Văn bản hợp nhất 03/VBHN-NHNN

CIRCULAR

ON BAND CARD OPERATIONS

Circular No. 19/2016/TT-NHNN dated June 30, 2016 of the Governor of the State bank of Vietnam on band card operations, coming into force as of August 15, 2016, amended by:

1. Circular No. 30/2016/TT-NHNN dated October 14, 2016 of the Governor of the State bank of Vietnam on provision of payment services and intermediary payment services, coming into force as of November 28, 2016.

2. Circular No. 26/2017/TT-NHNN dated December 29, 2017 of the Governor of the State bank of Vietnam on amendments to Circular No. 19/2016/TT-NHNN dated June 30, 2016 of the Governor of the State bank of Vietnam on band card operations, coming into force as of March 3, 2018.

3. Circular No. 41/2018/TT-NHNN dated December 28, 2018 of the Governor of the State bank of Vietnam on amendments to Circular No. 19/2016/TT-NHNN dated June 30, 2016 of the Governor of the State bank of Vietnam on band card operations, coming into force as of February 18, 2019.

4. Circular No. 29/2019/TT-NHNN dated December 25, 2019 of the Governor of the State bank of Vietnam on amendments to Circular No. 19/2016/TT-NHNN dated June 30, 2016 of the Governor of the State bank of Vietnam on band card operations, coming into force as of April 1, 2020.

5. Circular No. 22/2020/TT-NHNN dated December 31, 2020 of the Governor of the State bank of Vietnam on amendments to Circular No. 19/2016/TT-NHNN dated June 30, 2016 of the Governor of the State bank of Vietnam on band card operations, coming into force as of February 16, 2021.

Pursuant to the Law on the State bank of Vietnam No. 46/2010/QH12 dated June 16, 2010;

Pursuant to the Law on credit institutions No. 47/2010/QH12 dated June 16, 2010;

Pursuant to Decree No. 101/2012/ND-CP dated November 22, 2012 of the Government on non-cash payment;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 156/2013/ND-CP dated November 11, 2013 defining the functions, tasks, entitlements and organizational structure of the State bank of Vietnam;

At the request of the Director of the Payment Department;

The Governor of the State bank of Vietnam promulgates a Circular on bank card operations [1]^{,[2],[3],[4],[5]}

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope

This Circular deals with operations of bank cards (hereinafter referred to as cards), including: issuance, usage, payment, switching, clearing and settlement of card transactions.

Article 2. Regulated entities

1. Card issuers.

2. Acquirers.

3. Switching companies.

4. Clearing houses.

5. Merchants.

6. Cardholders.

7. Other organizations and individuals related to bank card operations.

Article 3. Interpretation of terms

For the purposes of this Circular, these terms below shall be construed as follows:

1. “Bank card” means an instrument issued by a card issuer for conducting card transactions under the conditions and terms agreed upon by the involved parties.

Cards regulated in this Circular do not cover types of cards issued by good suppliers or service providers for the purpose of use in the payment for goods and services for the card issuers themselves.

2. “Debit card” means a card that authorizes its holder to conduct card transactions within the amount of money available and overdraft limit (if any) on the payment deposit account of the cardholder opened at a card issuer.

3. “Credit card” means a card that authorizes its holder to conduct card transactions within the credit limit granted under the agreement with the card issuer.

4. “Prepaid card” means a card that authorize its holder to conduct card transactions within the value limit deposited to the card corresponding to the amount of money already prepaid by its holder to the card issuer.

Prepaid cards include: Personalized prepaid card (identifying the cardholder) and anonymous prepaid card (not identifying the cardholder).

5. [6] “Co-branded card” means a card that bears both brand names of a switching company in Vietnam and an international card association or a switching company in another country.

6. “Physical card” means a card with existing forms of material, usually made of plastic, fitted with a magnetic strip or electronic chip to store card data.

7. [7] “non-physical card” means an immaterial card existing in electronic form, containing the information prescribed in Article 12 of this Circular and provided by a card issuer for the cardholder to conduct transactions on the Internet and via mobile applications. Non-physical cards are not physical cards with online or mobile payment option and may be converted into physical cards per cardholder’s request.

8. “Card transaction” means a card is used to make deposit and/or withdrawal of cash, money transfer, payment of goods or services and to use other services provided by the card issuer and card acquirer.

8a. [8] “domestic card present transaction” means a type of card transaction where a card issued by a card issuer in Vietnam is used to make a transaction at an automated teller machine (“ATM”) or via a point-of-sale terminal (“POS terminal”) in Vietnam.

8b. [9] “fictitious transaction at a merchant” refers to the use of a card or card information to pay for goods or services without actual occurrence of any sale of goods or provision of services.

9. “Fake card” means a card containing information of genuine card and genuine cardholder which is not issued by the card issuer.

10. “Fraudulent card transaction” means a transaction using fake cards, using card or card information illegally.

11. “Cardholder” means an individual or organization that is authorized to use a card issued by a card issuer, including principal cardholder and supplementary cardholder.

12. “Principal cardholder” means an individual or organization that bears his/her/its signature in an agreement on card issuance and usage concluded with a card issuer.

13. “Supplementary cardholder” means an individual who is authorized by the principal cardholder to use the card and the principal commits in writing to fulfill all obligations arising from the agreement on card issuance and usage.

14. “Card issuer” means a credit institution or a branch of foreign bank that is licensed to issue cards as prescribed in Article 9 of this Circular.

15. “Acquirer” means a credit institution or a branch of foreign bank that is licensed to process card payments as prescribed in Article 21 of this Circular.

16. “Switching company” means a company providing payment intermediary services by switching card transactions for card issuers, acquirers, international card associations and merchants agreed upon in writing by involved parties.

17. “Clearing house” means a company providing payment intermediary services by making clearing of financial liabilities for card issuers, acquirers, international card associations and merchants agreed upon in writing by involved parties.

18. “Merchant” means an individual or organization that accepts cards as a form of payment for goods and services according to the card payment agreement concluded with an acquirer.

19. [10] “international card association” means an organization which is established and operated in a foreign country under such country's law, and has entered into agreements with card issuers, acquirers, switching companies and/or other relevant parties concerning cards assigned bank identification numbers by international card associations (“cards with international BINs”) or cards containing bank identification numbers of other countries (“cards with foreign BINs”) in accordance with Vietnamese law and international commitments.

20. “Automated Teller Machine” (ATM) means a device which can be used by cardholders to: make deposit or withdrawal of cash, money transfer, bill payment, account inquiry, PIN change, account inquiry or use other services.

21. “Point of sale terminals”, including Point of Sale (POS for short), Mobile Point of Sale (mPOS for short) and other point of sale terminals devices, are card readers and terminals that are installed and used at merchants and allowed cardholders to use cards to make payments of goods and services. A POS may be installed at a branch or transaction office of an acquirer to provide cash for cardholders as agreed upon between the acquirer and the card issuer.

21a. [11] “Quick Response Code payment” (hereinafter referred to as “QR Code payment”) means the use of QR Code to pay a merchant for goods and services via a card. There are two modes of QR Code, Merchant-Presented QR Code and Consumer-Presented QR Code.

22. “Personal Identification Number” (PIN for short) means a numeric password which is granted initially by a card issuer to a cardholder for use and being changed subsequently by the cardholder according to regulated process for card transactions.

23. [12] “bank identification number" (“BIN”) refers to a set of numbers used to identify card issuers. It may be assigned by the State Bank according to regulations on BIN assignment, use and management, by an international card association or by another country. For cards with international BINs and cards with foreign BINs, these BINs shall be assigned, used and managed in compliance with regulations of the international card associations and foreign countries assigning them.

24. “Agreement on card issuance and usage” means an agreement on card issuance and usage concluded by a card issuer and a cardholder.

25. [13] “Card payment agreement” means an agreement on card payment concluded between an acquirer and a merchant or an international card association or a switching company (if any).

26. [14] “Specifications of domestic chip cards” mean a set of Specifications 01:2018/NHNNVN on technical requirements for domestic payment cards with contact chips in Vietnam and Specifications 02:2018/NHNNVN on technical requirements for domestic payment cards with contactless chips in Vietnam published by the Governor of the State Bank as prescribed in Decision No. 1927/QD-NHNN dated October 5, 2018.

Article 4. Card currency

1. On Vietnamese territory:

a) Cash withdrawal by cards must be made in Vietnamese dong;

b) For other card transactions:

 (i) Transaction currency is Vietnamese dong. In case where foreign exchange is permitted for a transaction as prescribed by law on foreign exchange management, the transaction currency will be Vietnamese dong or Vietnamese dong and foreign currency;

 (ii) Currency of payment is Vietnamese dong. Merchants are required to accept payments only in Vietnamese dong made by acquirers;

c) In case of conversion into Vietnamese dong from a foreign currency, the exchange rate between Vietnamese dong and such foreign currency shall be agreed upon the involved parties in accordance with regulations of the State Bank.

2. Outside Vietnamese territory:

When a card transaction is conducted outside Vietnamese territory, the cardholder must make a payment in Vietnamese dong to the card issuer according to the exchange rate agreed upon by the parties in accordance with regulations of the State bank.

Article 5. Card fees and charges

1. Only card issuers are permitted to collect fees and charges from cardholders. Each card issuer must collect fees and charges according to its own schedule of card service fees and charges and must not collect any additional type of fees/charges not mentioned in the announced schedule of card service fees and charges. The schedule of card service fees and charges must specify types of fees and charges applicable to every card and card services. The schedule of card service fees and charges of card issuers must comply with regulations of law, be posted publicly and provided for cardholders before its application and upon any change to this schedule. Types of notification and supply of information of those charges to cardholders must be specified in the agreement on card issuance and usage. A period of at least 7 days is required for the application of any change of the service charges from the date on which it is informed and such period must be specified in the agreement on card issuance and usage.

2. The acquirer and the merchant may enter into an agreement on discount charges. The interchange fees between card issuers, acquirers, switching companies, clearing houses, and international card associations shall be agreed upon by the involved parties as prescribed by law.

Article 6. Actions against risks and losses in trading cards

1. Card issuers must setting up credit risk reserves to offset risks arising from card trading as prescribed in regulations of the State Bank on establishment and use of credit risk reserves.

2. With regard to other types of risks in card trading, card issuers and acquirers shall offset losses arising from card trading as prescribed in regulations on financial regime applicable to credit institutions and branches of foreign banks.

Article 7. Seizure of cards

A card shall be seized in any of the following cases:

1. It is fake.

2. It is used illegally.

3. It is used for the purpose of investigation and actions against crime as prescribed by law.

4. Other cases of card seizure as agreed upon in the agreement on card issuance and usage.

Article 8. Prohibited acts

1. Making, using, assigning and circulating fake cards.

2. [15] Directly conduct or enable another person to conduct a fraudulent card transaction or fictitious transaction at a merchant.

3. Merchants collect additional fees or practice price discrimination against cardholders making card-based payment.

4. Stealing or collaborating with other entities to steal card information; disclosing and providing information about cards, cardholders and card transactions not in accordance with regulations of law.

5. Illegally accessing or attempting to illegally access or destroy the program or database in the system of issuance, payment, switching, and clearing of cards.

6. Using cards to conduct transactions for the purposes of money laundering, terrorism financing, fraud and other violations of law.

7. [16] A merchant transfers point-of-sale terminals or QR Codes to other users; accepts card payment without entering into card payment agreements; illegally uses point-of-sale terminals or QR Codes of acquirers in Vietnam or foreign acquirers.

8. [17] Purchasing, selling, leasing or hiring cards or card information or opening card account on behalf of another person (excluding anonymous prepaid cards).

Chapter II

ISSUANCE OF CARDS

Article 9. Card issuers

1. Commercial banks, banks for social policies, and branches of foreign banks are permitted to issue cards provided that their licenses or amended licenses issued by the State Bank indicate the card services.

2. Banks for social policies are permitted to issue cards as prescribed by the Government and the Prime Minister.

3. Financial companies are permitted to issue credit cards subject to the approval of the State Bank. Factoring companies are not permitted to issue cards.

4. Any credit institution that is permitted to conduct foreign exchange transactions may enter into an agreement on card issuance with an international card association. Its BIN will be issued by such international card association.

5. [18] The card issuer shall comply with Specifications of domestic chip cards upon issuance of cards with BINs issued by the State bank according to the conversion roadmap as prescribed in Article 27b hereof.

Article 10. Procedures for card issuance

1. A card issuer must lay down internal regulations on card issuance within its system. When issuing non-physical cards, a card issuer must formulate documents on process of card opening and closing, process of card transactions, process of risk management (including the following steps: identification, measure, control and actions against risks), scope of card usage and measures for control of card usage within the agreed scope.

2. [19] Before issuing a new card model or changing the current card model, the card issuer must submit a notification of card model to be issued to the State Bank of Vietnam according to the template stated in the Appendix enclosed herewith. If issuing non-physical cards, the card issuer must enclose this written notification with documents about the issuance of non-physical cards as specified in Clause 1 of this Article.

3. When a principal cardholder requests a card issuer to issue a debit card, the principal cardholder is required to have a payment account opened at such card issuer.

4. Any arrangement on card issuance and usage must be made in the form of agreement on card issuance and usage in accordance with this Circular and relevant law provisions. The contents of the agreement shall comply with Article 13 of this Circular.

5. [20] Before signing an agreement on card issuance and usage, the card issuer must request the cardholder to provide sufficient information and necessary documents for identification as prescribed by law. <0} If a card is issued to a foreigner, the card issuer must request such foreign cardholder to provide necessary documents for verification of his/her stay in Vietnam, including: passport, visa, certificate of temporary residence, temporary residence card, labor contract, admission decision or other documents proving his/her stay in Vietnam.

6. Card issuers in Vietnam must use BIN issued by the State Bank, other than regulations in Clause 7 of this Article.

7. Any card issuer in Vietnam that enter into an agreement on co-branded card with an international card association is entitled to use the BIN issued by such international card association.

8. Card issuers may not agree with other organizations to restrict the issuance of co-branded cards.

9. When the issuance of a card model is suspended, the card issuer must sent notification in writing to the State Bank for management.

Article 11. [21] (annulled)

Article 12. Information on cards

1. Information on a card must contain:

a) [22] Name of the card issuer (abbreviated name or trade logo). In case abbreviated names or trade logos of multiple organizations (such as the card issuer, a card issuance partner of the issuer, a switching company, an international card association and relevant parties) appear on the card, it shall be made clear that the card is issued by the card issuer (or is property of the card issuer) to avoid confusion;

b) [23] Name of switching company of which the card issuer is a member (abbreviated name or trade logo), excluding cards which do not have feature to make payments via switching services provided by switching companies;

c) Name or brand name of the card (if any);

d) Card number;

dd) Validity period (or the validity date) of the card;

e) Full name of the cardholder being individual; or name of the cardholder being organization and full name of the person who is authorized to use the card on behalf of the organization. This provision does not apply to anonymous prepaid cards.

2. Apart from the information prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article, the card issuer may regulate other information on cards provided that it complies with Vietnamese law.

3. [24] When issuing co-branded card, the card issuer is not allowed to differentiate between trade logo of the Vietnamese switching company and that of the international card association or a foreign switching company (both logos must have the same size and the same type, color logo or black and white logo, and be displayed on the same side of the card).

Article 13. Agreement on card issuance and usage

1. An agreement on card issuance and usage must contain at least the following contents:

a) Number of agreement;

b) Date of agreement;

c) Name of the card issuer, name of the cardholder; full name of the person who is authorized to use the organization's card;

d) Rights and obligations of contracting parties;

dd) Regulations on fees and charges (types and changes of fees and charges);

e) Information about account balance, history of card transactions and other necessary information that is provided by the card issuer to the cardholder;

g) Card facility agreement and changes of card facility agreement, including overdraft limit (for debit cards) and credit limit, terms of credit, loan term, minimum sum of repayment, method of repayment, interest (for credit cards and debit cards to which the overdraft facility is provided). The credit facility agreement concluded with the cardholder may be specified in the agreement on card issuance and usage or in another document;

h) Scope of card usage;

i) Cases of rejection of card-based payment;

k) Cases of temporary lock, seizure or validity cancellation of cards during their usage;

l) Cases of refund of the remaining sum of the card;

m) Safety and security measures required during the card usage and card losses or card disclosure;

n) [25] Methods of receiving trace requests, complaints; time limit for processing trace requests, complaints, and results thereof in accordance with Article 20 of this Circular;

o) [26] Force majeure events.

2. With respect to anonymous prepaid cards, card issuers must provide terms and conditions for issuance of usage of anonymous prepaid cards and announce them to customers. The card issuer must enter into an agreement with an applicant for issuance of anonymous prepaid card, which at least contains: information about the applicant; number of cards to be issued, card limit, deposit made into the card, scope of card usage, validity period (or the validity date) of the card.

Article 14. Card limit

1. [27] The card issuer shall agree with the cardholder about payment limit, transfer limit, cash withdrawal limit and other card-related limits in accordance with regulations herein, regulations of law in force on foreign exchange management and other provisions of law.

1a. [28] With regard to overseas cash withdrawal limit, a cardholder may withdraw a maximum amount of cash equivalent to VND 30 million per day.

2. With regard to anonymous prepaid cards, the card issuer shall specify balance limit and deposit limit, provided that the balance of an anonymous prepaid card does not exceed VND 5 million at a time.

Article 15. Credit card-based credit facility agreement

1. Credit card-based credit facility agreement must satisfy the following requirements:

a) Be bound by the agreement on card issuance and usage and other agreements on credit facility between the card issuer and the cardholder (if any);

b) The card issuer must issue internal regulations on credit card-based credit facility in accordance with regulations of law on prudential measures in credit facilities, including entities, credit limit, requirements, time limits for credit extension, loan term, applicable interests, process of assessment and decision on card-based credit extension in conformity with the rules of specific responsibility of process of assessment and decision on credit extension;

c) The card issuer shall consider and decide the card-based credit extension if the following requirements are satisfied:

 (i) [29] The cardholder is an eligible entity as prescribed in Clause 1 or Clause 2 Article 16 herein and is not an entity ineligible for credit extension prescribed in Article 126 of the Law on Credit Institutions (as amended);

 (ii) The cardholder must use the loan amount for proper purposes and its/his/her financial capacity for repaying debt on schedule;

d) The card issuer shall consider requesting the cardholder to provide types of security for its/his/her liability as prescribed.

dd) [30] Credit limits of credit cards held by individuals prescribed in Clause 1 Article 126 of the Law on Credit Institutions (as amended) are as follows:

 (i) For secured credit cards: Credit limit granted to a cardholder shall be subject to determination by the card issuer in conformity with its internal regulations on grant of card-based credit facilities and shall not exceed VND 01 billion;

 (ii) For unsecured credit cards: Credit limit granted to a cardholder shall not exceed VND 500 million.

2. Loans granted under debit cards’ overdraft limit by a card issuer must comply with regulations of law in force on borrowing of the State Bank.

3. The card-based credit facility and loans under debit cards’ overdraft limit granted by the card issuer shall comply with regulations on credit facility agreements prescribed in Article 127 and Article 128 of the Law on credit institutions and guidelines of the State Bank.

Chapter III

USAGE OF CARDS

Article 16. Eligible entities

1. For principal cardholders being individuals:

a) Any person who is 18 years of age or older and has full legal capacity as prescribed by law is permitted to use debit cards, credit cards and/or prepaid cards;

b) [31] Any person who is 15 to less than 18 years of age and does not have lack of legal capacity or limited legal capacity is permitted to use debit cards, credit cards and prepaid cards.

2. [32] For principal cardholders being organizations:  Organizations eligible to open checking accounts may use debit cards. Organizations being juridical persons duly established and existing under Vietnamese law may use credit cards, debit cards and prepaid cards. A cardholder being an organization may authorize an individual to use its card in writing or permit an individual to use its supplementary card as prescribed in this Circular.

3. With respect to supplementary cardholders:

A supplementary cardholder may use card as specific authorization of the principal cardholder in accordance with the following requirements:

a) Any person who is 18 years of age or older and has full legal capacity as prescribed by law is permitted to use debit cards, credit cards and/or prepaid cards;

b) [33] A person from 15 to under 18 years old whose legal capacity is not completely or partially limited may use debit cards, credit cards and prepaid cards;

c) [34] A person who is 6 to less than 15 years of age, does not have lack of legal capacity or limited legal capacity, and obtains an authorization in writing made by his/her legal representative to permit him/her to use card shall be permitted to use a debit card or a pre-paid card.

4. [35] In addition to the requirements for eligibility to use cards as specified in Clause 1, Clause 3 of this Article, a foreigner is considered eligible to use cards if he/she is permitted to stay in Vietnam for 12 months or longer.

Article 17. Rules of card usage

1. Each cardholder must provide sufficient and accurate information as required by the card issuer in the agreement on card issuance and usage and take responsibility for the accuracy of the information provided.

2. When using a credit card or a debit card with overact facility, the cardholder must use money properly and make full and due repayment of loan amounts and interests thereof to the card issuer as specified in the agreement concluded with the card issuer.

3. Scope of card usage:

a) Debit cards and personalized prepaid cards are used to conduct card transactions as agreed upon by the cardholder and the card issuer;

b) [36] Credit cards shall be used to pay for goods and services; and to deposit and withdraw cash as agreed upon between the cardholder and the card issuer. Credit cards shall neither be used to transfer money to checking accounts, debit cards and prepaid cards nor credit such accounts and cards;

c) [37] Anonymous prepaid cards shall be used to pay for permitted goods and services via all POS terminals in Vietnam’s territory; and shall not be used to conduct card transactions on the Internet or via mobile applications or to withdraw cash. Deposit into anonymous prepaid cards is regulated by Clause 2 Article 14 of this Circular;

d) Supplementary card issued to a supplementary cardholder aged under 15 years is not used to withdraw cash but only for pay for purchase properly as agreed upon in writing between the card issuer and the principal cardholder.

dd) [38] Cards may be used to pay for goods and services permitted by Vietnamese law, including those purchased overseas; except the cases specified in Point c herein.

Article 18. Prudential measures in the card usage

1. The card issuer shall:

a) [39] Take self responsibility in risk management upon their issuance of cards registered;

b) [40] Provide customers with instructions about card services, card usage procedures, risks possibly taken during the card usage and actions against problems, prohibited acts while using a card and cardholder’s responsibility in case of violations;

c) Initiate prudential measures and risk avoidance for card transactions in conformity with the electronic banking risk management principles; keep confidential information relating to card operations; to ensure the uninterrupted and safe operation of the system of infrastructure and software used in the administration of card issuance and payment activities;

d) Set up and operate a round-the-clock hotline to receive and take prompt actions against information sent by cardholders;

dd) Cooperate with acquirers, switching companies and clearing houses in initiation of prudential measures for card transactions; and in management of risks possibly taken by other entities according to rules of risk management in internet banking activities;

e) Provide information about cards in doubt about fraud for authorities in charge of investigation of card-related crime; check and cooperate with authorities in update of the list of cards to be rejected for payment or in doubt about fraud that are provided for acquirers and merchants; cooperate with authorities and related entities in card-related crime prevention and fighting and actions against such as prescribed by law;

g) [41] Closely monitor to ensure that the card-based remittance is conducted for the proper purposes, within the card limit and in accordance with regulations of Law on Foreign Exchange Management.

2. Each cardholder and the person authorized to use an organization’ card must preserve the card, ensure security of the PIN, other authorization numbers, card information, transaction information without any disclosure; notify and cooperate with the card issuer in actions against cases of card losses or make related trace requests or complaints.

3. [42] Each acquirer shall:

a) cooperate with card issuers, switching companies, clearing houses, merchants, competent authorities and other involved parties in card-related crime prevention and fighting;

b) [43] request merchants to provide documents proving the lawfulness of their business when concluding agreements with them. Acquirers shall formulate criteria for selection of qualified merchants and conduct first-time and periodical (quarterly or annually) evaluation and classification of merchants that wish to accept card payment as suitable to their characteristics and scope of business;

c) Have measures for inspection and management of merchants, especially merchants using mPOS. In case of discovery that or there are well-grounded reasons to believe that a merchant commits any prohibited acts as specified in Article 8 herein, the acquirer must inform the agency in charge of receiving crime-related reports, denunciations and complaints or another competent authority to monitor and implement suitable preventive measures, including termination of card payment agreement concluded with that merchant.

4. Each merchant must implement all professional measures and processes and ensure the security of cardholders’ information, quickly discover card-related fraud acts as guided by the acquirer and take responsibility for any damage caused by its non-observance of regulations of the acquirer.

5. [44] When a card issuer, acquirer, switching company or clearing house enters into an agreement on bank cards, such agreement must include responsibilities of relevant parties for compliance with regulations of laws on foreign exchange management, personal data protection, privacy, security of documents, card information, card transactions and accounts of cardholders.

Article 19. Actions against cases of card losses or card disclosure

1. When a card is lost or a card’s information is disclosed, the cardholder must promptly notify the card issuer.

2. Upon the receipt of the notification, the card issuer shall lock the card and cooperate with relevant entities to carry out necessary operation to prevent possible damage and send another notification to the cardholder. The time limit for the actions against notification received from the cardholder does not exceed 5 working days for the card whose BIN is issued by the State Bank or 10 working days for the card whose BIN is issued by an international card association from the date on which the notification is received.

3. In case where such card is misused that cause damage, the card issuer and the cardholder shall allocate their equivalent responsibility and negotiate the measures for damage. In the event that both parties fail to reach a consensus on the measures for damage, regulations of law shall apply.

Article 20. Tracing and actions against complaints during the card usage

1. If there is any mistake or any doubt about a mistake that is related to card transaction, the cardholder is entitled to send a trace request to the card issuer.

2. [45] The card issuer shall provide specific regulations on the time limit for a trace request provided that it is at least 60 days from the date on which the transaction for which the trace request is made proceeds.

2a. [46] A card issuer must adopt at least two methods for receiving requests for tracing and complaints from cardholders, including via telephone exchange (which is available 24/7 and calls shall be automatically recorded) and via transaction points of the card issuer, and verify information received from cardholders.

2b. [47] A card issuer must adopt at least two methods for receiving requests for tracing and complaints from cardholders, including via telephone exchange (which is available 24/7 and calls shall be automatically recorded) and via transaction points of the card issuer, and verify information received from cardholders.

2c. [48] The card issuer shall formulate the templates of the tracing request and complaint so as to serve cardholders who want to request for tracing or make complaint. In case of receiving a tracing request or complaint via telephone, the card issuer may, if it is necessary in conformity with its internal regulations or as agreed upon between the card issuer and relevant parties, request the cardholder to supplement the tracing request or complaint made according to the prescribed template within a specific length of time in order to use as the basis for handling such tracing request or complaint. The cardholder that wants to authorize a person to make tracing request or complaint must comply with regulations into force of the law on authorization.

3. [49] The card issuer must process the trace request or complaint made by the cardholder and reply within a given time specified as follows: 

a) Regarding bank cards whose BINs are issued by the State Bank, the time limit for processing the trace request or complaint shall be specified in the agreement on card issuance and usage provided that it does not exceed 45 working days from the receipt of initial trace request or complaint according to one of the methods of receipt prescribed in Point 2a of this Article;

b) Regarding bank cards whose BINs are issued by international card associations, the time limit for processing the trace request or complaint shall be specified in the agreement on card issuance and usage.

3a. [50] Processing results of trace requests and complaints:

a) Within 05 working days from the notification of results of trace requests and complaints, the card issuer shall reimburse, upon agreement or in accordance with applicable law provisions, damage incurring through no fault of the cardholder and/or not due to force majeure events agreed upon in the agreement. In case of losses incurred by faults of relevant parties (acquirer, switching company, international card association, or merchant), the party at fault shall reimburse the card issuer for any loss according to their agreement in accordance with regulations of law;

b) If it fails to determine reasons or which party at fault while the deadline for trace requests or complaints agreed upon in the agreement on card issuance and usage expires, the card issuer shall, within subsequent 15 working days, agree with the cardholder about the remedial measure or reimburse the card holder for damage until the final conclusion determining faults and responsibility of parties is made by the competent authority.

3b. [51] If the case shows any sign of crime, the card issuer shall notify the competent authority in accordance with law on criminal procedures and send a report to the State Bank (via Department of Payment, branches of the State Bank of provinces or cities); and notify the cardholder in writing of progressing actions against trace request or complaint..The processing of results of trace request or complaint shall be responsible by the competent authority. If the competent authority notifies that the results do not show any sign of crime, the card issuer shall, within 15 working days from the conclusion of the competent authority, agreed with the cardholder about the solutions for results of trace request or complaint.

4. [52] In the case where the card issuer, cardholder and relevant parties fail to reach an agreement and/or disagree with the processing of trace request or complaint, the dispute shall be settled in accordance with regulations of law.

Chapter IV

PAYMENT AND SETTLEMENT OF CARD TRANSACTION

Article 21. Organizations eligible for processing card payments

1. Commercial banks, banks for social policies, and branches of foreign banks are permitted to process card payments provided that their licenses or amended licenses issued by the State Bank indicate the card services.

2. Banks for social policies are permitted to process card payments as prescribed by the Government and the Prime Minister.

3. [53] Acquirers licensed to conduct foreign exchange transactions are permitted to process payments of cards with international BINs and cards with foreign BINs.

Article 22. Acquirers

1. The acquirer must cooperate with relevant parties in formulation of processes and procedures for card payments, which clarify processes of card transactions and responsibility of relevant parties in accordance with this Circular and regulations in force on internet banking activities; management and operation, prudential measures and continuous operation of equipment used for card payments.

1a. [54] The acquirer shall comply with Specifications of domestic chip cards applicable to ATM and Point of Sale terminals of the acquirer according to predetermined roadmap as prescribed in Article 27b hereof.

2. Processing card payments:

a) In case the acquirer and the card issuer is the same, the acquirer shall take responsibility for the entire process of card payments and deal with all problems arising thereof;

b) In case the acquirer and the card issuer is not the same, the process of card payments shall be carried out as agreed upon by the acquirer and the switching company, card issuer, international card association and relevant parties in terms of processes and procedures for card payments.

3. Responsibilities of the acquirer towards merchants:

a) Draw up, negotiate and conclude card payment agreements with merchants;

b) Install point of sale terminals or provide QR Codes for merchants, set up transmission lines and provide other technical and operational conditions in service of card payments under agreements concluded with merchants. The acquirer must implement necessary measures for managing its mPOS (such as requesting a specific merchant to specify the scope of using mPOS in the card payment agreement and other necessary measures);

c) Provide merchants with guidance on use of point of sale terminals, processes of card payments, measures for detecting fraud and security of cardholders’ information;

d) Accept and process trace requests and complaints filed by merchants;

dd) Monitor the merchants’ execution of the card payment agreement and fulfillment of requirements for card payments; in case it is discovered that a merchant collects additional fees and/or charges from the cardholders, the acquirer shall take necessary actions and notify the competent authorities.

e) [56] Request merchants to open payment accounts at the acquirer to receive payments from accepting card payments; request merchants to provide card transaction invoices and vouchers in accordance with the acquirer's regulations or where necessary with the aims of verifying the validity and legality of card transactions;

4. The acquirer must emboss name (abbreviated name or trade logo) of the switching company of which the acquirer is a member on the ATM card of the acquirer and on the POS of the acquirer at the merchant's premises.

5. [57] Acquirers must not discriminate between cards whose BINs are assigned by the State Bank and cards with international BINs or cards with foreign BINs; or enter into any agreement on restriction or prevention of acceptance of transactions conducted through co-branded cards with other entities.

6. The acquirer must provide sufficient and accurate information and documents on card payment at the request of the State Bank.

Article 23. Merchants

1. Merchants must notify publicly in writing that they does not practice price discrimination or collect any fees or charges from payments for purchase of goods and/or services by cards in comparison with payments in cash. The merchant must refund, directly or through the acquirer, a sum of price difference or additional fees and/or charges collected illegally to the cardholder.

2. The merchant must adhere to the agreement concluded with the acquirer.

3. The merchant is entitled to make a trace request or file a complaint against a mistaken transaction or a transaction in doubt about mistake and claim damage as prescribed by law.

Article 24. Switching companies and clearing houses

1. The switching and clearing for card transaction between card issuers and acquirers relating to transactions of cards whose BIN issued by the State Bank shall be conducted by switching companies or clearing houses licensed by the State Bank.

2. [58] For domestic card present transactions using cards with international BINs and cards with foreign BINs between card issuers or acquirers and international card associations, switching for these transactions shall be conducted through a payment gateway of a switching organization licensed with the State Bank.

3. [59] Clearing of transactions using cards with international BINs and cards with foreign BINs shall be conducted as agreed upon between the card issuer, the acquirer and relevant parties.

4. The switching company and the clearing house shall enter into an agreement with members on standards, rules, professional procedures and other regulations on switching and clearing of card transactions in accordance with regulations of law.

5. [60] Switching companies and clearing houses shall connect their systems with card issuers, acquirers and international card associations directly as agreed upon by all parties, ensuring safe and continuous switching services and other services provided for connected member entities and international card associations, and compliance with regulations of relevant laws.

6. [61] The switching companies, clearing houses shall upgrade the switching and clearing system to ensure the connection with card issuers and acquirers during the conversion process as prescribed in Chapter IVa hereof.

Article 25. International card associations

1. Each international card association shall conclude an agreement with switching companies licensed by the State Bank in accordance with Clause 2 Article 24 of this Circular.

2. Each international card association may not give restrictions to card issuers and acquirers for the purposes of:

a) Unfair treatment in terms of brand names of association organizations to be embossed on cards;

b) Restriction on rights of merchants to select switching companies based on regulations on fees and charges and other obligations.

Article 26. Settlement of results of clearing for card transactions

The settlement of financial liabilities incurring from payments according to clearing for card transactions between card issuers and acquirer must be conducted by an organization licensed by the State Bank.

Article 27. Rejection of card payments

1. Card issuers, acquirers and merchants must reject the card payment in any of the following cases:

a) The card is used in a prohibited card transaction as prescribed in Article 8 of this Circular;

b) The card has been lost as notified by the cardholder;

c) The card is expired;

d) The card is locked.

2. Card issuers, acquirers and merchants may reject the card payment as agreed in any of the following cases:

a) The balance on the payment deposit account, the credit limit or the overdraft limit (if any) is insufficient for the payment;

b) The cardholder breaches any of the regulations of the card issuer on the cases of rejection of card payments as agreed upon by the cardholder and the card issuer.

3. [62] The card issuer shall send a written notification or data messages of the cases specified in Clause 1 and Clause 2 of this Article to the acquirer; when receiving such written notification or data message from a Vietnamese card issuer or a foreign card issuer or an international card association, the acquirer shall notify it to the merchant.

4. [63] A notification of rejection of card payments (including notifications sent by foreign card issuers and international card association) takes effect at the time the involved party in card payment receives a written notification or data message. In case where an involved party still processes the payment of such card regardless of receipt of the notification resulting in the misuse of the card, the contracting parties shall determine responsibility according to their agreement.

Chapter IVa

CONVERSION ROADMAP[64]

Article 27a. For acquirers

1. By December 31, 2019, at least 35% of active ATM and 50% of active point of sale terminals endorsed by acquirers in Vietnam must comply with the Specifications of domestic chip cards.

2. [65] By December 31, 2021, 100% of active ATMs and card processing devices at point of sale terminals endorsed by acquirers in Vietnam must comply with the Specifications of domestic chip cards.

Article 27b. For card issuers

1. By December 31, 2019, at least 30% of active cards with BIN issued by the State Bank of the card issuers must comply with the Specifications of domestic chip cards.

2. By December 31, 2020, at least 60% of active cards with BIN issued by the State Bank of the card issuers must comply with the Specifications of domestic chip cards.

3. By December 31, 2021, 100 % of active cards with BIN issued by the State Bank of the card issuers must comply with the Specifications of domestic chip cards.

4. [66] As of March 31, 2021, card issuers issuing cards with BIN issued by the State Bank must comply with the Specifications of domestic chip cards.

Article 27c. Responsibilities of card issuers, acquirers

While the conversion is in progress, card issuers and acquirers shall ensure that the card operations remains uninterrupted, stable and safe and legitimate rights of cardholders are respected.

Chapter V

REPORTING, SUPLLY OF INFORMATION, AND HANDLING OF VIOLATIONS

Article 28. Reporting

1. Card issuers, acquirers, switching companies and clearing houses shall send regular reports in accordance with statistical reports and regulations of the State Bank.

2. Upon the issuance of internal regulations on card issuance and payments, the card issuer and acquirer must send them to the State Bank for supervision.

3. At least 15 days before a schedule of service fees and charges applies (new/amended schedule), the card issuer must send such schedule to the State Bank for supervision.

4. Card issuers, acquirers and card transaction clearing service providers shall send reports to the State Bank in the following cases:

a) Upon specific requests of the State Bank for state management purposes;

b) Upon irregular card-related occurrences affecting operation of card issuers or acquirers.

Article 29. Information provision

1. Card issuers, acquirers, merchants, switching companies, clearing houses and international card associations must ensure the confidentiality of card information, cardholders, card transactions and provide information only at the request of the cardholder, competent authorities or as prescribed by law.

2. Card issuers and acquirers shall enter into agreements on information sharing in line with card operation as prescribed by law.

3. International card associations shall provide information about transactions of cards whose BINs are issued by international card associations at the request of the State Bank for state management.

Article 30. Actions against violations

Organizations and individuals that violate the regulations in this Circular shall, depending on the nature and severity of their violations, be administratively handled or, in case of serious violation, liable to criminal prosecution; if causing damage, they shall pay compensations therefor in accordance with law.

Chapter VI

IMPLEMENTATION [67]^{,[68],[69],[70],[71]}

Article 31. Responsibilities of State Bank units

1. The Payment Department:

a) Monitor the implementation of Circular and act as advisor for the Governor of the State Bank to handle difficulties arising during the implementation of this Circular;

b) [72] Receive and monitor notification of card models issued, and of suspension of issuance of cards of card issuers.

c) [73] Cooperate with the Banking Supervision Agency, State Bank branches of provinces and central-affiliated cities and relevant units in inspection of compliance with regulations in this Circular upon request.

2. [74] Banking Supervision Agency; and State Bank branches of provinces and central-affiliated cities shall:

Carry out inspection of compliance with regulations in this Circular, take actions against violations within their competence and notify the Payment Department and relevant units of the results.

Article 32. Entry into force

1. This Circular comes into force as of August 15, 2016, except for Clause 2 of this Article.

2. [75] Clause 2 Article 24 of this Circular comes into force from January 01, 2021.

3. From the date of entry of this Circular, the following regulations shall be annulled:

a) Decision No. 20/2007/QD-NHNN dated May 15, 2007 on issuance, use and payment of bank cards and provision of bank card support services;

b) Decision No. 32/2007/QD-NHNN dated July 9, 2007 of the Governor of the State Bank on balance limit of anonymous prepaid cards;

c) Article 3 of Circular No. 23/2011/TT-NHNN dated August 31, 2011 of the Governor of the State Bank on implementation of plans for simplifying administrative procedures in the fields of payment and other fields as prescribed in Resolution of the Government simplifying administrative procedures within the competence of the State Bank of Vietnam.

Article 33. Implementation

The Chief officers, Directors of Payment Department, Heads of affiliates of the State Bank of Vietnam, Director of branches of the State Bank of provinces and central-affiliated cities, Presidents of the Board of Directors, Presidents of the Member assembly, General Directors (Directors) of credit institutions, branches of foreign banks, switching companies and clearing houses, and relevant organizations and individuals shall implement this Circular./.