Tin mới
Overview of credit card market in Vietnam (27/07)
06/08/2010 - 75 Lượt xem
The legal framework for the card issuance was Decision No 74 promulgated by the then Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam dated April 10, 1993, stipulating the temporary regulations on issuing and using payment cards.
There were limitations at that time in terms of the legal basis, economic conditions and technical problems. Commercial banks that issued cards set regulations themselves after consulting with the central bank.
Over the last 10 years, the card market has been developing rapidly, and now cards have become a popular tool of payment.
By the end of June 2007, Vietnam had 20 banks that had issued 6.2mil payment cards. There are 3,820 auto teller machines and 21,875 pieces of card-accepting equipment.
Now banks issue two main kinds of cards: international credit cards and debit cards.
Vietcombank is leading the market in international credit cards, being the only bank in Vietnam that accepts payments by the five most popular cards: Visa, MasterCard, JCB, American Express and Diners Club.
The biggest problem for the credit card market in Vietnam is the existence of four separate card alliances. Card holders can withdraw money only from ATMs owned by the card issuance banks or the banks in the same alliances. In fact, banks have been thinking of cooperating together to provide more facilities for clients, which led to the establishment of the four card alliances; however, the problem has not been settled yet.
The biggest alliance, led by Vietcombank, consists of 18 members. The three other alliances are BankNet (the State Bank of Vietnam assigned Agribank to connect other banks), VNBC (the alliance of EAB, Saigon Commercial and Industrial Bank, MHB, Habubank) and the one between Sacombank and ANZ.
Source: VNECONOMY.
