing on those who have ceased using their services, to avoid a recurrence of such an incident.

The Vietnamese card market has seen a rapid growth in recent years, significantly contributing to the rise of non-cash payments in the country.

As of July 2023, the number of cards in circulation exceeded 140 million (an increase of 8.27 percent compared to the end of 2021), of which over 103 million were domestic cards and 36.7 million were international ones./.