The State Bank of Vietnam will submit a draft decree on non-cash payment to the Government early this year to replace the prevailing Decree 64/2001 on payment service providers.
This is the first time related sides involved in intermediary payment activities has been officially mentioned in a legal document.
Duong Hong Phuong, deputy head of the Payment Department at the central bank, said that intermediary payment was a new service which had vigorously developed in line with the strong development of information technology and telecom.
Without a complete legal frame for this activity, the central bank has had no choice but to have granted licenses on a trial basis to 9 organizations specializing in e-purse services at home.
According Phuong, intermediary payment services associated with high technology need to be strictly supervised to minimize risks and this is the reason why new regulations will set up a legal corridor to support non-banking institutions in payment activities.
The central bank has initially classified intermediary payment services into 3 categories including electronic payment infrastructure provision, payment service support and other services.
Another important point of the draft Decree is the presence of regulations on supervising payment systems, such as principles, criteria and the scope of supervision of the national payment system, or the inter-bank electronic payment system.
The 2010 Law on the State Bank of Vietnam provides for the central bank to manage, operate and supervise the national payment system.
Still, the national payment system has only accepted the Vietnam dong and this makes the settlement of payments in foreign currencies depend on commercial banks.
