Bank accounts in Vietnam will have their online transactions halted and the transfer and withdraw of cash at ATMs blocked beginning January 1, 2025 if the account holder fails to register their biometrics (fingerprints and facial recognition) under regulations from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) and Vietnamese law. A similar move in Kuwait will de-bank those who fail to get fingerprinted by the start of the new year as well.
“From January 1, 2025, bank accounts that have not been reconciled or updated with biometrics will have their online transactions stopped. This is the reason why banks are simultaneously implementing programs to encourage customers to update their biometrics,” Vietnam Law Newspaper said Thursday. “Updating biometric information and identification documents is now mandatory for customers based on important regulations of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) and current laws. According to Decision 2345/QD-NHNN, SBV has required that from July 1, 2024, some types of online transactions of individual customers must be authenticated by biometric identification.”
The smartphone application is being expanded into what is described as a ‘super app’, a one-stop-shop for digital biometric identification, internet ID, medical ID and perhaps, in the future, a social credit score control grid.
“VNeID, short for Vietnam Electronic Identification, integrates various features across multiple sectors and is expected to become a national super application for digital transformation,” Tuoitre News said Saturday.
Importantly and perhaps alarmingly, the app was developed on the foundation of a vaccine passport during the Covid pandemic.
“Developed by the Ministry of Public Security’s National Center for Population Database in September 2019, VNeID, a mobile application, was built to check health and travel declarations amid the COVID-19 outbreaks,” Tuoitre News said Saturday.
There’s a carrot and stick approach to the move as well. While those who do not submit to biometric scans of their fingers and faces will be financially shut down, those who submitted their scans may earn financial rewards and prizes.
“…some banks have ‘rewarded’ customers who successfully update their biometrics. Specifically, MSB gives a 50.000 e-voucher to customers’ accounts after successfully updating from 4/12. This program applies to the list of customers who have not updated their biometrics as of 30/11. In total, there are 10.000 e-vouchers with a total value of up to 500 million VND for customers who do,” Vietnam Law Newspaper said Thursday. “Techcombank also applies a program to give 50.000 Techcombank Rewards points to the first 6.000 customers who update their biometrics each week, until the end of December 31, 2024.”
Getting one’s biometrics scanned by certain dates even allows one the possibility of winning an iPhone, a device which, not surprisingly, can run the digital ID app the biometrics are linked to.
“VPBank also launched a gift program for customers who complete the biometric data update before January 23, 2025, with a total gift value of up to nearly 7 billion VND. Accordingly, each customer who successfully authenticates biometric data and updates new identification documents on both the VPBank app or at the VPBank transaction counter will receive a code to participate in the weekly lucky draw, the special gift is an iPhone 1 Promax worth 16 million VND/unit. The bank also gives a cashback e-voucher code worth 35 VND to all customers who successfully update biometrics and identification documents,” Vietnam Law Newspaper said Thursday. “Agribank also implements a similar program when customers collect biometrics on the Agribank app will have the opportunity to receive iPhone 16 and many other gifts. BIDV decided to give away 130.000 VND (including 30.000 VND in transfer money and 100.000 VND in discount vouchers for movie watching, taxi calling, and shopping services on the BIDV app) if customers register and complete authentication. BIDV said that this program will be continuously deployed to December 29, 2024, applicable to the 10.000 customers who install biometrics the earliest each week.”
