HCMC – Banks will have to withdraw, eliminate or invalidate bank accounts that have been unused, have expired or are lying inactive for a maximum of 90 days, according to a draft circular for which the State Bank of Vietnam is collecting feedback to adjust and supplement its Circular 47/2014.
Besides this, banks will also have to recall or eliminate bank accounts that have yet to be activated for a certain amount of time.
According to experts, the issuance of this regulation will help eliminate bank cards being issued but left unused and reduce cybersecurity risks.
Previous data of the Vietnam Bank Card Association showed that the country has some 55 million unused bank cards, as banks rushed to issue cards to reach their sales targets and expand their market shares without paying any heed to customer demands.
Many cardholders were encouraged to get two to three cards at a time to enjoy special offers without actually needing the cards. As a result, many bank cards were left inactivated or unused after being issued. Banks later cut down these unused cards but the number of leftover cards is still high.
Aside from asking banks to get rid of unused cards, the State Bank of Vietnam also requested them to increase security in payment transactions using bank cards.
