What are procedures for opening an electronic payment account from October 1, 2024 in Vietnam?

What are procedures for opening an electronic payment account from October 1, 2024 in Vietnam?

Based on Article 1 Article 16 of Circular 17/2024/TT-NHNN, the procedures for opening an electronic payment account from October 1, 2024 are as follows:

Banks and foreign bank branches shall issue internal regulations on the process and procedures for opening electronic payment accounts in compliance with the provisions of Circular 17/2024/TT-NHNN, laws on anti-money laundering, electronic transactions, personal data protection, ensuring safety, security, and must include at least the following steps:

Step 1: Collecting documents, information, and data to verify customer identification information as specified in Clauses 2 and 3, Article 12 of Circular 17/2024/TT-NHNN, including:

- Biometric information of the account holder for individual customers.

- Biometric information of the legal representative for organizational customers.

Step 2: Checking the legality and validity of the documents, information, and data verifying customer identification information and must perform a correct matching verification of the biometric information of the payment account holder (for individual customers) or the legal representative (for organizational customers) with:

- Biometric data stored in the encrypted information storage department of the citizen identification card or the accurately verified citizen identification card issued by the competent police authority or through the electronic identity verification account of that person created by the Electronic Identification and Verification System, or

- Biometric data that has been collected and verified (ensuring the correct matching between the biometric data of that person with the biometric data in the encrypted information storage department of the citizen identification card or the accurately verified citizen identification card issued by the competent police authority or with the biometric data of that person through the electronic identity verification account created by the Electronic Identification and Verification System).

Step 3: Displaying warnings to customers about prohibited activities when opening and using the electronic payment account and providing technical solutions to confirm that the customer has fully read the warning content.

Step 4: Providing customers with the content of the agreement to open and use the payment account according to the provisions of Article 13 of Circular 17/2024/TT-NHNN and confirming the customer's consent to the agreement to open and use the payment account according to the provisions of point b, clause 2 of Article 16 of Circular 17/2024/TT-NHNN.

Step 5: Notifying customers of the account number, account name, transaction limit through the payment account, and the start date of the payment account operation.

What are procedures for opening an electronic payment account from October 1, 2024 in Vietnam? - image from internet

Which cases are not applicable for opening an electronic payment account in Vietnam?

Based on Clause 3 of Article 16 of Circular 17/2024/TT-NHNN which regulates the opening of electronic payment accounts:

Opening electronic payment accounts

...

3. The opening of electronic payment accounts does not apply to the following cases:

a) Joint payment accounts;

b) Payment accounts in foreign currencies;

c) Individual customers as defined in point b, c of Clause 1 of Article 11 of this Circular, individual customers who are individuals from 15 years old to below 18 years old.

Therefore, the opening of electronic payment accounts does not apply to the following cases:

- Joint payment accounts

- Payment accounts in foreign currencies

- Individual customers who fall into the following categories:

+ Individuals under 15 years old, individuals with restricted or lost capacity for civil acts as regulated by Vietnamese law, who open payment accounts through legal representatives.

+ Individuals with cognitive difficulties or inability to control their behavior as regulated by Vietnamese law, who open payment accounts through guardians.

+ Individual customers who are individuals from 15 years old to below 18 years old.

What are the forms of payment accounts in Vietnam?

Based on Article 3 of Circular 17/2024/TT-NHNN which regulates the forms of payment accounts:

Forms of payment accounts

1. The forms of payment accounts include: individual payment accounts, organizational payment accounts, and joint payment accounts.

2. Individual payment accounts are payment accounts opened by individual customers at payment service providers.

3. Organizational payment accounts are payment accounts opened by organizational customers at payment service providers. The account holder of an organizational payment account is the organization that opens the payment account.

4. Joint payment accounts are payment accounts that have at least two or more entities as joint holders. The account holder of a joint payment account can be an organization or an individual.

As regulated above, the forms of payment accounts include: individual payment accounts, organizational payment accounts, and joint payment accounts.