After the incident at Eximbank, the State Bank requested a review of the interest calculation method for cards.

After the scandal over customers' credit cards at the Vietnam Export Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Eximbank), on the afternoon of March 25, information from the State Bank said that this agency had just issued Official Dispatch 2235/NHNN-TT on implementing measures to ensure security and safety in bank card operations.

Accordingly, the State Bank requires credit institutions and foreign bank branches to direct the review of internal procedures for issuing and using bank cards to ensure compliance with current legal regulations, and at the same time direct and thoroughly educate officers and employees in the entire system to properly implement the procedures for issuing and using bank cards in accordance with legal regulations when issuing cards to customers.

In addition, credit institutions must review and ensure that fees, interest rates, and interest calculation methods for each type of card issued comply with the regulations of the State Bank and relevant laws; at the same time, they must be transparent, provide full information, and have measures to ensure that customers have grasped information about their rights and obligations, fees, interest rates, interest calculation methods (especially for credit cards) and changes (if any) during the process of customers using the card.

In addition, the State Bank requires credit institutions to review the entire process of handling inquiries and complaints in accordance with legal regulations. In case of complaints or feedback from customers during the use of cards, card issuers must handle them in accordance with the procedures and regulations of relevant laws, ensuring promptness, timeliness and finality, not allowing the case to drag on, affecting the legitimate rights of customers as well as the image and reputation of the card issuer.

In case of detecting unusual problems in the use of customers' cards (such as no transactions, long-term overdue debts, etc.) through the control and monitoring process, the card issuing organization must proactively inform the customer and coordinate with relevant parties to take timely measures to ensure that the legitimate rights of customers and the card issuing organization are not affected.

In particular, the State Bank requires credit institutions to implement communication measures to customers (through mass media and communication channels that customers can easily access) about customers' rights and responsibilities in the process of issuing and using bank cards; recommending customers measures to secure personal data and bank card information to avoid the risk of personal information being leaked and card information being used for illegal purposes.

Previously, social networking sites circulated a notice from Eximbank Debt Management and Asset Exploitation Company Limited (Eximbank AMC) sent to a customer named PHA (address in Cam Tay ward, Cam Pha city, Quang Ninh) with a debt of more than VND 8.8 billion, causing a stir in public opinion. Many mixed and harsh comments about the incident related to Eximbank's interest calculation method...

According to the information provided by Eximbank, customer PHA opened a MasterCard at Eximbank Quang Ninh Branch on March 23, 2013 with a limit of VND 10 million and had 2 payment transactions on April 23, 2013 and July 26, 2013 at a transaction acceptance point. Since September 14, 2013, the debt on the card has been converted to bad debt and the overdue period up to the time of notification has been nearly 11 years.

Therefore, to promptly resolve the issue of public concern, the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam requests the Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of Eximbank to arrange for Eximbank leaders to directly respond or inform the press and public about their responsibilities, powers and directions for handling the incident in a spirit of openness, listening and accepting people's opinions. Urgently verify the incident, protect the legitimate rights and interests of customers and the bank.

Immediately after that, a series of cardholders, including Eximbank cardholders, reacted strongly when the bank still silently deducted fees from accounts that customers had not used for a long time. Notably, not only did the bank deduct all the money in the customer's account, but it also deducted negative fees.

After receiving backlash, Eximbank has issued a new notice to its branches and transaction offices regarding service fees. Specifically, for customers' payment accounts that have not been used for a long time, have not generated any transactions and have a balance of 0 VND, the bank will not debit SMS Banking fees or account management fees.

In addition, customers who want to close their accounts do not have to pay any fees that have been debited in the past, but will be proactively considered and processed by the branch or transaction office, free of charge.

Eximbank delegates the right to handle these fees to branches and transaction offices proactively, meaning that it can waive fees incurred for a long time when the account is not used and the balance is 0 VND.