CIRCULAR

ON MANAGEMENT, OPERATION AND USE OF NATIONAL INTERBANK ELECTRONIC PAYMENT SYSTEM

Circular No. 37/2016/TT-NHNN dated December 30, 2016 of Governor of State Bank of Vietnam on management, operation and use of National interbank electronic payment system, coming into effect from January 15, 2018 and amended by:

1. Circular No. 21/2018/TT-NHNN dated August 31, 2018 of Governor of State Bank of Vietnam on amendments Circular No. 37/2016/TT-NHNN dated December 30, 2016 of Governor of State Bank of Vietnam on management, operation and use of National interbank electronic payment system, coming into effect from August 31, 2018.

2. Circular No. 21/2020/TT-NHNN dated December 31, 2020 of Governor of State Bank of Vietnam on amendments Circular No. 37/2016/TT-NHNN dated December 30, 2016 of Governor of State Bank of Vietnam on management, operation and use of National interbank electronic payment system, coming into effect from April 1, 2021.

Pursuant to the Law on 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 the Law on E-Transactions No. 51/2005/QH11 dated November 29, 2005;

Pursuant to Decree No. 26/2007/ND-CP dated February 15, 2007 of the Government on elaborating to Law on E-Transactions regarding digital signatures and digital signature authentication service; Decree No. 106/2011/ND-CP dated November 23, 2011 on amendments to Decree No. 26/2007/ND-CP and Decree No. 170/2013/ND-CP dated November 13, 2013 on amendments to Decree No. 26/2007/ND-CP ;

Pursuant to Decree No. 35/2007/ND-CP dated March 8, 2007 of the Government on electronic transactions in banking activities;

Pursuant to Decree No. 101/2012/ND-CP dated November 22, 2012 of the Government on non-cash payment and Decree No.80/2016/ND-CP dated July 1, 2016 of the Government on amendments to Decree No. 101/2012/ND-CP ;

Pursuant to Decree No. 156/2013/ND-CP dated November 11, 2013 of the Government on functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the State Bank of Vietnam;

At request of Director General of Information Technology Administration,

Governor of State bank of Vietnam promulgates Circular on management, operation and use of National interbank electronic payment system.[1]^,[2]

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope and regulated entities

1. Scope:

This Circular prescribes management, operation and use of National interbank electronic payment system (NIEPS) for payment and accounting between participants of this system in VND, USD, EUR and other foreign currencies decided by Governor of State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) from time to time.

2.[3] Regulated entities:

Members, member-affiliated entities, indirect member-affiliated entities of NIEPS, operating units of NIEPS, organizations in charge of electronic clearing system, relevant entities of State Bank of Vietnam.

Article 2. Term interpretation

In this Circular, terms below are construed as follows:

1. “NIEPS” refers to the progress of processing interbank payment transactions from the creation of payment order to completion of payment order via computer network systems.

2. “direct members” (hereinafter collectively referred to as “members”) are State Bank of Vietnam, banks, branches of foreign banks, central State Treasury participating in the NIEPS.

3. “direct member-affiliated entities” (hereinafter collectively referred to as “member-affiliated entities”) refer to entities affiliated to members and participating in the NIEPS at request of members

4. “indirect member-affiliated entities” refer to entities affiliated to members, having bank codes issued by State Bank and making payments via members or member-affiliated entities.

5. “payment order” refers to an electric message for execution of a payment transaction in the NIEPS.

6. “order giver” refers to an organization or individual requesting a member, member-affiliated entity to produce payment order.

7. “order receiver” refers to an organization or individual receiving payment order via a member, member-affiliated entity.

8. “client” refers to an order giver or receiver.

9. “payment order initiator” refers to an individual within a member, member-affiliated entity assigned to initiate payment order.

10. “payment order supervisor” refer to chief accountant, individual in charge of accounting affairs or authorized individual of member, member-affiliated entity supervising payment order.

11. “payment order approval individual” refers to a competent individual (legal representative) of member, member-affiliated entity; with respect to member-affiliated entity which are entities affiliated to SBV, approval individuals shall be heads of entities or authorized individuals. 

12. “media approval individual” refers to individual within member, member-affiliated entity assigned to transmit and/or receive electronic message in NIEPS.

13. “payment order processing entity” refers to a member or member-affiliate entity initiating and processing (outgoing) payment orders on behalf of clients.    

14. “payment order receiving entity” refers to a member or member-affiliate entity processing and receiving (incoming) payment orders on behalf of clients.   

15. “low value payment service” refers to a service affiliated to the NIEPS for processing payments in VND utilizing clearing method.

16. “high value payment service” refers to a service affiliated to the NIEPS for processing payments in VND utilizing real-time gross settlement method.

17. “foreign currency payment service” refers to a service affiliated to the NIEPS for processing payments in foreign currencies utilizing real-time gross settlement method.

18. “Credit order” refers to a payment order of a payment order processing entity to record a Debit of a definite amount of money in an account of a client opened at the payment order processing entity and record a Credit of the same amount of money in an account of a client opened at the payment order processing entity.

19. “Debit order” refers to a payment order of a payment order processing entity to record a Debit of a definite amount of money in an account of a client opened at the payment order processing entity and record a Credit of the same amount of money in an account of a client opened at the payment order processing entity.

20. “low value payment order” refers to a payment order made in VND with value below VND 500,000,000 utilizing low value payment service.

21. “high value payment order” refers to a payment order made in VND utilizing high value payment service.

22. “foreign currency payment order” refers to a payment order utilizing foreign currency payment service.

23. “electronic message” refers to an electronic message depicting payment order or notice related to transactions to be conducted and transmitted via computer network among entities participating in the NIEPS.

24. “electronic message confirmation code” refers to signals of electronic messages regarding status of payment orders in the NIEPS.

25. “settlement” refers to identification and payment of final value among relevant members for completion of payment obligations.

26. “real-time gross settlement” refers to instantaneous settlement of each payment order for execution of payment obligations among members or member-affiliated entities.

27. “low value clearing” (referred to as “clearing”) refers to execution of payment obligations among parties of payment by direct clearing after balancing total amounts to be collected and total amounts to be paid.

28. “threshold” refers maximum value at or below which low value payment transactions are allowed to participate in clearing.

29. “NIEPS operator” refers to an entity directly operating the NIEPS.

30. “processing center for NIEPS” or “National Processing Service Center” (NPSC) refers to technical equipment system situated at Information Technology Department[4] for execution of functions of high value payment modules, foreign currency payment modules, low value payment modules, modules for processing checking accounts and examining, comparing figures.     

31. “backup processing center for NIEPS” or “Backup National Processing Service Center” (BNPSC) refers to system of technical equipment situated in backup data centers to serve as backup for the NPSC.

32. “value of deposited instruments” is determined according to regulations of SBV on overdraft and overnight lending in the NIEPS.

33. “deposit rate” is the percentage of value of deposited instruments and deposited money to establish threshold and start-of-day threshold.

34. “net settlement services for other systems” refer to the system of receipt and processing of net settlement result from the automated clearing house (ACH), card clearing houses and other clearing houses.

35. [5] “clearing house presiding organization” (hereinafter referred to as “presiding organization”) refers to a provider of intermediate payment service licensed by SBV to provide financial switch, electronic clearing services and permitted to participate and connect to the NIEPS to perform electronic clearing.  

Article 3. Primary modules and functions of the NIEPS

1. NIEPS is an integrated system that consists of: NPSC, BNPSC, software installed in members and member-affiliated entities.

2. Processing modules include: high-value payment module, foreign currency payment module, low-value payment module, checking account processing module.

3. The high-value payment module is for processing real-time gross settlement for payment orders in VND using high-value payment services.

4. The foreign currency payment module is for processing real-time gross settlement for payment orders in foreign currencies using foreign currency payment services.

5. The low-value payment module is for processing low-value payment orders using low-value payment services.

6. The checking account processing module is for inspecting and processing high-value payment orders, foreign currency payment orders, processing results of clearing and net settlement from other systems.

Article 4. Article 4. Interbank electronic payment records

1. Interbank electronic payment records may be physical or electronic documents prescribed by applicable regulations of law on accounting records.

2. Basis for creation of payment orders is the interbank electronic payment records.

3. Payment orders shall be created electronically according to the template and data standards decided by the Governor of the State bank.

Article 5. Debt payment in the NIEPS

1. A prior authorization contract is required for debt payment among members other than units of the SBV.

2. A prior authorization contract is required for debt payment among members other than units of the SBV.

3. Prior authorization contract or agreement on debt payment between members must have the following elements:

- Intraday limit on debt payment between the members;

- Intraday limit on an unverified debt payment order;

- Effective period of the contract or agreement.

Article 6. Terms of payment services

1. High-value payment services must be employed if the value in the payment order in VND is at least VND 500,000,000.

2. Low-value payment services or high value payment services may be employed if the value in the payment order in VND is less than VND 500,000,000.

3. Foreign currency payment services must be used for a foreign currency payment order.

Article 7. Expenditures and collection of charges for interbank electronic payment

1. Expenditures on development, installation, maintenance and upgrade of the NIEPS shall be incurred by the SBV. Expenditures on development, installation, maintenance and upgrade of systems of members and member-affiliated entities serving their interbank electronic payment shall be paid by said members and member-affiliated entities.

2. When using services of the NIEPS, participants and affiliated participants shall pay the initial fee, annual fee and domestic payment service charges imposed by the SBV via SBV.

Chapter II

MANAGEMENT AND OPERATION OF NIEPS

Article 8. Inspection of the NIEPS

1. NIEPS operator shall inspect the NIEPS in terms of balance, threshold and payment data on a daily basis.

2. Information Technology Department[6] shall inspect the software, equipment and communications network of the NIEPS at the NPSC and BNPSC.

3. NIEPS operator, members and member-affiliated entities shall regularly carry out inspection and supervision to receive and process payment orders during the working time of the NIEPS; ensure continuous and safe operation of the NIEPS.

Article 9. Working time of the NIEPS

1.[7] Working time of the NIEPS:

a) The NIEPS shall start to receive high value payment orders, low value payment orders and net settlement results from other systems from 8 a.m. for working days;

b) The NIEPS shall start to receive foreign currency payment orders from 9 a.m. for working days;

c) The NIEPS shall cease to receive low value payment orders and net settlement results from other systems from 4:30 p.m. for regular working days and 5 p.m. for the last 2 working days of the month;

d) The NIEPS shall cease to receive high value payment orders, foreign currency payment orders from 5 p.m. for regular working days and 5:45 p.m. for the last 2 working days of the month;

dd) Deadline for finishing processing received payment orders in settlement waiting list (if any): up to 30 minutes from the moment in which the NIEPS cease to receive payment orders;

e) Time for conducting end of day affairs (examining conditions for comparison, comparing and verifying figures with the NPSC): after the time period specified under Point dd of this Clause.

2. Governor of SBV shall decide on changes to time periods under Clause 1 of this Article and inform members in writing at least 30 days prior to effective date of said changes except for cases under Clause 3 of this Article.

3. In case time changes under Clause 1 of this Article take place during annual accounting period or the NIEPS operate during holidays or Lunar New Year, Governor of SBV shall decide while NIEPS operator inform members in writing and upload on website of SBV at least 5 working days prior to effective date of said changes. 

Article 10. Extension of time period for receiving payment orders

1. NIEPS operator may delay the time after which payment order receipt is ceased by up to 30 minutes for following cases:

a)[8] In case of affair requirements, NIEPS errors at the NPSC, unsuccessful clearing due to insufficient balance of members or other causes from SBV;

b) In case branches of SBV of provinces, cities or members request extension of time period for receiving payment orders due to technical difficulties or excessive amount of documents towards the end of working hours.

2. In case the time after which payment order receipt is ceased is delayed by more than 30 minutes for cases under Clause 1 of this Article, NIEPS operator shall produce reports and submit to Governor of SBV for consideration and to Payment Department for supervision.

3. Delays specified under Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article shall be notified to all members of the NIEPS and relevant entities affiliated to SBV via email address registered with NIEPS operator or via the NIEPS before the time after which low value payment order receipt is ceased in case of extending time period for receiving low value payment orders and the time after which high value payment order and foreign currency payment order receipt is ceased in case of extending time period for receiving high value payment orders and foreign currency payment orders.  

Article 11. Logging and storage of electronic transaction data

1. The processing of transactions shall be automatically recorded by the NIEPS in the form of electronic data.

2. Electronic data shall be copied to storage devices (magnetic tapes, hard drives) on a daily basis. Electronic data to be archived include:

a) Electronic data about transaction requests and electronic messages containing results for each member and member-affiliated entity;

b) Electronic data about electronic messages, settlement transactions, data comparison and processing results of the NPSC.

3. Management of electronic documents and data shall conform to regulations and law on archiving. Log shall be produced at the request of competent authorities to serve inspection, control or dispute settlement in a manner that is conformable with regulations of law on confidentiality of clients’ information.

Article 12. Issuance, management and use of electronic signatures on the NIEPS

 1. Digital signatures shall be classified into 4 categories:

a) Digital signatures of payment order initiators;

b) Digital signatures of payment order supervisors;

c) Digital signatures of payment order approval individuals;

d) Digital signatures of media approval individuals (referred to as “digital media signatures”).

2. Digital signatures shall be decentralized for management and use as follows:

 a) Instruments for creation of digital signatures of payment order initiators and supervisors shall be issued and managed by members and member-affiliated entities following their own procedures;

b) Private keys for creation of digital signatures of payment order approval individuals and digital media signatures shall be issued by the SBV in accordance with regulations of the SBV on management and use of digital signatures, digital documents and authentication of digital signatures.  Individuals assigned with digital signature or private key are responsible for its confidentiality and shall bear legal responsibility if its disclosure causes damage;

c) Assignment of payment order initiators, supervisors and approval individuals in members and member-affiliated entities shall be regulated by competent individuals in a manner that payment order initiators are independent from payment order supervisors and approval individuals.

Article 13. Inquiry and comparison

1. Inquiry:

Members and member-affiliated entities may obtain information by requesting via electronic messages or entering information website. The NIEPS will automatically check the validity of the inquiries and response.

2. Comparison of payment results:

a) The payment result comparison is performed on a daily basis when the NIEPS completes its end-of-day processing;

b) Data about intraday settlements at the NPSC shall serve as the basis for payment result comparison;

c) All payment orders created must be compared with data at the NPSC, members and member-affiliated entities within the day, unless there is a technical or communication issue that makes it impossible to compare within the day;

d) Payment order comparison must be performed for each day separately. In case of a technical difficulty that makes it impossible to compare within the day, the comparison may be done within the next working days when the difficulty is fixed. In such cases, the comparison must reflect the date in which payment orders are created;

dd) NPSC shall automatically create end-of-day data for members and member-affiliated entities to compare;

e) Members and member-affiliated entities shall receive figures and compare with figures on payment orders actually sent and received within the day according to instructions under Clause 2 Article 37 of this Circular.

In case of errors, members and member-affiliated entities must notify and cooperate with the NIEPS operator in resolving.

Article 14. Operation of NPSC

1. Receive and check validity of electronic records, including:

a) Types and formats of data;

b) Validity (competence) of payment order approval individuals;

c) Dates;

d) Uniqueness;

dd) Mandatory elements of a payment order;

e) Authentication code for an electronic message;

g) Code of participants, code of terminal devices, code of approval individuals.

2. Process valid payment orders and cancellation orders; notify payment orders and processing results thereof to relevant members and member-affiliated entities.

 3. Compare payment orders with members and member-affiliated entities in the NIEPS.

 4. Reject invalid payment orders and cancellation orders; reject payment orders submitted after the NIEPS stops receiving payment orders.

5. Reject high-value payment orders and foreign currency payment orders from members whose balance in corresponding accounts are not sufficient.

6. Notify the unsuccessful high-value credit order to payment order processing entities if their accounts balance is not sufficient for payment after the time to stop receiving high-value payment orders, or the high-value credit order is submitted after the NIEPS stops receiving high-value payment orders.

7. Notify the unsuccessful credit order in foreign currency to the payment order processing entities if the corresponding foreign currency account balance is not sufficient for payment after the time to stop receiving foreign currency payment orders, or the credit order in foreign currency is submitted after the NIEPS stops receiving credit orders in foreign currency.

8. Notify the unsuccessful high-value debit order to payment order processing entities if accounts balance of payment order receiving entities is not sufficient for payment after the time to stop receiving high-value payment orders, or the high-value payment order is submitted after the NIEPS stops receiving high-value debit orders.

9. Notify the unsuccessful debit order in foreign currency to the payment order processing entities if the corresponding foreign currency account balance of payment order receiving entities is not sufficient for payment after the time to stop receiving foreign currency payment orders, or the debit order in foreign currency is submitted after the NIEPS stops receiving credit orders in foreign currency.

10. Notify the unsuccessful low-value payment order to the payment order processing entities if they exceed the threshold after the clearing time, or the low-value payment order is submitted after the NIEPS stops receiving low-value payment orders.

11. Automatically send electronic messages about clearing results to account processing modules to settle up with members using clearing services in the day.

12. Net settlement results from other systems shall be processed in accordance with Article 25 of this Circular.

Article 15. Operation of the BNPSC

1.[9] The BNPSC will be used when the NPSC does not operate properly due to failure or breakdown or conversion according to the plan in order to ensure the readiness for operation of the NIEPS.

2. During the period in which the BNPSC act the NPSC, the BNPSC shall operate according to Article 14 of this Circular.

3. All data and processing results of the BNPSC shall hold similar legitimacy as those of the NPSC.

Chapter III

PAYMENT ORDERS IN NIEPS

Article 16. Procedures for initiation of payment orders

1. For payment orders initiated from physical documents:

 a) Payment order initiators shall follow these steps:

- Inspect validity and legitimacy of client’s transaction documents;

- Identify and classify payment orders for processing;

- Compare and check the client’s account balance;

- Enter the following information: the payment order processing entities (name, bank code), amount, name, address, account number (if any), ID/passport number or enterprise ID number of the order givers, entities serving the order givers, payment order receiving entities (name, bank code), name, address, account number (if any), ID/passport number and issuance date of the order receivers, entities serving the order receivers, payment description and other information relevant to the interbank transaction, payment to state budget, sale of Government bonds and other types of transactions (if any) using Form TTLNH-04;

- Double check the entered data and add digital signatures to payment orders;

- Sign records; transfer records and entered data to payment order supervisors;

 b) Payment order supervisors:

- Verify data about: the payment order receiving entities, entities serving order givers, entities serving order receivers, the amount and payment description based on relevant documents.

- Return payment orders to payment order initiators if errors are found;

- Add digital signatures to payment orders, sign on documents and transfer to payment order approval individuals if data are correct;

c) Payment order approval individuals:

- Inspect consistency between data on original records and figures on screen;

- Return to payment order initiators or supervisors if errors are found;

- Sign records, add digital signatures to payment orders and transfer the payment orders if data are correct.  

2. For payment orders initiated from electronic documents:

In the cases where a payment order is created from electronic records in a member’s or member-affiliated entity’s system, the structure and format defined by the State bank must be complied with and the following requirements must be satisfied:

a) If the electronic record is valid but information therein is insufficient according to Point a Clause 1 of this Article, payment order initiator shall provide additional information; payment order supervisor and approval individual shall carry out verification similarly to physical records to ensure the accuracy, and add their digital signatures to the payment order;

b) If the electronic record is valid and information therein is sufficient, the digital signatures may be added manually or automatically to each payment order;

c) If the input electronic records are valid and contain sufficient information according regulations on initiation of payment orders and data security, accuracy and safety requirements, competent individuals of entities shall decide on approval requiring digital signatures of approval individuals on payment orders and assume legal responsibility for such decision, or follow the instructions in Point a Clause 2 of this Article.

3. Once a payment order is sent and is successful, it can be printed out at request.

4. A payment order will be processed by the NIEPS using the participant’s checking account with the same currency as that on the payment order opened at the State bank’s transaction center.

Article 17. Inspection of validity of a payment order

Members and member-affiliated entities are legally responsible for legitimacy of records used for initiating payment orders. The following information about payment orders must be inspected:

1. Types and formats of data;

2. Validity (competence) of payment order initiators, supervisors, approval individuals;

3. Date;

4. Uniqueness;

5. Mandatory elements of a payment order;

6. Authentication code for an electronic message;

7. Code of participants, code of terminal devices and code of approval individuals.

Article 18. Settlement of payment orders at members and member-affiliated entities

Members and member-affiliated entities shall settle payment orders in accordance with applicable law.

Article 19. Settlement and processing of payment orders at the transaction center

The transaction center shall control, compare, settle, audit and retain payment orders according to the sheet created on the daily basis (according to form TTLNH-10, TTLNH-11, TTLNH-12, TTLNH-13, TTLNH-14, TTLNH-15 attached hereto).

Chapter IV

CLEARING SETTLEMENT AMONG MEMBERS AND NET SETTLEMENT FROM OTHER SYSTEMS

Article 20. Threshold 

 1. Establishment of start-of-day threshold

a) Members who use low-value payment order services shall establish, maintain and manage their thresholds;

b) Members that use low-value payment order sending services shall calculate their start-of-day thresholds on the basis of the total low-value transaction of the previous period and send applications for establishment of start-of-day threshold to the transaction center.  Start-of-day threshold of each participant is calculated as follows:

Start-of-day threshold = Average daily difference (payable – receivable) of the participant over the last 6 months.

If the start-of-day threshold is zero or a negative number, it shall be established according to performance of the preceding period, start-of-day threshold of the preceding period, deposited securities and/or money and the needs for low-level payments of the member.

In case where a member has used low-value payment order sending services for less than 6 months, the start-of-day threshold shall equal value of the deposited securities and/or money.

The transaction center shall verify the arithmetic accuracy, the need for low-level payments, deposited securities or money of members and inform them of the results;

c) Start-of-day threshold shall be established every 6 months within the first 5 working days of January and July;

d) Members using low-value payment order sending services shall pay deposits to establish start-of-day threshold in accordance with Article 21 of this Circular.

2. Adjustment of start-of-day threshold

a) The transaction center may request members using low-value payment order sending services to decrease the start-of-day threshold if it is deemed too high compared to the member’s solvency and the value of deposited securities or money;

b) In the period in which the start-of-day threshold is established, each member may request the transaction center to consider adjusting the start-of-day threshold according to the member’s performance. In case where the start-of-day threshold is increased, the deposit may be increased by up to 100%.

3. Intraday temporary adjustment to start-of-day threshold

a) If a member wishes to temporarily increase the start-of-day threshold within the working day, the intraday increase in the start-of-day threshold shall be dealt with as follows:

If the member deposits securities or money to request increase in the threshold, securities or money shall be deposited. The minimum value of additionally deposited securities or money is the intraday increase in start-of-day threshold. Otherwise, intraday increase will not be permitted.

If a member uses its checking account balance to increase the start-of-day threshold, the transaction center shall debit an amount equal to the intraday increase from the member’s checking account as deposit. If the account balance is not sufficient, the increase will not be permitted.

After finishing the day’s clearing settlement day, the transaction center shall return the additionally deposited securities or money at member’s request. The threshold shall be reset to the start-of-day threshold. Intraday adjustment to start-of-day threshold is calculated as follows:

Intraday start-of-day threshold = start-of-day threshold + intraday increase in start-of-day threshold;

b) Where it is necessary to sustain members’ solvency, the transaction center may consider decreasing the intraday start-of-day threshold. After finishing clearing settlement, the threshold shall be reset to the start-of-day threshold. Intraday adjustment to start-of-day threshold is calculated as follows:

Intraday start-of-day threshold = start-of-day threshold - intraday temporary decrease in start-of-day threshold;

 4. Management of current threshold

Current threshold = intraday start-of-day threshold + total receivables of the low-value payment order from the start of the day to the current time – total payables of the low-value payment order from the start of the day to the current time.

At the start of the day, each member sending the low-value payment order shall be granted a start-of-day threshold. The start-of-day threshold may be increased or decreased according to the members’ and member-affiliated entities’ using low-value payment order sending services. The current threshold is the basis for sending low-value payment orders of members and member-affiliated entities.

5. The current threshold can be searched for on the NIEPS.

Article 21. Depositing to establish threshold

1. Securities deposited to establish threshold in low-value payments are those used in overdraft and overnight lending in interbank electronic payment.

2. Money deposited to establish the threshold in low-value payments is money in the participant’s account opened at the transaction center.

3. Deposit rate

a) A member using low-value payment services shall deposit securities and/or money in its account at the transaction center. The minimum deposit is 10% of the start-of-day threshold notified by the transaction center. Where it is necessary for the safety of the NIEPS, Governor of the SBV shall issue a decision to change the minimum deposit rate at the request of the Steering Committee of the NIEPS;

b) If the member’s account balance is not sufficient for clearing settlement at the time to stop receiving high-value payment orders 02 times or more in a month or 03 time or more in a period over which the start-of-day threshold is maintained, the transaction center shall request the Governor of the State bank to consider the decreasing member’s start-of-day threshold to the value of the deposited securities and/or money and maintain the deposit ratio at 100% for 6 months from the day on which Governor of the SBV issues a decision.

 4. Time to deposit securities or money:

a) In case of intraday temporary increase in the start-of-day threshold: as soon as securities or money are adequately deposited, the transaction center shall establish the intraday temporary start-of-day threshold and inform the member;

b) In case of initial or periodic establishment of start-of-day threshold: the member shall deposit securities or money, submit an application for establishment of the start-of-day threshold to the transaction center. Within 07 working days from the day on which deposited securities or money and the application is received by the transaction center, it shall establish the start-of-day threshold and inform the member in writing.

 5. Return of deposited securities or money

a) Deposited securities shall be returned in accordance with regulations of the SBV on depositing and use of securities at the SBV;

b) Within 03 working days from the day on which website of the SBV posts the information that the member stops using low-value payment order sending services and the member has fulfilled its obligations to the SBV on the NIEPS, the transaction center shall return the deposit to such member.

Article 22. Exceeding the threshold in low-value payments

In the cases where the amount on a payment order exceeds the current threshold:

 1. The NIEPS will request the member to increase the threshold as prescribed in Clause 3 Article 20 of this Circular;

 2. When the current threshold is sufficient, payment orders will be processed following on a first in, first out (FIFO) basis;

3. When the NIEPS stops receiving low-value payment orders, the payment orders that exceed the current threshold will be cancelled. Members and member-affiliated entities shall check the status of payment orders by sending inquiries.

Article 23. Clearing settlement

NPSC shall perform clearing settlement as follows:

1. Cease to receive low-value payment orders throughout the system;

2. Check and calculate the current threshold for the low-value payment orders whose current threshold is not available;

3. Reject low-value payment orders from participants and affiliated participants whose current thresholds are exceeded;

4. Calculate the difference between payables and receivables of each participant whose current threshold is sufficient according to the low-value payment orders;

5. The clearing result shall be settled by the automatic account processing module.

Article 24. Monitoring and notifying clearing settlement

The transaction center shall monitor the clearing settlement status via the NIEPS in the following order:

1. Examine the member’s solvency against the difference between start-of-day threshold and current threshold;

2. If the member’s funds are insufficient, notify it of such insufficiency and request it to increase its funds; inspect the addition of funds in the member’s checking account;

3. If clearing settlement is not successful after the system stops receiving high-value payment order because of the member’s insufficient balance, the transaction center shall complete and send Form TTLNH-25) to the NIEPS operator and such member.

Article 25. Processing of net settlement results from other systems[10]

1. The NIEPS are allowed to receive and process net settlement results from the ACH, card clearing houses and other clearing houses.

2. Clearing settlement results are processed in batches (also known as batch clearing) on the basis of members’ checking account balance. In case where a member’s checking account balance is insufficient, comply with regulations on electronic clearing under Circular guiding intermediary payment service of the SBV.

3. Once batch clearing is required, clearing house presiding organizations shall create batch clearing request with structure and data format regulated by SBV (Form No. TTLNH-30), add digital signatures and send to the NPSC.   

4. Presiding organizations may cancel unsuccessful clearing batches sent to the NPSC to supervise order of priority and conform to balance of members of clearing batches.

5. When clearing batches are processed and settled successfully at the NPSC, the NIEPS shall create and send transactions of clearing batches to members and member-affiliated entities.  Members and member-affiliated entities shall receive, supervise, print transactions of clearing batches and settle as per applicable law.

6. After completing comparison of the NIEPS, entities shall print and compare intraday batch clearing figures to ensure consistency. To be specific:

a) For transaction center:

- Schedule for comparison results of clearing batches received from the NPSC (Form No. TTLNH-31);

- Reports on comparison results of clearing batches (Form No. TTLNH-32)

b) For presiding organizations:

- Schedule for consolidated comparison results of clearing batches sent to the NPSC (Form No. TTLNH-33);

- Schedule for comparison results of clearing batches received from the NPSC (Form No. TTLNH-31);

c) For members and member-affiliated entities participating in clearing batches:

Schedules for comparison results of clearing batches (Form No. TTLNH-34).

7. Actions to be taken in case clearing batches have errors.

In case of errors with reports or comparison of clearing batches, entities must contact NIEPS operators for joint actions.

8. In order to adopt clearing settlement for other systems, presiding organizations must meet following requirements:

a) Submit application for settlement clearing service (Form No. TTLNH-29) via computer network, in person or via postal service to the SBV (via NIEPS operators);

b) Requirements for human resources:

- At least 2 operator individuals must be issued with license or certificates for professional training and operational training of the NIEPS;

- Officials assigned or authorized to transmit, receive settlement data shall sign clearing batches for approval with digital signatures provided by the SBV according to Circular on management, use of digital signatures, digital certificates and digital signature authentication service of SBV;

c) Technical requirements:

- Having primary system and backup system for software and databases;

- Having at least 1 primary transmission and independent 1 backup transmission connecting with the NIEPS;

- Bearing at least 2 successfully activated digital signatures (1 digital media signature and 1 digital signature of approval individual);

d) Members participating in settlement must be members of the NIEPS;

dd) Having written agreement sent to the SBV (NIEPS operators) on execution of clearing obligations between presiding organizations and settlement members.  Said agreements must include indefinite authorization period and irrevocable clauses to enable SBV (transaction center) to actively record debit in their checking accounts and deal with deposited accounts (when establishing clearing quota) for clearing settlement or execution of risk sharing obligations in case settlement members producing certificates for indebtedness lack settlement clearing capital and thus solvency is not guaranteed according to regulations and law on electronic clearing under Circular guiding intermediary payment services of SBV;

e) Having confirmation of transaction center regarding the fact that members of the NIEPS have deposited to establish electronic clearing quota according to Circular guiding intermediary payment service of the SBV.  

9. Upon changes to members of the NIEPS participating in settlement clearing services from other systems, NIEPS operators shall send application for revised list of members participating in settlement clearing service from other systems (Form No. TTLNH-35) via computer network, in person or via postal service to SBV (NIEPS operators).

10. When having no use of settlement clearing service of the NIEPS, presiding organizations shall send application for cessation of settlement clearing service (Form No. TTLNH-36) to SBV (NIEPS operators) via computer network, in person or via postal service.

11. NIEPS operators shall upload changes to presiding organizations and NIEPS members participating in settlement clearing service from other systems to website of SBV.

Chapter V

SETTLEMENT OF FUNDS INSUFFICIENCY IN INTERBANK ELECTRONIC PAYMENT

Article 26. Queue processing

1. In case where a member’s account is insufficient for payment, the NPSC shall:

a) retain high-value payment orders or low-value clearing results or net settlement results in VND from other systems in the queue;

b) retain foreign currency payment orders for payment in respective foreign currency;

c) when money in corresponding currency is added to the member’s corresponding checking account, the NPSC shall process payment orders on a FIFO basis. In case where amount in the payment order exceeds the participant’s checking account balance and leads to congestion of processing of other payment orders in the queue, the NPSC may swap the payment orders with amounts smaller than or equal to the participant’s checking account balance on a FIFO basis. Members and member-affiliated entities may send inquiries to check the status of their payment orders in the queue;.

d) perform queue management as follow:

- Examine balance of checking accounts on a periodic basis;

- Order of settlement: low-value clearing results, net settlement results from other systems, high-value payment orders and foreign currency payment orders if the checking account balance in the corresponding currency is sufficient;

- Process cancellation orders on a FIFO basis.

2. Members and member-affiliated entities may only cancel high-value payment orders, foreign currency payment orders and low-value payment orders in the queue at the NPSC:

a) When receiving a cancellation order from a payment order processing entity, NPSC shall verify its validity according to the logs;

b) If a cancellation order is valid and standing in the queue at NPSC, the cancellation will be performed and the cancellation result will be notified to the payment order processing entity.  If the cancellation order is not standing in the queue, the system will send a notification to the payment order processing entity.

Article 27. Insufficient checking account balance

1. For high-value payment orders in VND:

a) A member (except State Treasury) may overdraw within the limit issued under regulations of SBV on overdraw and overnight lending in interbank electronic payment to process high-value payment orders;

b) If the checking account balance of State Treasury is insufficient for making the payment and if the member has reached the overdraft facility granted by the State bank but the funds is still insufficient, the payment order will be queued until the checking account balance is sufficient;

c) The member may increase its checking account balance from its own fund or through monetary market transactions (except State Treasury) or mutual lending on the interbank market as prescribed by the SBV;

d) When the NIEPS stops receiving high-value payment order, if the checking account balance is still insufficient, high-value payment orders in the queue will be automatically cancelled. Members and member-affiliated entities may check the status of such payment orders by sending inquiries.

2. For payment orders in foreign currency:

a) The member shall increase its checking account balance from its own funds or mutual loan between other participants (other than State Treasury) as prescribed by the State bank;

b) When the NIEPS stops receiving foreign currency payment orders, if the balance of the corresponding checking account with corresponding currency is still insufficient, the foreign currency payment orders in the queue will be automatically cancelled. Members and member-affiliated entities shall check the status of payment orders by sending inquiries.

3. For low-value clearing results:

a) A member (except State Treasury) may overdraw within the limit to process clearing results;

b) The member may increase its checking account balance from its own fund or through monetary market transactions (except State Treasury) or mutual lending on the interbank market as prescribed by the SBV;

c) In case where a member is not able to settle the net payables when the NIEPS stops receiving high-value payment orders and the balance is still insufficient after the deposit has been used to establish the threshold from the participant’s deposit account (if any), the member (other than State Treasury) shall complete Form TTLNH-28 and submit it to the transaction center to obtain a clearing loan at the overnight rate imposed by the Governor of the State bank;

d) In case where the transaction center has issued a notification that the balance of the checking account opened at the transaction center to serve clearing settlement is insufficient, the deposit has been used to establish the threshold from the deposit account but the account balance is still insufficient, the State Treasury must take measures to increase the account balance within the day to process clearing results. If the State Treasury is not able to increase the account balance within the day, comply with Point a Clause 4 of Article 41 of this Circular.

4.[11] Net settlement results from other systems shall be processed in accordance with Clause 2 and Clause 3 Article 25 of this Circular.

Article 28. Settlement of members’ overdue clearing loans

1. On the working day succeeding the day on which the clearing loan is granted, the member shall repay the principal and interest to the SBV. If the member does not repay the clearing loan by the end of the working day succeeding the day on which it is granted, the transaction center shall convert the loan into an overdue loan, the interest rate on which is equal to the overdue overnight rate imposed by the State bank.

2. On the working day succeeding the day on which the clearing loan is granted, the transaction center shall take measures to collect the loan (principal first, interest later, including initial interest, overdue interest on the principal and overdue interest on the interest) and notify the member. To be specific:

a) Deduct the loan from the member’s VND checking account opened at the transaction center;

b) Request organizations that receive deposited securities to transfer them to the SBV. The transfer of securities as loan repayment shall be carried out similarly to the case in which a credit institution has an overdue overnight loan prescribed by the SBV;

c)[12] If the clearing loan is not completely repaid after the measures specified in Points a and b are adopted, the transaction center shall share the loan among other members in clearing settlement (other than State Treasury) in the same session and inform each member of its contribution. The contribution is calculated as follows:

 Contribution by participant i = A x

 Where:

A: Total amount of outstanding loan to be shared..

Bi: Average amount payable by the i^th member within 20 working days before the loan is granted.

C: Total average amount payable by members within 20 working days before the loan is granted.

C =

n: Number of members among which the loan is shared.

i: from 1 to n

In case new members send low-value payment orders in the NIEPS under 20 working days, rely on actual number of working days of said members on the NIEPS.

3. Sharing procedures.

a) On the working day succeeding the day on which the transaction center notifies members of their contribution, the transaction center shall withdraw the contribution from the members’ account;

b) If a member’s account is not sufficient, the transaction center will request Governor of the SBV to consider suspending the provision of low-value payment order sending services for such members until the working day succeeding the day on which such members fully transfers the amount to the transaction center. The transaction center will monitor balance of member’s checking account opened at the transaction center and withdraw the outstanding amount plus (+) an interest at the overdue overnight rate imposed by the SBV.

4. Return of contributions.

a) Within 05 working days from the day on which the transaction center notifies each member of its contribution, the member that took the loan shall take every measure possible to return the contributions made by the members to the transaction center’s account (plus an interest at overdue overnight rate imposed by the SBV). If the transaction center does not receive the loan repayment in full by the aforementioned deadline, it will withdraw the outstanding amount from the member’s checking account opened at the transaction center. If the loan is still not fully repaid after the member’s account is withdrawn, applicable regulations of law shall apply;

b) When contributions under Point a of this Clause are received, the transaction center shall return them (principal and interest, as defined under Point a of this Clause) to the participants that made such contributions on the basis of payable, percentage of payables of each member and total contribution amount.

5. In case where the member that took the clearing loan goes bankrupt, the SBV may repay the loans in accordance with regulations of law on bankruptcy and return the contributions to members in proportion to the collected amount.

Chapter VI

ERROR CORRECTION IN NIEPS

Article 29. Rules for error correction in the NIEPS

1. Consistency of data between the payment order processing entities, payment order receiving entities and NPSC is maintained. Errors are corrected where they are made until the end of the payment process. Spontaneous correction of errors in the NIEPS is prohibited.

2. Errors are immediately corrected upon discovery without delay to payment process. Error correction is conformable with accounting principles.

3. The entity or individual that makes the error or violates any of the rules for error correction is liable to pay damages to relevant parties.

Article 30. Cancellation and return of payment orders at members and member-affiliated entities

 1. Rules:

a) A payment order may only be cancelled in the following cases:

- The payment order is created but yet to be transmitted, in which case it will be cancelled;

- The payment order has been transmitted to NPSC and is still in the queue, in which case instructions under Point b Clause 1 Article 33 of this Circular shall be followed;

b) A payment order may only be returned in the following cases:

- A debit order may only be returned when payment order processing entity has not credited the client’s account or has credited the client’s account but has not retrieved it;

- A credit order may only be reversed when a payment order receiving entity has not credited the client’s account or has credited the client’s account but has not retrieved it;

 2. Documents on cancellation and return of payment order:

a) Documents on cancellation of payment order include:

- Credit cancellation order, which has the same value as a credit order, created and transmitted to a payment order receiving entity by a payment order processing entity to cancel the erroneous debit order (to return the amount in full);

- Debit cancellation order, which is created by a payment order processing entity to cancel a credit order which has been transmitted but still in the queue;

b) Documents on return of payment order include:

- Request for payment order return, which is created and transmitted to a payment order receiving entity to request the return of the erroneous credit order, specifies whether the error is made by the payment order processing entity or the client, and is the basis for the payment order receiving entity to create a credit order to return money to the payment order processing entity if the money has been retrieved;

- Notice on acceptance of request for payment order return, which is created by a payment order receiving entity to accept the request for payment order return if the money has been retrieved;

- Notice on rejection of request for payment order return, which is created by a payment order receiving entity to reject the request for payment order return because the money cannot be retrieved from the client.

3. Member-affiliated entities shall process cancellation and return of payment orders in the same manners as high-value payment orders.

Article 31. Correction of errors caused by members, member-affiliated entities in payment order processing entities

1. Correction of errors before a payment order is transmitted

a) If a payment order is found erroneous before a payment order approval individuals adds his/her digital signature for transmission, the payment order approval individual and supervisor shall reject the payment order and the payment order initiator shall correct it according to original documents;

b) If a payment order is found erroneous before a payment order approval individual has added his/her digital signature for transmission, it is mandatory to issue a cancellation record which specifies the symbol, time and date of cancellation, bears the signatures of the relevant payment order approval individual, supervisor and initiator. The cancellation record shall be separately retained; then the payment order approval individual shall reject the payment order and request the initiator to correct it according to original documents.

2. Correction of errors after a payment order is transmitted

When finding errors such as incorrect amount, confusion between credit account and debit account, etc. the payment order processing entity shall promptly notify the payment order receiving entity. The payment order processing entity must complete Form TTLNH-23, identify the causes, accountability and solution:

a) In case of insufficient amount:

Create and send additional payment order(s) to payment order receiving entities to make up for the difference based on cancellation record. The additional payment order(s) must specify that the amount of ………… is added to the payment order No. … dated …  and settled as per applicable law;

b) In case of excess amount:

- Regarding a credit order:

Issue a request for credit order return and send it to the payment order receiving entity; issue a transfer note and monitor the process in accordance with applicable regulations of law. Specify in the request that the error is made by the payment order processing entity.

As soon as the request for return is received from the payment order receiving entity, the payment order processing entity shall return the excess amount to the client and log the event.

If the request is rejected by the payment order receiving entity because the excess amount cannot be retrieved from the client, the payment order processing entity shall establish a council to determine accountability and damages to be paid by the error maker;

- Regarding a debit order:

Issue a request for return of the debit note and send it to the payment order receiving entity in order to cancel the excess amount on the order.

If money has been transferred to the client but the client’s account balance is not sufficient to cancel the debit order, the payment order processing entity shall record the excess amount as an amount payable and take every measure possible to retrieve the money such as cooperating with the payment order receiving entity, local authority, law enforcement authorities such as the police or the court, if the money cannot be retrieved, the payment order processing entity shall establish a council to determine accountability and damages to be paid by the error maker. When receiving a notification of return of money from the client, the order-creating unit shall follow instructions of applicable regulations of law;

c) In case of confusion between credit account and debit account:

The payment order processing entity shall keep record, issue an order to cancel the debit order (if confusion between credit account and debit account is found in a credit order) or a request for credit order  return (if confusion between credit account and debit account is found in a debit order) to completely cancel such order, then create a correct payment order and send it to the order-receiving unit.

In case confusion between credit account and debit account is found in debit order, the payment order processing entity shall settle as per applicable laws upon receiving credit order of payment order receiving entity returning the erroneously transferred money.

Article 32. Correction of errors caused by members, member-affiliated entities in payment order receiving entities

1. In case where a payment order is found erroneous because of a technical error or fraud before settlement time, the payment order receiving entity shall cooperate with the payment order processing entity and the NIEPS operator in handling the case.

2. Regarding payment order with insufficient amount:

When receiving the additional payment order from the payment order processing entity, the payment order receiving entity shall compare it with the erroneous payment order before settlement.

3. Regarding a payment order with excess amount:

a) If the error is found before the client is paid:

If the payment order receiving entity receives the request for return of the excess amount before it is received, the payment order receiving entity shall log such erroneous payment order. When receiving the erroneous payment order, the payment order receiving entity shall compare it with the request for return of the excess amount and settle the payment in accordance with applicable regulations of law.

- Regarding a credit order with excess amount: when receiving the request for return of the excess amount, issue a credit order to the order payment processing entity;

- Regarding a debit order with excess amount: monitor and process the cancellation order sent by the payment order processing unit;

b) In case where the request for return of the excess amount is received after the client is paid, the payment order receiving entity shall log the erroneous payment order and handle the case as follows:

- Regarding a credit order with excess amount:

As soon as valid request for return of the excess amount is received from the payment order processing unit:

+ In case where the client’s checking account balance is sufficient: the payment order receiving entity shall freeze the excess amount to issue a credit order without prior notification to or prior consent of the account holder. Within 01 working day from the day on which request for return of the excess amount is received, the payment order receiving entity shall return the excess amount to the payment order processing entity;

 + In case where the client’s checking account balance is insufficient: the payment order receiving entity shall log the unfulfilled request, freeze the account and request the client to deposit money in order to fulfill such request. When the client deposits sufficient money or when the client’s account balance is sufficient, the accountant shall removed the unfulfilled request, issue a credit order and send it to the payment order processing entity;

+ In the cases where the client is insolvent or the client’s residence cannot be found, the payment order receiving entity shall cooperate with the payment order processing entity, local authority and law enforcement authorities in retrieving the money. If the money cannot be retrieved or cannot be fully retrieved, the payment order receiving entity shall reject the request for return of the excess amount, issue a notice of rejection and provide explanation, send it and the retrieved money (if any) to the payment order processing entity; log the unfulfilled request for return of the excess amount.

4. Correction of other errors

Regarding incorrect type number, transaction number, currency or the unit serving the recipient is not the order-receiving unit or its affiliated unit:

a) If the credit/debit order has been received but yet to be settled, the payment order processing entity shall record it to account payable/receivable, issue a payment order and send it to the payment order processing entity. The payment order receiving entity is prohibited from transferring money;

 b) The payment order receiving entity shall process executed payment orders in accordance with Point b Clause 3 of this Article.

Article 33. Cancellation and return of payment orders at clients’ request

1. Processing at the payment order processing entity:

When receiving the request for cancellation of a credit order or debit order from a client, the payment order processing entity shall check validity of documents and compare it with the order to be cancelled. If the documents are invalid, they will be returned to the client with explanation. If the documents are valid:

a) If the payment order has not been executed or sent, it will be cancelled in accordance with Article 30 of this Circular; the payment order processing entity shall send a notification of payment order cancellation to the client and will not execute such payment order;

b) If a high-value payment order, foreign currency payment order or debit the Law on Inspection has been executed and sent but is still in the queue (because the balance of the corresponding account is not sufficient) or a low-value payment order has been executed and sent but is still in the queue at the NPSC, it will be cancelled as follows:

- Regarding request for cancellation of a credit order:

+ According to the valid cancellation request submitted by the client, the creator shall make necessary supplementation, issue a cancellation order (Form TTLNH-05) and add his/her digital signature to such cancellation order;

+ The payment order approval individual must inspect the consistency of information on the cancellation order made by the creator and that made by the client. If they are consistent, the payment order approval individual will add his/her digital signature to the cancellation order and send it.

The NPSC will inform the payment order processing entity of the cancellation process. When being inform of the successful cancellation, the payment order processing entity will settle the payment in accordance with applicable regulations of law. If the cancellation is not successful (because the payment order is no longer in the queue), the payment order processing entity shall follow the procedures for requesting reversal specified in Point c Clause 1 of this Article;

- Point a Clause 2 Article 30 hereof shall apply to cancellation of debit orders;

c) If the payment order has been processed and sent, and settled by NPSC, the payment order processing entity shall prepare a request for payment order reversal and follow these instructions:

- Regarding request for credit order return:

+ According to the valid cancellation request submitted by the client, the creator shall make necessary supplementation, issue a cancellation order (Form TTLNH-06) and add his/her digital signature to such return order; The electronic message must specify that the error is made by the client;

+ The payment order approval individual must inspect the consistency of information on the return order made by the creator and that made by the client. If they are consistent, the payment order approval individual will add his/her digital signature to the return order and send it;

 + When the money returned by the payment order receiving entity is fully received, the payment order processing entity shall follow procedures for returning it to the client;

- Regarding a cancellation of a debit order:

According to the successful cancellation order, the payment order processing entity shall withdraw the credited amount from the client’s account and transfer it to the payment order receiving entity.

2. Processing at the payment order receiving entity:

When the request for reversal of the credit order or cancellation of the debit order from the payment order processing entity is received, the payment order receiving entity shall inspect the validity of such request, compare it with the payment order received and follow the reversal procedures.

a) If return request is found erroneous, the payment order receiving entity shall send the payment order processing entity a notice of rejection of the request for return of the credit order (Form TTLNH-07) and provide explanation; if the cancellation order is found erroneous, the payment order receiving entity shall process it as if an erroneous incoming credit order;

b) If the return request (or cancellation order) is valid:

- If the incoming credit order is yet to be executed by the payment order receiving entity, the payment order receiving entity shall promptly send the payment order processing entity a notice of acceptance of the return order and a return credit order;

- If the payment order has been executed by the payment order receiving entity:

+ Regarding a request for return of an incoming credit order:

The payment order receiving entity shall promptly send the request for return to the client. Before the client agrees in writing or deposits cash or issues a transfer order to return the money, the payment order receiving entity must not send the payment order processing entity the notice of acceptance of the return request. After that, the payment order receiving entity shall issue a credit order to return the money to the payment order processing entity.

If the return request is rejected by the client, the payment order receiving entity shall send the payment order processing entity a notice of rejection of the return request;

+ Regarding a debit cancellation order: the payment order receiving entity shall send the notice of acceptance of the cancellation order to the client.

Article 34. Request for information check and responses thereto

When a minor error on the payment order is found (other than bank code, credit/debit confusion, date, amount, currency, type of payment, document symbol, etc.):

1. The order-creating unit or order-receiving unit shall issue a request for information check (Form TTLNH-08)

 2. Procedures for processing a request for information check:

a) Creating an electronic message:

- Payment order initiator enters data;

- Payment order approval individual supervises and adds his/her digital signature;

- Send the electronic message to the NPSC; print out the electronic message which must bear both people’s signatures;

b) Receiving electronic message:

- Payment order approval individual checks the digital signature;

- Payment order initiator approval individual sign the physical copy of the electronic message.

3. Unless otherwise prescribed by law, the payment order processing entity must respond the request for information check from the payment order receiving entity within 01 working day from the receipt of such request (use Form TTLNH-09). If the payment order receiving entity does not receive any response after 04 working days from the day on which the request is sent, the credit order in question will be returned.

4. Retention of requests for information check and responses thereto.

Requests for information check and responses bearing signatures shall be retained together with original payment orders and are the basis to pay clients.

Article 35. Correction of technical errors in the NIEPS

 1. Common errors

a) Errors to the hardware, software, database, digital signatures, transmission line; unsuccessful transactions because of terminal devices shall be notified as follows:

- If the error occurs at a member or member-affiliated entity: send a notification and record about the technical issue to the NIEPS operator (Form TTLNH-22) if the error cannot be fixed within 30 minutes;

- If the error occurs at the NPSC: notify the entire system if the error cannot be fixed within 02 hours;

- If the error occurs at a branch of the SBV: inform the NIEPS operator if the error cannot be fixed within 30 minutes;

b) The notification shall be transmitted via the computer network, email, fax or telephone;

c) Members and member-affiliated entities must report and fix errors within their control, cooperate in fixing other errors to the NIEPS on request;

d) The NIEPS operator shall provide instructions and fix the technical issues in accordance with error correction procedures of the NIEPS.

2. Unsuccessful transmission of payment orders.

a) Regarding an outgoing payment order:

- In the cases where a payment order is sent without response because of a technical error, the member or member-affiliated entity shall:

+ Send an inquiry or cooperate with the NIEPS operator in updating the status of the payment order in the NIEPS;

+ If the status of a payment order is unsuccessful:

Resend the payment order.

If the payment order cannot be executed after being resent, the member or member-affiliated entity shall issue a cancellation order. The payment order initiator and approval individual shall sign the successful cancellation note sent by the NIEPS and retain its physical copy. After the cancellation is successful and all necessary procedures are completed, the member or member-affiliated entity may reissue another payment order with new entries to replace the cancelled one or return the money to its client.

If the re-sent payment order is still unsuccessful and cannot be cancelled, the member or member-affiliated entity shall issue a record on such event. By comparing the result of end-of-day outgoing orders and the result of settlement between the member/member-affiliated entity and NPSC, the member/member-affiliated entity may retain the settled entries or return the money or issue a new payment order;

- The end-of-day comparison table might be unbalanced due to some technical issues, in which case the member or member-affiliated entity shall send an inquiry about the differences to NPSC and issue a record to confirm their status. The final result of the comparison table is based upon the latest status of payment orders and the result of settlement between the member/member-affiliated entity and NPSC;

b) Regarding an incoming payment order:

 In case of inability to decode or receive data, the member/member-affiliated entity shall request the NIEPS operator to change the status of data, receive, decode and re-inspect the data;

c) In case where a technical issue occurs to the outgoing or incoming payment order, the member/member-affiliated entity shall carefully control and compare it to avoid duplication (of the outgoing payment order) or excess amount (of the incoming payment order);

d) No connection to the NIEPS or branch of the SBV:

 In the cases where a member/member-affiliated entity is unable to connect to the NIEPS to verify or compare information due to faulty computer system or transmission line, etc. it must notify the NIEPS operator of the issue in other manners (by email, fax, telephone, etc.). Regarding an incomplete payment order, the member/member-affiliated entity only pays the client after the issue is fixed and the final status of the payment order is confirmed.

3. Within 02 hours from the occurrence of the incident that causes NPSC to be unable to function, Information Technology Department[13] shall consider switching to the BNPSC. After the issue is fixed, the transactions will be moved back to NPSC.

4. Force majeure errors

A force majeure error means an error that occurs beyond the reasonable control of the person operating the NIEPS, cannot be anticipated and suspend the NIEPS for more than 02 hours. If the error cannot be fixed:

a) Information Technology Department[14] shall report the error to the Governor of the SBV;

b) The Governor of the SBV decides the solution;

c) Members of the NIEPS are notified via the computer network, email, fax or telephone.

Chapter VII

REPORT AND REPORT PROCESSING

Article 36. Daily reports transaction center

 1. Preparation of daily transfer reports of the NIEPS

After comparing daily transfers, the transaction center shall prepare an electronic report on daily payments in the NIEPS, which consists of:

a) Form TTLNH-10 (transactions by member-affiliated entities);

b) Form TTLNH-11 (transactions by members);

c) Form TTLNH-12 (transfer balance sheet);

d) Form TTLNH-13 (settlement results);

dd) Form TTLNH-14;

e) Form TTLNH-15 (consolidated settlement results);

g) Form TTLNH-24 (high-value payments);

2. Report processing

a) The payment controller of the transaction center shall control both physical and electronic daily transfer reports and balance sheets to ensure their accuracy and consistency;

b) Daily reports of the NIEPS shall be retained after being controlled and compared; the payment controller shall sign the reports. Retention of daily transfer reports of the NIEPS:

- Physical reports bearing adequate seals and signatures shall be retained in the same manners as other physical documents;

- Electronic daily transfer reports shall be retained in the same manners of other electronic documents.

Article 37. Preparation and processing of reports by members and member-affiliated entities

 1. Reports to be prepared by member-affiliated entities:

a) Form TTLNH-16 (outgoing transfers);

b) Form TTLNH-17 (incoming transfers);

c) Form TTLNH-18 (outgoing transfer comparison);

d) Form TTLNH-19 (incoming transfer comparison);

dd) Form TTLNH-20 (settlement results);

2. Report processing

a) Rules:

- The total debit/credit amount in Forms TTLNH-16 must equal that in Form TTLNH-18;

- The total debit/credit amount in Forms TTLNH-17 must equal that in Form TTLNH-19;

- The difference between Form TTLNH-18 and Form TTLNH-19 is zero (0);

b) Correction of erroneous reports:

Where an error is found, the member-affiliated entity shall contact the NIEPS operator to correct it in cooperation.

3. Reports prepared at members:

a) Form TTLNH-16 (outgoing transfers);

b) Form TTLNH-17 (incoming transfers);

c) Form TTLNH-18 (outgoing transfer comparison);

d) Form TTLNH-19 (incoming transfer comparison);

dd) Form TTLNH-20 (member-affiliated entities' settlement results).

e) Form TTLNH-21 (members’ settlement results).

4. After comparison and consolidation, electronic daily transfer reports of both members and member-affiliated entities shall be retained in accordance with applicable regulations.

Article 38. Monthly reports

Apart from the forms mentioned in Article 36 and Article 37 of this Circular, the units shall submit reports in accordance with regulations promulgated by the SBV.

Chapter VIII

PARTICIPATION, USE OF SERVICES AND WITHDRAWAL FROM NIEPS

Article 39. Participation in NIEPS

1. Participation in the NIEPS.

a)[15] Banks, branches of foreign banks, the Central State Treasury that wish to participate in the NIEPS shall submit Form TTLNH-01 to the SBV (NIEPS operator) via computer network, in person or postal service.

b) Banks, branches of foreign banks, the Central State Treasury that wish to have their affiliated entities or indirect member-affiliated entities to participate in the NIEPS shall submit Form TTLNH-03 to the SBV (NIEPS operator) via the computer network.

2. The NIEPS operator shall announce every change in the members, member-affiliated entities and indirect member of the NIEPS on the web portal of the SBV.

Article 40. NIEPS terms of service

1. To use services of the NIEPS, a member must:

a) have a VND checking account opened at the transaction center;

b) have suitable foreign currency checking accounts opened at the transaction center if making payment in foreign currencies;

c) satisfy the following personnel requirements:

- At least 2 operator individuals must be issued with license or certificates for professional training and operational training of the NIEPS;

- The officer authorized to transmit and receive payment data and sign payment orders has a digital signature issued by the SBV in accordance with the Circular of the SBV on management and use of digital signatures, digital certificates and digital signature authentication services;

d)[16] satisfy the following technical requirements:

- Having primary system and backup system for software and databases;

- Having at least 1 primary transmission and independent 1 backup transmission connecting with the NIEPS;

- Bearing at least 2 successfully activated digital signatures (1 digital media signature and 1 digital signature of approval individual).

2. Member-affiliated entities affiliated to the SBV shall comply with Points c and d Clause 1 of this Article.

3. To use services of the NIEPS, a member-affiliated entity must:

a) satisfy the requirements specified under Point c Clause 1 of this Article;

b) satisfy the following technical requirements:

- Having primary system and backup system for software and databases;

- Having at least 01 transmission line connected to the NIEPS;

- Bearing at least 2 successfully activated digital signatures (1 digital media signature and 1 digital signature of approval individual);

c) have Form TTLNH-03 submitted by the member.

4.[17] Before using services of the NIEPS, member-affiliated entities affiliated to the State bank, banks, branches of foreign banks and the Central State Treasury shall submit the following documents to the NIEPS operator via the computer network, in person or via postal service:

a) Documents (except affiliated entities of the SBV) about pledged or deposited securities or money to establish threshold in the NIEPS which are certified by the transaction center in case of applying for the service of sending low-value payment orders;

b) Authorization contracts or prior agreements on fulfillment of the requirements in Clause 3 Article 5 hereof regarding payment of debts among members (for debit order sending services);

c) Applications for provision of NIEPS services for members and member-affiliated entities (Form TTLNH-26) as the case may be.

5.[18] The NIEPS operator shall announce every change in NIEPS services used by members and member-affiliated entities on the web portal of the SBV.

Article 41. Termination and suspension of payment order sending services in the NIEPS

1.[19] Banks, branches of foreign banks, the Central State Treasury that wish to stop using one or multiple payment order sending services shall submit Form TTLNH-27 the NIEPS operator via the computer network, in person or via postal service.

2. The Governor of the SBV shall consider suspending provision of certain payment services of the NIEPS for a member that  fails to maintain fulfillment of requirements specified under Points c and d Clause 1 Article 40 hereof; a member-affiliated entity that fails to maintain fulfillment of personnel and technical requirements specified under Points a and b Clause 3 Article 40 hereof until such requirements are fulfilled.

3. The Governor of the SBV shall consider suspending provision of payment order sending services in the NIEPS for a member or member-affiliated entity having a technical issue that interrupt the operation of its system. To be specific:

a) If interruption occurs more than 04 times in a month, payment order sending services shall be suspended for 05 working days from the occurrence;

b) If interruption occurs more than 11 times in a quarter, payment order sending services shall be suspended for 10 working days from the occurrence;

c) If interruption occurs more than 19 times in a year, payment order sending services shall be suspended for 01 month from the occurrence.

4. The Governor of the SBV shall consider suspending provision of low-value payment order sending services for a member or member-affiliated entity in the following cases:

a) If the State Treasury’s balance is not sufficient for clearing settlement according to Point d Clause 3 Article 27 hereof, the NIEPS operator shall request the Governor of the SBV to consider suspending provision of low-value payment order sending services for the State Treasury until its balance is sufficient for settlement;

b) If the member’s balance is sufficient twice a month or more, the NIEPS operator shall request the Governor of the SBV to consider suspending provision of low-value payment order sending services for such participant for 01 month;

c) Provisions under Point b Clause 3 Article 28 hereof shall apply;

d) If a member is unable to repay a loan, which has to be shared among other members, the transaction center will request the Governor of the SBV to consider suspending low-value payment order sending services for such member. The suspension will last for 6 months from the day on which the Governor of the SBV notifies all members and member-affiliated entities in writing.

5. In case where a member or member-affiliated entity is put under special control, the Governor of the SBV shall consider suspending provision of certain services of the NIEPS for such member or member-affiliated entity to ensure safety of the NIEPS.

6. The NIEPS operator shall post information about termination or suspension of provision of NIEPS services for members and member-affiliated entities on the web portal of the State bank.

Article 42. Termination of membership

Membership of a member, member-affiliated entity or indirect member-affiliated entity shall be terminated when:

1.[20] The member has settled debts incurred during its participation in the NIEPS, annual fees and payment fees (if any), and has submitted a request for withdrawal from the system (Form TTLNH-02) to the SBV (the NIEPS operator) via the computer network, in person or via postal service.

2. The member is dissolved, bankrupt, acquired or consolidated.

3. The member’s VND checking account opened at the transaction center is closed.

3a.[21] NIEPS operators upon receiving application for withdrawal from the NIEPS shall suspend payment order sending service of members, member-affiliated entities at request and request transaction center or branches of the SBV in provinces and cities where members, member-affiliated entities open checking accounts in writing to cooperate in verifying completion of debt repayment obligations that arise in participation in the NIEPS, annual fees and payment fees (if any).

4. The NIEPS operator shall announce termination of memberships on the web portal of the SBV.

Chapter IX

RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF UNITS

Article 43. Rights and responsibilities of members and member-affiliated entities

1. Members and member-affiliated entities have the rights to:

 a) use payment services provided by the NIEPS;

b) request the NPSC to confirm the receipt of payment orders they sent and provide information about execution thereof;

 c) request the NPSC to cancel payment orders in accordance with this Circular;

d) inherit the right to use high-value payment services of a member to which it is affiliated.

 2. Members and member-affiliated entities have the responsibilities to:

a) managing payment and settlement activities and threshold under its management;

b) receiving and processing electronic data from NSPC at the end of a working day. Data includes:

- Amounts receivable (payable) to the member’s checking accounts;

- Amounts receivable (payable) of each member-affiliated entity, according to which the member shall settle payments on behalf of its affiliated entities;

- Every outgoing and incoming payment orders in details of all member-affiliated entities in the NIEPS;

c) instructing its affiliated entities to implement documents and directives of the SBV regarding interbank electronic payment;

 d) adhering to regulations on creation and transmission of payment orders via the NIEPS; taking responsibility for the accuracy of information in the payment orders;

dd) cooperating with the NIEPS, other participants and affiliated participants in correction of errors that occur during the operation of the NIEPS and switching over to the backup system;

 e) paying compensation for the damage caused in case payment order processing entity commits violations against regulations on creation, transmission of payment orders or enter incorrect information in the payment order;

 g) implementing regulations on fee and fee management in the NIEPS specified under Article 7 of this Circular;

h) refraining from revealing or providing information obtained from the NIEPS to irrelevant entities, unless such information is requested by a competent authority as prescribed by law;

i) sharing the overdue clearing loan taken by other members;

k) maintaining its checking account balance to execute payment orders and clearing via the NIEPS;

l) requesting withdrawal of the digital certificate (if any) used in interbank electronic payment in accordance with regulations of the SBV in case member, member-affiliated entity terminates its membership;

m) maintaining infrastructure and resources specified under Points c and d Clause 1, Points a and b Clause 3 Article 40 of this Circular;

n) registering email addresses for exchange of information related to the NIEPS;

o) adhering to the schedule of the NIEPS to ensure convenient, accurate, timely and safe payments;

p) regularly monitoring and maintaining current threshold;

q) providing information for each other and submit reports to competent authority in case of dispute with clients.

r)[22] notifying status received from NSPC for processing and settlement of payment orders for clients (if any).

Article 44. NIEPS operating council

1. The NIEPS operating council is established under the decision of the Governor of the SBV and consists of: a chief who is the Deputy Governor of the SBV, members who are representatives of Information Technology Department[23], Payment Department, transaction centers and heads of other units.

2. The NIEPS operating council shall:

a) advise the Governor of the SBV about NIEPS development strategies and plans;

b) advise the Governor of the SBV about development and management of comprehensive risk management of the NIEPS;

c) advise the Governor of the SBV about other foreign currencies in the NIEPS as prescribed in Clause 1 Article 1 of this Circular;

d) advise the Governor of the SBV about making of the decisions specified in Clause 2 and Clause 3 Article 9; Clause 2 Article 10; Point a and Point b Clause 3 Article 21; Point b Clause 3 Article 28; Point b Clause 4 Article 35; Clauses 2, 3, 4, and 5 Article 41 of this Circular;

dd) perform other tasks related to the management and operation of the NIEPS specified in its statute promulgated by the Governor of the SBV.

Article 45. Transaction center

 1. Connect to the NPSC to complete procedures for high-value payments, foreign currency payments and low-value payments among members.

 2. Monitor and manage checking accounts.

 a) Monitor and manage members’ checking account balance as follows:

 - Determine start-of-day balance of members’ checking accounts to serve their payments activities in the day on a daily basis;

 - Process transfers among member-affiliated entities in case of funds increase;

 - Update the status of checking accounts;

- Control and compare data about money transfers among SBV units;

- Consolidate daily and monthly money transfer data of SBV units;

b) Provide the following electronic information for members promptly and at any time via the NPSC:

- Checking account balance and overdraft limit;

- Status of clearing settlement requests;

- Status of settlement requests in the queue;

- Status of settlement requests that have been cancelled;

- Threshold.

 3. Manage clearing settlement.

 a) Monitor, control the maintenance of threshold of members in accordance with regulations of the SBV;

 b) Manage, calculate and maintain limits on payments without limits;

 c) Process transactions related to deposited securities and money;

 d) Monitor and publish the status of clearing settlement in accordance with Article 24 of this Circular.

4. Establish procedures for processing foreign currency payments and settlement of Government bonds.

5.[24] Recover debts (if any) incurred in the process of participation in the NIEPS, annual fees and payment fees (if any) of members and member-affiliated entities of the NIEPS arising within their remit, and concurrently send a written confirmation to the NIEPS operator on the status of fulfillment of such obligation upon the member’s request for withdrawal from the NIEPS.

 6. Perform the roles of a member of the NIEPS and comply with regulations apply to members of the NIEPS.

Article 46. Department of Finance and Accounting[25]

Be responsible for accounting affairs for member-affiliated entities of SBV participating in the NIEPS.

Article 47. Payment Department

1. Take responsibility for payment affairs in the NIEPS.

2. Promulgate regulations on monitoring of the NIEPS to ensure its stable, safe and effective operation.

3. Monitor the NIEPS, access its archives, exchange information with its operator and members to assess its usual operation on a daily basis. Request the NIEPS operator to report every change to the NIEPS and every issue that occur.

Article 48. Information and Technology Department[26]

1. Perform the tasks of the NIEPS operator specified in this Circular.

2. Directly manage and take responsibility the infrastructure of the NIEPS.

3. Study, develop and propose technical solutions for development and expansion of the NIEPS.

4. Carry out periodic maintenance of the NIEPS to ensure its safe and uninterrupted operation.

5. Propose data standards of the State bank in the NIEPS to the Governor of the State bank.

Article 49. NIEPS operator

1. Directly operate the NIEPS.

2. Receive, process enquiries; provide instructions on implementation of provisions of Articles 39, 40, 41, and 42 of this Circular.

3. Comply with regulations and recommendations on monitoring of the SBV (Payment Department); promulgate and implement internal rules and regulations on risk management to ensure uninterrupted operation of the NIEPS.

4. Submit monthly reports to the operating council and Payment Department on status and operating time of the NIEPS in accordance with regulations of the SBV.

Article 50. Branches of the SBV of provinces and cities

1. Request the NPSC to confirm the receipt of payment orders they sent and relevant information.

2. Connect members and member-affiliated entities in their administrative divisions participating in the NIEPS.

3. Maintain the technical conditions under their management to ensure uninterrupted operation of the NIEPS.

 4. Cooperate with the NIEPS operator, members and member-affiliated entities in correction of errors that occur during the operation of the NIEPS.

5.[27] Recover debts (if any) incurred in the process of participation in the NIEPS, annual fees and payment fees (if any) of members and member-affiliated entities of the NIEPS arising within their remit, and concurrently send a written confirmation to the NIEPS operator on the status of fulfillment of such obligation upon the member’s request for withdrawal from the NIEPS.

Chapter X

IMPLEMENTATION[28]^,[29]

Article 51. Transition clauses

1. The SBV, banks, branches of foreign banks, Central State Treasury, their affiliated units that have been members, member-affiliated entities or indirect member-affiliated entities of the NIEPS before the effective date of this Circular are still members, member-affiliated entities or indirect member-affiliated entities and keep using the services established on the NIEPS.

2. Those that have been members, member-affiliated entities or indirect member-affiliated entities of the NIEPS before the effective date of this Circular other than those specified in Clause 1 of this Article shall have their membership terminated from the effective date of this Circular.

Article 52. Entry into force [30]

1. This Circular comes into force from November 1, 2019.

2. Following documents shall expire from the effective date hereof:

a) Circular No. 23/2010/TT-NHNN dated November 9, 2010;

Circular No. 13/2013/TT-NHNN dated June 11, 2013;

c) Article 6 of Circular No. 23/2011/TT-NHNN .

Article 53. Organization for implementation

Chief of Office, heads of entities affiliated to the SBV, Directors of branches of the SBV, General Director/Director of members are responsible for implementation of this Circular.