Structure of Bank Codes: Definitions, Procedures, and Issuance Process
What is a bank code?
According to Clause 1, Article 3 of Circular 17/2015/TT-NHNN, a bank code is defined as follows:
A bank code is a sequence of characters regulated under a unified principle and uniquely determined for each entity assigned with a code.
How is the bank code structure defined? What are the procedures to assign a bank code? (Image from the Internet)
What are the procedures to assign a bank code?
According to Article 9 of Circular 17/2015/TT-NHNN the procedures for assigning a bank code are specified as follows:
- For units of the State Bank of Vietnam, when a bank code is needed, the unit shall send a request for the bank code, as per Appendix 01, to the email of the Information Technology Department (published on the electronic portal of the State Bank of Vietnam).
- For credit institutions (excluding people's credit funds) and foreign bank branches, within 10 working days from the date the credit institution or foreign bank branch is granted the establishment and operational license (new establishment, merger, division), the credit institution or foreign bank branch shall send 01 set of documents to the email of the Information Technology Department (published on the electronic portal of the State Bank of Vietnam). The dossier includes:
+ A request for the bank code.
+ A copy of the establishment and operational license of the credit institution or foreign bank branch.
+ A request to assign a bank code management account on the network.
- For dependent units of credit institutions (excluding people's credit funds), within 10 working days from the date the establishment license is granted, the credit institution shall send 01 set of documents to assign the bank code to the Information Technology Department online. The dossier includes:
+ A request for the bank code.
+ A copy of the establishment license of the dependent unit of the credit institution.
- For people's credit funds, within 10 working days from the date the establishment and operational license is granted, the provincial or city branch of the State Bank of Vietnam shall prepare 01 set of documents to assign the bank code and send it to the Information Technology Department online. The dossier includes:
+ A request for the bank code.
+ A copy of the establishment and operational license.
- For state treasury departments at all levels, when a bank code is needed, the state treasury shall prepare 01 set of documents to assign the bank code and send it to the Information Technology Department online. The dossier includes:
+ A request for the bank code.
+ A copy of the establishment decision of the competent authority.
- For other organizations engaged in reporting and exchanging electronic data related to the State Bank of Vietnam, when a bank code is needed, the organization shall send 01 set of documents to the email of the Information Technology Department (published on the electronic portal of the State Bank of Vietnam). The dossier includes:
+ A request for the bank code.
+ A copy of the establishment decision of the competent authority.
- Within 03 working days from the date of receiving a valid application, the Information Technology Department assigns a bank code and notifies the result online to the requesting unit. In case of refusal, the Information Technology Department shall notify the requesting unit online and clearly state the reason.
- In necessary cases for the service of reporting and exchanging electronic data, the Information Technology Department shall proactively assign a bank code to subjects specified in Point c, Clause 1, Article 2 of Circular 17/2015/TT-NHNN.
How is the bank code structure defined?
According to Article 7 of Circular 17/2015/TT-NHNN, it is regulated as follows:
Bank code structure
The bank code structure consists of 8 characters and is divided into 3 groups as follows:
1. Group 1: consists of the first 2 characters on the left, indicating the province or city directly under the central government or a common code for branches abroad of the credit institutions.
2. Group 2: consists of the next 3 characters in Group 1, indicating the system code of the organization assigned the bank code.
3. Group 3: consists of the last 3 characters, indicating the unit sequence number of each system in each province, city directly under the central government, or abroad.
The bank code structure consists of 8 characters and is divided into 03 groups as regulated above.
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