HCMC – A representative of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has affirmed that the central bank has not licensed Zalo Bank to provide online built-in financial services, VietnamPlus news site reported.
The emergence and rapid development of fintech firms have made it difficult for management agencies to monitor their operations due to high risks of money laundering and terrorism financing or risks related to the security and safety of personal data, according to the SBV.
As such, it is necessary to balance the support for innovation and reform with maintaining the stability and safety of the financial market.
In line with SBV’s regulations, any credit institution that wants to provide bank-related services must be licensed by SBV. Its operations become illegal if it fails to get a license.
Some economic experts said that providing consumer loans via Zalo Bank in cooperation with credit organizations should be treated as a way to dodge the banking regulations.
Economist Nguyen Tri Hieu noted that easy procedures over loan assessment and approval, loan amounts and mortgaged assets could potentially cause a rise in bad debts, negatively affecting the banking system.
Numerous advertising messages, including “Get loans at home, Spend lavishly” and “Interest rates reduced by 1%-2% for new loan application”, which have been sent to Zalo users by Zalo Bank developed by VNG JSC, have raised doubts over the authenticity and legality of the application.
As stated on its website, Zalo Bank acts as an intermediary between users and banks or credit organizations.
While applying for loans via Zalo Bank, customers’ electronic documents are sent to Zalo Bank’s partner banks and the loans are disbursed to customers within 15-30 minutes.
Through Zalo Bank, customers can get loans of up to VND500 million for five years, with interest rates of 1.5% per month.
Currently four credit institutions, including Shinhan, Easy Credit, Shinhan Finance and FE Credit, are cooperating with Zalo Bank.
