There is no overload of biometric updates at banks in Nghe An

At 9:00 a.m. on December 18, at the transaction office of VIB Hung Dung International Bank (Vinh City), there were quite a lot of people coming to do transactions. Among them, there were quite a few people coming to set up biometrics, and customers were instructed to do it right away without having to wait.

Ms. Duong Viet Thuy Tram, a branch employee, said: “For about a week now, the number of customers coming to set up biometrics has increased compared to the previous week. However, most customers are guided and quickly set up within 3-5 minutes, only a few cases of app errors at the NFC step forced them to set up at the counter. Particularly at Hung Dung Transaction Office, there is no overload, and people do not have to wait when coming to set up biometrics.”

At the customer service counter of the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (VI Le Nin Street), very few people came to set up biometrics. Only a few elderly people came to the counter for staff support.

Mr. Nguyen Tu Quang, a customer in Hung Loc (Vinh City) said: “Hearing that I will not be able to transfer, withdraw money or make online payments without installing biometrics, this morning, I arranged to go to the bank for instructions. Because of my old age and lack of technology skills, I was quite confused. It took less than 10 minutes to get here, and the bank staff successfully installed it for me.”

According to records, on the morning of December 18, only about 12-15 cases came to the counter to perform biometric installation. And with just a few operations on the banking app, the bank staff completed the installation for the customer.

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According to Circular 17 and Circular 18 of the State Bank, from January 1, 2025, payment account holders/bank card holders will not be able to make online transactions (withdrawal, money transfer, bill payment, deposit, etc.) and transfer/withdrawal transactions at ATMs if they have not updated their information. The information that needs to be updated includes: Checking the correct declaration and biometric information; updating and adding new information to replace expired identification documents (ID card, CCCD, passport, visa).

Mr. Tran Xuan Quy, an employee at the customer service counter of BIDV Bank located on Nguyen Van Cu Street, said: “Mostly, up to this point, only a few elderly people who are not proficient in technology and some customers using old phones have encountered some problems with the installation and have to come to the counter directly to do it. The installation time is also no more than 10 minutes/person. At this time, the number of customers coming to install has increased compared to previous days, but there is no overload and queuing like a few months ago.”

Through the survey, at the transaction points of MBbank, Techcombank, TPBank, Vietcombank... in Vinh city, there was no phenomenon of customers jostling to install. In just about 5-15 minutes, most people can complete biometric authentication, under the guidance of bank staff.

In rural areas, where the demand for online banking services is low, but when there is a new regulation that from January 1, 2025 all transactions require biometrics, many people will go to the bank to install it.

Ms. Trinh Thi Hoa (Dai Dong commune, Thanh Chuong district) said: “I am a small business, the amount of money customers transfer to my bank account is only less than 1 million VND/time and I transfer money to agents for goods is also not more than 10 million VND/time, so I do not install. However, from January 1, 2025, all transactions need biometrics, so I went to the bank to ask for installation instructions. It only took about 10 minutes to install it.”

Accordingly, at this time, the transaction offices of banks in Thanh Chuong district are quite crowded, but there is no overload. To serve the needs of the people, most banks have arranged staff to directly support; at the same time, they have issued notices about the opening of transactions on weekends to serve customers in updating their identification documents. Specifically, from December 21 to January 12, 2025, BIDV will open transaction offices on Saturdays and Sundays, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

BIDV representative said that transaction offices will serve customers, organizations and business households to carry out procedures to change personal identification information, in order to meet the regulations of the State Bank. Customers can go to any BIDV transaction office to update personal identification information without having to go to the branch where the payment account was opened.

Agribank also announced the opening of transaction offices to support customers in updating their identification and biometric information until January 13, 2025. Specifically, from Monday to Friday, the transaction opening hours are from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. On weekends, the transaction opening hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

In addition, some banks also offer incentives and gifts when customers complete biometric authentication to complete updating customer data and cleaning account data before January 1, 2025.