Workers in Thanh Mien were shocked to incur overdue credit card debt.

The red card

At 1:05 p.m. on May 15, 2024, Ms. VTHX in Chi Lang Bac commune (Thanh Mien) received a text message from phone number 02873020545 with the content "Hello, we would like to inform you that you have an overdue loan at T bank. Please pay immediately to avoid incurring loan fees". Attached to the message is a mobile phone number for this woman to contact if she wants more detailed information.

"I was so shocked that I immediately called that mobile phone number. The person on the other end introduced himself as the debt collection department of T bank. This person informed me that I had a debt of nearly 8 million VND from a credit card account. At that moment, I couldn't even remember when I had made a credit card with this bank," Ms. X. recounted.

Then, she recalled that in September 2015, when she was still working at Shints BVT Company Limited in Thanh Mien, the company cooperated with T Bank Hai Duong branch to open accounts and issue bank cards to workers. The company informed the workers that a bank would come to open a salary account, and asked us workers to photocopy a copy of our ID card. Many days later, the bank staff returned, calling each person to give them a bank card. In addition to the salary withdrawal card, the bank also gave us another red card and said that there was 3 million VND in the card, which could be withdrawn at any time. "We said we had no need and returned it, but the bank said to just keep it, it was okay if we didn't use it. They didn't say clearly what kind of card it was, nor did they mention any fees or debts. We are workers, we just know that the company opened the card for us, so we just kept it. And then I received a text message notifying us of the debt," said Ms. X.

Ms. X. then livestreamed the incident on her personal Facebook. The 9-minute video received tens of thousands of views and more than 230 comments. Nearly 10 other workers in the same group as Ms. X. also received the red credit card. They contacted her to find a solution.

"From the end of 2016 to the end of 2017, the bank sent me a notice of my account balance, but I thought it was just a normal account notification message, completely unaware that it was a credit card account. After that, the bank did not notify me anymore, even though I have been using this phone number since 2015 until now. It was not until Ms. X. livestreamed that I found out," said Ms. PTD in Tu Cuong commune (Thanh Mien), a worker working with Ms. VTX.

Need to have satisfactory answers for workers

In some documents that Ms. X. provided to the reporter, there was a "request to open an account and issue an international debit/credit card" from T Bank. In this document, the service request section has a check mark for registering to issue a debit card and credit card. The customer information section has Ms. VTHX's name, along with her ID number and contact phone number. Meanwhile, Ms. X. affirmed that her only handwriting is the signature in the cardholder section.

According to another record, Bank T sent a text message to Ms. X's phone number informing her that her credit card balance was negative by more than VND 1.6 million on October 7, 2018. This was also the last text message shown in the record. However, Ms. X's phone number in the above registration form had changed, so Ms. X did not know about these text messages.

In the "Contact information" section of the above account opening application, there is information about Ms. X's husband and a person named ATT with their phone number. Ms. ATT was then the team leader and manager of Ms. VTX Song's sewing line for the past 9 years. From the time she received the red card until Ms. X received the debt notification message, these two people did not receive any contact information from the bank about Ms. X's overdue debt, even though by early July 2024, the phone numbers of these two people were still in regular use.

"I still use this phone number (the phone number listed in the contact information section above) but have not received any messages or calls from the bank about Ms. X's case. Furthermore, although the phone number listed in the card application is indeed mine, my full name is missing a middle name, it should be ATHT," said Ms. T.

In 2015, Ms. ATT herself also received a credit card. However, she said she did not have any overdue debt like the people mentioned above. Perhaps because she was still working at Shints BVT Thanh Mien Company Limited, there was still cash flow to the linked accounts, so she had not been reminded of debt?

Speaking directly with reporters, Mr. An Quoc Dinh, Director of Shints BVT Company Limited, affirmed that he only coordinated with the bank to open a salary payment account and issue a normal payment card from this salary account, and there was absolutely no request to open a credit card for workers. "We have credit relationships with many banks. In 2015, we coordinated with T. Bank but only requested to open an account and a payment card for workers to withdraw their salary from T. Bank. We affirm that there is absolutely no ambiguity in opening a credit card for workers. The company does not request, nor allow the bank to open a credit card or even just promote credit cards for workers under the name of the bank coordinating with the company," the Director of Shints BVT Company Limited affirmed.

According to the service contract signed at T Bank Hai Duong branch between Shints BVT Company Limited and Thong Nhat Transaction Office (under T Bank Hai Duong branch) in March 2015, this enterprise only requested the bank to issue personal payment cards to pay salaries through accounts. This entire contract does not mention any content related to the bank opening a credit card or the enterprise requesting the bank to open a credit card for employees.

According to the information we have, not all workers of Shints BVT Thanh Mien Company Limited have been "issued" credit cards. There are still some unclear points about this incident. We have discussed with T Bank Hai Duong branch, however, the leader of this unit said that the branch does not have enough authority to respond to the press.

We have contacted the T Bank headquarters' communications department and will inform readers as soon as we receive a response.