The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) are calling it a "system clean-up measure".
This "clean up" is part of the government's "digital transformation" plan, a drive to "modernise" the country's information infrastructure, and more specifically a drive to promote non-cash payments.
Speaking at a press conference promoting "Cashless Day" earlier this year, Pham Anh Tuan, Director of the Payment Department at the SBV called it "a data-cleansing revolution".
Central to this "revolution" is the new "Decree on Regulations for Electronic Identification and Authentication", passed in July of 2024 and coming in to force July 1st of this year.
Under this new law, all bank accounts - corporate and personal - need to be biometrically verified in one of two ways:
1. Using an NFC chip-based identity card, where the facial image is stored in the embedded chip.
2. Through a level 2 account in the government's VNeID app. A level 2 account requires submission of a fingerprint scan. Any bank account not verified in this way by September 1st was subject to freezing, and then termination.
So, here we are. 86 MILLION bank accounts forfeited and shut down. What is the justification?...<<<Read More>>>...
