Credit card committee reviews

Central bank orders tighter control over credit card payments The Saigon Times Daily A credit card is used for payment. SBV has ordered tighter control over payments with credit cards - PHOTO: THANH HOA HCMC – The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has asked commercial banks to tighten control over credit card payments to prevent the improper use of credit cards. Bank staff have consulted with many credit card holders, allowing them to borrow consumer loans at an interest rate of 1.69% per month or 20.28% per year. Credit card holders need only ask their banks to transfer money from their credit cards to other bank accounts, including accounts in competing banks, to withdraw cash and pay the principal and interest in 12, 15, 18, 21 or 24 months, the local media reported. In addition, some units accepting credit card payments have collaborated with cardholders to conduct virtual transactions to withdraw cash. To prevent these problems, SBV has asked commercial banks to … [Read more...] about Central bank orders tighter control over credit card payments

Vietnamese credit card market offers potential for banks The Saigon Times Daily A credit card is used for payment - PHOTO: THANH HOA HCMC – Despite recent enormous growth, the local credit card market still offers potential for local commercial banks, Tuoi Tre Online newspaper reported. According to the State Bank of Vietnam, as of the third quarter of last year, 147.3 million bank cards had been issued, an increase of 20 million cards year-on-year. Of these, there had been only 4.6 million credit cards conducting transactions valued at nearly VND50 trillion, a 50% surge over the one year-ago period. Banks have rushed to issue credit cards with preferential policies, as part of a race to lure more customers to increase their market shares. According to financial experts, the development of tourism and online shopping has fueled Vietnamese consumers’ demand for payments via credit cards. In addition, banks can earn large profits from credit card services due … [Read more...] about Vietnamese credit card market offers potential for banks

NA committee reviews draft Law on Enterprises (15-09-2005) HA NOI — Reviewing the draft Law on Enterprises, the National Assembly’s Committee of Economic Affairs and Budget has concluded that requirements for a minimum legal capital and the management ability of enterprise owners were not obligatory conditions for granting business licences. The NA committee’s conclusion follows an earlier proposal by NA deputies requiring businesses to have a minimum legal capital and professional management ability for granting business licenses. According to the law compiling committee, legal capital was a minimum amount enterprises required to start businesses. However, it was difficult to enforce this condition for scientific and practical reasons. It fails to protect the benefits of creditors and relevant agencies or prevent those who are ineligible from establishing enterprises, the committee concluded. Moreover, the requirement results in confusing businesses or leads to … [Read more...] about NA committee reviews draft Law on Enterprises

HCM CITY — Mai You Cai, 24, originally from China and now living in HCM City, received a 10-year sentence for stealing more than VND863 million (US$41,000) from foreigner credit cards via the internet, according to the HCM City People's Court on Tuesday. Three other Vietnamese, who made friends through e-commerce forums, were also each sentenced to two years, six months and nine months' probation. According to the court, the four stole or illegally bought foreigner credit card information, used the information to purchase online air tickets and sold them to customers at a cheaper level than listed price. From August 2009 to January 2010, they purchased a total of 36 tickets worth VND162 million ($7,700) in this fashion. — VNS … [Read more...] about Group jailed for credit card fraud

National Assembly committee reviews sovereignty issues (28-09-2006) HA NOI — The National Assembly’s Standing Committee has made headway on several important issues this week, including Viet Nam’s territorial waters, which were on the agenda yesterday afternoon. Members agreed that as a signatory to the 1982 UN Convention on the law of the sea, Viet Nam must reflect all the provisions of that Convention in its new law, in accordance with the Government and Party’s policies and guidelines. This would protect the sovereignty and territorial waters of the motherland. Once approved, the law could be used by Viet Nam to exercise sovereignty and arbitration rights over its waters and islands, including the Truong Sa (Spratlys) and Hoang Sa (Paracels) archipelagos. The NA Standing Committee asked the drafting committee to make changes to clause 2, Article 3 of the law, to say "the law will prevail over other laws relating to Viet Nam’s sovereignty over its territorial … [Read more...] about National Assembly committee reviews sovereignty issues

NA committee reviews chemical substance law (07-03-2007) HA NOI – The National Assembly Standing Committee gave additional comments yesterday on the draft Law on Chemical Substances as well as on a Government report regarding a gas-fired electricity plant and fertiliser project in Ba Ria-Vung Tau. Minister of Industry Hoang Trung Hai said approving the chemical bill was imperative due to rapid increases in the demand for chemicals for industrial use. In addition, Hai said, "the improper use of chemicals in the recent past has caused harm to human life and damaged the eco-system." Although chemical substances had been controlled by several regulations, no one legal document was comprehensive enough, said Hai. The vice chairman of the National Assembly Committee for Science, Technology and Environment, Tran Viet Hung, argued that this remained the case. "The bill does not cover investment issues, research, production and treatment of chemicals for human and … [Read more...] about NA committee reviews chemical substance law

HCM CITY — Yesterday in HCM City, the National Assembly’s Judicial Affairs Committee opened its 6 th plenary session (lasting 2 days) to discuss reports and proposals from directors of Supreme People’s Procuracies, Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court, and amendments to the Judicial Records Act. On the first working day, the committee reviewed a proposal by the head of the People’s Procuracy on a job scheme in the Procuracy branch – which would include 226 positions at all levels, with a total of at least 17,516 employees on the state payroll (10.4 per cent higher than the current number of 15,860). The assessment council of the committee said that the necessity for increased employment must be studied further, and the proposed scheme would be submitted to the National Assembly’s Standing Committee for feedback, as the Party is advocating for streamlined civil service. Also, the committee discussed a proposal by the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court in which … [Read more...] about Judicial Affairs Committee starts 6th plenary session

Deputy Prime Minister Trịnh Đình Dũng speaks at a teleconference held in Hà Nội yesterday to review the implementation of Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc’s Directive 45/CT-TTg on urgent tasks and solutions following the EC’s warning. . — HÀ NỘI — Deputy Prime Minister Trịnh Đình Dũng has said that convincing the European Commission (EC) to remove a “yellow card” warning on Vietnamese seafood was of particular importance for the Government, ministries, agencies and localities. Dũng made the statement at a teleconference held in Hà Nội yesterday to review the implementation of Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc’s Directive 45/CT-TTg on urgent tasks and solutions following the EC’s warning. The warning had exposed risks from Vietnamese seafood to the European Union and other markets around the world, having a negative impact on the production and lives of local residents, he said. “If no solution is found, it will directly affect the output of the fisheries sector, and … [Read more...] about Việt Nam takes action to remove EC yellow card on fisheries

Banks take steps to fight card fraud The Saigon Times Daily A client of Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Bank withdraws cash from an ATM. Local banks are adopting preventive measures to minimize risks for themselves and their clients – PHOTO: SACOMBANK HCMC – Local banks are taking precautionary measures to cope with card fraud, such as asking cardholders to change their passwords and locking automated teller machines (ATMs) after 10 p.m. during public holidays. A cardholder of Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Bank, or Sacombank, told Tuoi Tre newspaper that she had received an email from the lender on April 28, which detailed the types of scams being employed. For example, scammers pose as bank staff and tell clients they have won prizes, or they hack into Facebook accounts to send phishing messages. These individuals also pose as police officers and threaten clients to make them provide their bank account details. Some cardholders of Vietnam Bank for Industry and … [Read more...] about Banks take steps to fight card fraud

Payments by ewallets, ATM cards remain low By Chi Thinh A customer makes a payment via Momo e-wallet at a store in HCMC. The number of customers making payments with ewallets remained limited, at 17% of Vietnamese shoppers in 2018 - PHOTO: TNO HCMC – Online shoppers still prefer using cash on delivery (COD) instead of ewallets, credit cards or ATM cards to pay for their purchases. According to the Ecommerce White Book 2019 recently launched by the Vietnam Ecommerce and Digital Economy Agency, cash payments still dominated other methods. Some 90% of online buyers made their payments in cash rather than with ATM cards, credit cards or ewallets. A survey by the agency found that the number of customers making payments with ewallets remained limited, at 17% of Vietnamese shoppers in 2018. Meanwhile, up to 88% of payments for online shopping were made in cash last year. Payments using ATM cards fell to 42% in 2018 from 48% in 2017, whereas payments with credit or … [Read more...] about Payments by ewallets, ATM cards remain low