Press release on issuance of Circular No. 18/2024/TT-NHNN
Hanoi, June 28, 2024 – The Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has issued Circular No. 18/2024/TT-NHNN regulating bankcard operations.
The issuance of this new Circular is based on the specific regulations of the 2024 Law on Credit Institutions and Decree No. 52/2024/ND-CP dated May 15, 2024 of the Government on cashless payment, and is aimed to improve the legal frameworks for payment activities in general and bankcard operations in particular, as well as to ensure consistency with the practical situation. The new Circular replaces Circular No. 19/2016/TT-NHNN dated June 30, 2016 and the documents amending and supplementing Circular No. 19/2016/TT-NHNN. The new Circular is composed of 6 Chapters with 30 Articles, specifically as follows: Chapter I - General provisions; Chapter II – Bankcard issuance; Chapter III – Use of bankcards; Chapter IV – Payment and settlement of bankcard transactions; Chapter V – Reporting and providing information; Chapter VI – Implementation arrangements.
The new Circular takes effect from July 1, 2024, but for a number of new regulations, in order to enable the credit institutions, the foreign bank branches, other institutions and individuals involved in bankcard operations to have enough time for arranging their implementation, and to adapt and update their technological solutions, the new Circular stipulates the effectiveness of a number of its Articles as follows:
- The regulations as stipulated in Article 9, Article 10 and Article 12 (except for point g of Paragraph 1), and Paragraph 1 of Article 17 (except for point q) shall take effect from October 1, 2024 (3 months after the effectiveness of the Circular);
- The regulations as stipulated in Paragraph 3 of Article 13, Paragraph 6 of Article 16, point q of Paragraph 1 of Article 17, and Paragraph 5 of Article 19 shall take effect from January 1, 2025 (6 months after the effectiveness of the Circular);
- For the credit institutions that are under the special control, the implementation of the regulations as stipulated in Paragraph 6 of Article 16, point q of Paragraph 1 of Article 17, and Paragraph 5 of Article 19 shall be delayed by 6 months compared with other institutions;
About the transitional regulations:
- For the physical bankcard samples printed before July 1, 2024, the card issuers are allowed to continue using them until December 31, 2024;
- For customers having bankcards issued before October 1, 2024, the card issuers shall coordinate with the customers to update, supplement the customers’ documents, information and data to ensure compliance with the regulations as stipulated in Paragraph 2 of Article 9, and Article 12 of the new Circular, to be completed before January 1, 2026.
The new Circular includes a number of new regulations to enhance the security and safety of bankcard operations to ensure consistency with the relevant laws, specifically: the regulations on customer authentication; the regulations on customer authentication when issuing bankcards through electronic means; the regulations on the transaction limits for authenticated debit and credit cards; the regulations on the total cash withdrawal limits applied to card owners based on the BIN (the code of the card issuer), with the maximum amount for a credit card of VND 100 million per month.
Translated by Le Hang