Reducing ATM service congestion during Tet holiday.

With the Lunar New Year (Year of the Horse) just around a month away, this is also the peak time for paying salaries and bonuses to employees via ATMs. Although banks have implemented many measures to improve the quality of ATM services, many ATMs are still experiencing malfunctions, causing considerable inconvenience and trouble for customers.

ATMs are often overloaded during the Lunar New Year holiday. Photo: TRAN HAI

Demand for cash withdrawals surged. Based on years of experience, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) and commercial banks anticipated potential issues with ATM operations during the Lunar New Year holiday. Therefore, as early as the fourth quarter of 2013, the banking system proactively developed and implemented plans to supply cash and minimize congestion at ATMs. However, despite thorough preparation, incidents at ATMs such as running out of cash, network congestion, transaction suspensions, and card swallowing still occurred.

Statistics from the State Bank of Vietnam show that the entire system currently has more than 57.2 million domestic cards and 5.7 million international cards. Vietcombank Deputy General Director Dao Minh Tuan noted that the number of ATM cards in the market is not yet stable and is actually still increasing, meaning that transactions are increasing accordingly. Specifically at Vietcombank, in 2013, an additional 200 ATMs were added compared to 1,800 in the previous year.

Currently, the ATM network only meets customer needs on normal days. During Tet (Lunar New Year), due to businesses, especially in industrial zones and export processing zones, paying salaries, wages, and bonuses to workers in a short period, the number of people withdrawing cash at ATMs increases dramatically. According to Nguyen Chi Thanh, Director of the Currency Issuance and Treasury Department (State Bank of Vietnam), the cash deficit in just one month during Tet equals the deficit of the entire year. For example, if the whole country had a cash deficit of 70,000 billion VND in the year, then January (the Tet month) alone would also have a deficit of 70,000 billion VND. This shows that the amount of cash spent during Tet is quite high. Furthermore, the Gregorian New Year and the Lunar New Year are quite close together this year, and a very large demand for cash is predicted, so the amount of cash deficit at this time could be even greater.

This causes localized overload at some ATM locations, especially in densely populated areas with high cash transaction volumes and a high concentration of ATMs, such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, or areas with export processing zones and high-tech parks like Dong Nai and Binh Duong. ATMs running out of cash is quite frequent. According to banks, the average cash demand at an ATM is around 500 million VND/machine/day, but during Tet (Lunar New Year) in 2013, some ATMs in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi saw cash replenishment demands reaching 800 million to one billion VND/machine/day, and sufficient denominations had to be maintained to meet diverse customer needs. With transaction frequency skyrocketing at the end of the year, sometimes increasing by over 300% to 400%, network congestion is unavoidable.

Vietcombank Deputy General Director Dao Minh Tuan also stated: Previously, most Vietcombank cardholders transacted at the bank's ATMs. But now, a large number of Vietcombank cardholders spend at ATMs of other banks. This helps to somewhat alleviate the overload at ATMs. Normally, the bank's ATMs are replenished once a day, but during Tet (Lunar New Year), Vietcombank proactively replenishes cash three times a day, and at times even six times a day. In areas with a large number of workers, such as industrial parks, where people often withdraw money at the same time, along with Vietcombank, other commercial banks have also coordinated to concentrate dozens of ATMs so that if one bank's ATM runs out of money, another bank's ATM is available. However, the ATM system still experiences problems due to the extremely large number of customers withdrawing money at the same time with a considerable amount of cash. In addition, another reason pointed out by bank leaders is that in major cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, traffic congestion occurs in the 15 days leading up to Tet, making travel difficult and slowing down the process of replenishing ATMs with cash.

To promote cashless payments and address ATM overload, a representative from Vietcombank affirmed that any incidents that do occur are unlikely to last long and will be resolved quickly, as the bank has planned to prepare cash in advance and assigned staff to be ready to replenish funds. In addition, security and technical measures have been strengthened.

Notably, due to concerns about the increased demand for cash payments and withdrawals during the Lunar New Year holiday, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has proactively developed plans to supply cash to meet demand in terms of both quantity and denomination structure; and directed the transfer of cash to SBV branches in provinces and cities to increase year-end reserves. Recently, the SBV instructed commercial banks to coordinate with businesses to postpone the payment of year-end salaries and bonuses. To avoid ATM shortages that could affect cash withdrawals, the SBV surveyed provinces and cities with large cash deficits to ensure sufficient cash supply for commercial banks to meet people's withdrawal needs.

In reality, increasing cash reserves, restocking more frequently, or installing more ATMs to meet cash withdrawal needs during Tet (Lunar New Year) are only temporary solutions. In the long run, cashless payment options such as purchasing goods through point-of-sale (POS) terminals, online payments, etc., are being increasingly favored by both banks and customers.

According to Vietinbank's Deputy General Director Pham Huy Khang, the bank has developed a system of card payment acceptance points across all sectors and industries, including Big C supermarkets, Nguyen Kim electronics stores, restaurants, hotels, Vinasun taxi services, and card payments for electricity and telecommunications bills at home. In addition, Vietinbank regularly collaborates with these entities to create numerous discount and promotional programs for customers paying by card.

Furthermore, many banks now connect ATMs via Banknetvn and VNBC, allowing people to withdraw money from different ATMs. The Vietnam Bank Card Association also advises that, in addition to banks' enhanced service solutions, cardholders can proactively reduce inconvenience in ATM transactions during the year-end period by avoiding withdrawals or transactions during peak hours from 5 PM to 7 PM daily. Experience from previous years also shows that the period from the 26th to the 28th of the 12th lunar month is a "peak" time for ATMs, so cardholders should plan ahead and limit transactions at ATMs. At the same time, banks also advise cardholders that if they enter the wrong password more than twice, they should not enter it again because repeated errors will lock their personal account; they should contact the branch of the bank where they registered their card for guidance to avoid having their personal account locked during Tet.

According to NDĐT