HCMC – Vietnamese commercial banks have verified 19 million checking accounts using biometric data from the Ministry of Public Security, said Pham Tien Dung, deputy governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV).
The verification process is part of Decision 2345 which was issued by the central bank to enhance security for online and card transactions and eliminate fraud using fake documents.
Banks compare the customer’s face with data in the Ministry of Public Security’s database for these transactions. Transactions below VND10 million, such as buying airline tickets or paying utility bills, do not require biometric verification.
Transactions exceeding VND10 million accounted for 8% of the total in June, with an average of 1.8 to 2 million transactions per day.
On July 1, the system faced technical errors due to a high number of users, but it has since stabilized. Approximately 10% of the 19 million verified accounts were processed in-person at bank branches, mainly for people without chip-based identification cards or smartphones.
On July 5, the interbank electronic payment system recorded 26.3 million transactions, the highest in 10 days, with 8.35% requiring biometric verification.
Not all transactions need biometric checks; they are required only for transactions over VND10 million. The additional biometric layer aims to prevent unauthorized account use. Banks are required to maintain confidentiality and security, with ongoing system upgrades to combat fraud.
Data from SBV showed that 80% of Vietnamese adults, equal to 65 million people, have bank accounts, with the total number of bank accounts amounting to around 180 million.
