Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Pham Tien Dung stated that in June 2024 alone, there were an average of 1.8 to 2 million transactions worth over VND10 million (approximately US$430) per day. There was local network congestion on July 1, the first day of implementing biometric authentication registration. However, by July 2, the banking system was operating smoothly. The SBV is monitoring transactions hourly and has charts from each bank that are reported and updated continuously.
By July 3, there were 23 million inter-bank money transfer transactions, of which 1.9 million were worth over VND10 million, accounting for 8.2 percent higher than the average of 8 percent in June 2024.
According to Deputy Governor Pham Tien Dung, biometric authentication is an additional layer of protection. Banks are not skipping any security steps, so it can only be more secure for customers as high-tech crime is becoming increasingly sophisticated and technology must be constantly improved to better protect customer assets.
In recent times, the SBV and ministries and agencies have organized many workshops on solutions to protect customers to prevent the increasing number of online scams targeting bank customers, said Deputy Governor Pham Tien Dung.
An SBV report shows that over 87 percent of adults have bank payment accounts and many banks have over 95 percent of transactions processed through digital channels. Cashless payments are growing strongly, especially in terms of the number of mobile and QR code payment transactions, which have averaged over 100 percent per year from 2017 to 2023.
Biometrics in banking is the use of unique physiological or behavioral characteristics of individuals for authentication and security purposes in digital banking transactions and account access. These characteristics can include facial recognition, voice recognition, fingerprint scans, or retina recognition.
Banking technology infrastructure is constantly being invested in, upgraded and developed to ensure continuous, smooth and secure operation. The inter-bank electronic payment system processes an average of VND830,000 billion per day (equivalent to US$40 billion), and the electronic financial switching and clearing system processes an average of 20-25 million transactions per day.
The banking sector also closely cooperates with the Ministry of Public Security in crime prevention work as well as pioneer the effective implementation of tasks in Project 06/QD-TTg on the application of population data to serve data cleansing, accurate identification/authentication of customer information.
SBV representatives said that in addition to the convenience and benefits that banking products and services on the internet bring, the banking industry also faces risks and challenges related to security issues.
Therefore, in order to limit and minimize the risks related to information security issues in banking activities on the Internet in recent times, the banking sector has proactively implemented key solution groups such as perfecting mechanisms and policies, and implementing technology solutions and coordination mechanisms. Last but not least, the sector has also disseminated propaganda and warnings against fraud prevention.
