On June 28, 2024, the State Bank of Vietnam issued Circular 15/2024/TT-NHNN (“Circular 15”) regulating the provision of non-cash payment services. Circular 15 introduces several noteworthy new provisions as follows:
1. The State Bank strictly manages the provision of payment services through Payment Accepting Units (PAUs)
Circular 15 supplements the provision of payment services through PAUs[1] and requires service-providing organizations to comply with the following strict regulations:
- There must be a contract or written agreement clearly outlining the rights and responsibilities of the parties in providing services and protecting customer personal data;
- PAUs must be fully guided on processes, procedures, and measures to implement the work;
- Development of PAUs must be selected; it is required to identify, verify PAUs to ensure accuracy, authenticity, and regularly update information about PAU data, while also conducting on-site inspections at business locations to ensure authenticity.
- Risk management mechanisms must be established; PAUs must be evaluated and classified according to risk levels; activities of PAUs must be regularly monitored, supervised, and tightly controlled; Identification of PAUs suspected of fraud, deception, and legal violations must be built and implemented according to a set of criteria.
- PAUs must be required to open payment accounts at banks or foreign bank branches to receive payments and provide invoices and documents related to the provision of goods and services.
- A list of PAUs suspected of fraud, counterfeiting, and legal violations must be reported starting from January 1, 2025.
2. PAUs must publicly list that there is no price discrimination between cash payments and non-cash payments
Circular 15 adds regulations requiring PAUs to publicly list that there is no price discrimination or additional charges or fees for transactions paid for goods and services using non-cash payment methods compared to cash payments. PAUs must refund or facilitate the service-providing organizations to refund the price difference or extra fees collected in violation of this regulation to customers.
In addition to the above regulation, Circular 15 also supplements other rights and responsibilities of PAUs related to dispute resolution, complaints, and management and use of payment acceptance devices and tools.
3. 24/7 complaint handling for payment services
Article 6 of Circular 15 supplements regulations on error handling and correction processes, dispute resolution, and complaints in payment transactions and intermediary payment services, notably requiring payment service providers and intermediary payment service providers to handle customer requests for dispute resolution and complaints with at least the following provisions:
- At least two forms of receiving dispute resolution and complaint information must be applied: via a telephone hotline (with recording, operating 24/7) and through legal transaction locations as prescribed;
- A template for dispute resolution and complaints requests (paper and electronic) must be issued for customers to use when making a request and ensure the verification of the information provided by the customers;
- Customer complaints must be answered or processed promptly within the agreed time but not exceeding 30 working days from the date of receipt of the customer’s complaint request as prescribed.
Circular 15 takes effect from July 1, 2024.
[1] Payment Accepting Units.
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