To form a coordinated process for handling accounts and cards to prevent fraud and scams

Attending the meeting were Dr. Nguyen Quoc Hung - Vice President cum General Secretary of the Vietnam Banks Association (VNBA); Mr. Pham Anh Tuan - Director of the Payment Department - State Bank of Vietnam (SBV); Major Nguyen Huu Cuong - Representative of the Department of Cyber ​​Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention (A05), Ministry of Public Security; Mr. Nguyen Quang Hung - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietnam National Payment Corporation (NAPAS); Mr. Nguyen Quang Minh - General Director (NAPAS); Mr. Nguyen Hoang Long - Deputy General Director (NAPAS).

Speaking at the meeting, Dr. Nguyen Quoc Hung said that in reality, digital transformation has taken place strongly and brought more convenience and convenient transactions to people, creating a new breakthrough for the banking industry. Along with that, there is a situation where criminals take advantage of this to commit fraud, steal account information, and circulate money flows to an alarming level.

Faced with this situation, each bank needs to proactively improve and agree on a closely coordinated process to handle the situation together. “The customers of this bank are also the customers of the entire system.” - Dr. Nguyen Quoc Hung emphasized.

Each bank needs to develop a specific process for handling fraud and how to freeze assets. The Vietnam Banking Association hopes that credit institutions (CIs) will participate in contributing opinions fully and responsibly. The procedures must comply with the provisions of the law and NAPAS will be the focal point for receiving and handling. He also commended the leadership and staff of NAPAS for their responsibility in developing a coordinated program to handle accounts and cards related to fraudulent transactions. CIs should coordinate and unify to protect the legitimate rights and interests of account holders. VNBA will synthesize the opinions and report to the State Bank and competent authorities before officially issuing.

NAPAS representative - Mr. Nguyen Quang Hung also highly appreciated the topic of the meeting and NAPAS will be responsible for coordinating with CIs to ensure safe and convenient payments for people, avoiding fraud and counterfeiting. He also hopes that the process will soon be completed and deployed to all credit institutions.

On the side of the State Bank of Vietnam - Mr. Pham Anh Tuan welcomed the topic and content that VNBA and NAPAS organized. The process of coordinating the handling of accounts and cards related to transactions suspected of fraud, forgery, and scams is a painful issue that the State Bank sympathizes with banks and credit institutions. The State Bank has also signed and issued 03 Circulars and took effect from July 1. Specifically, Circular 15 has "paved the way" with many new points, unifying regulations on non-cash payment methods. Circulars 17 and 18 have many detailed regulations arising from practice related to agreements but transactions, blocking of main accounts suspected of fraud and scams. Decision 2345/QD-NHNN has also taken effect from July 1, 2024 with a total transaction of over 10 million VND, customers need biometric authentication. From January 2025, if customers do not have biometrics, their operations will be suspended and they will only be able to make transactions at the counter. Therefore, Mr. Tuan suggested that relevant parties coordinate with the Payment Department to develop a closed process, closely coordinate, and implement procedures and regulations to protect customers.

Assessing the current situation of fraud and scams via card accounts, a representative of the Department of High-Tech Crime Prevention (A05) said that fraud activities on banks are becoming increasingly sophisticated. The issuance of draft regulations, procedures and rules is welcome. However, credit institutions need to develop clear procedures and regulations on prevention measures, common handling procedures and legal basis for coordination in implementation.

Also at the meeting, the credit institutions had an exchange and discussion to contribute ideas on the following contents: Building a common database, issues related to the set of criteria, internal mechanisms between banks, handling measures, blocking accounts, related agreements to resolve with customers, etc.

Concluding the meeting, Dr. Nguyen Quoc Hung highly appreciated the contributions of the credit institutions to develop procedures and regulations on coordinating the handling of accounts and cards related to transactions suspected of fraud, forgery, and scams. He also expressed his gratitude for the support of the State Bank, the Ministry of Public Security, and NAPAS for their close coordination and enthusiastic participation in the draft to develop procedures and regulations before implementing them in practice.

Ngoc Anh