Biometric verification: Vietnam closes millions of inactive accounts!

Biometric verification: Vietnam closes millions of inactive accounts!

An important press conference was held on June 2, 2025, at which Pham Anh Tuan, Director of the Payments Department of the State Bank of Vietnam, announced fundamental changes in the country's banking sector. There are currently 200 million bank accounts in Vietnam, but the introduction of biometric authentication has resulted in only 113 million private accounts remaining active. This is part of a comprehensive plan to improve security in the financial sector and combat fraud.

The State Bank has announced that all unverified accounts will be closed starting from September to prevent potential financial fraud. Closure affects accounts that may be inactive, abandoned or fraudulent. This is in line with global trends towards using biometrics for payments.

Development of biometric payments

Biometric payments use biological characteristics to verify identity before transactions. These methods include, but are not limited to, fingerprint checks, facial recognition, iris scans and voice recognition. These technologies offer significantly higher security standards because biometric data is harder to replicate or steal than traditional payment methods. The global biometric solutions market is forecast to grow at nearly 118% annually between 2024 and 2029, indicating increasing adoption across various sectors including banking, retail and digital wallets.

Vietnam is expected to have around 69 million people aged 15 and over by the end of 2024, with more than 68 million of them having a bank account. This shows the immense importance and potential of the Vietnamese biometric payments market. According to Pham Anh Tuan, over 711,000 organizational accounts have already been authenticated and checked against the national population database.

Advantages and challenges

The benefits of biometric payments include convenience, higher security and faster transaction times. Despite these positive aspects, there are also challenges, such as costs, data protection concerns and user acceptance. In particular, safety concerns could inhibit greater adoption, while technical difficulties and legal requirements also pose hurdles.

In addition to the changes to bank accounts, from July 1, 2025, e-wallets will be recognized as a legal means of payment, equivalent to bank accounts, payment cards and cash. In Vietnam, there are currently 47 organizations offering e-wallet services, and there are about 30.27 million active e-wallets. The total amount on these e-wallets is over VND 2,800 billion.

Ho Chi Minh City Province aims for a retail growth target of 18% in 2025 and is actively promoting the development of cashless payment methods in various areas. In the first quarter of 2024, nearly 35.7 million transactions were carried out through the interbank electronic payment system, while transactions through Napas reached 2.45 billion items.

The changes in Vietnam's banking sector, particularly with regard to biometric authentication and cashless payment systems, reflect the rapid development and change in the payments landscape, presenting both challenges and significant opportunities for businesses and consumers.

Current efforts and regulations could significantly impact the acceptance and use of payment methods in Vietnam and prepare the population for a more secure financial future.