According to a recent report on non-cash payment activities, the central bank has rolled out the Information System for Management, Supervision and Fraud Risk Prevention in payment activities, known as SIMO.

As of March 23, 2026, the system had been implemented across 149 institutions, including 99 credit organizations and 50 payment intermediaries. It has recorded more than 688,000 accounts - spanning payment accounts, e-wallets, bank cards and merchant units - showing signs of suspected fraud or legal violations.

At the same time, SIMO has issued alerts to 3.5 million customers. Among them, more than 1.1 million users chose to suspend or cancel transactions after receiving warnings, preventing transactions worth over VND3.99 trillion (US$164 million).

The system allows participating institutions to report suspicious accounts as they are identified and share that information across the network.

With access to this centralized data, banks can immediately block transactions or require additional authentication before allowing online payments to proceed. This mechanism has significantly reduced fraud risks and enhanced account security.

During implementation, the State Bank of Vietnam has also required institutions to standardize customer alerts across all channels, including mobile banking, internet banking, in-branch services and ATMs, ensuring a consistent user experience.

Biometric verification has also been expanded across the sector. The latest data shows that more than 151.4 million individual customer profiles and over 1.82 million corporate profiles with payment accounts have been verified using biometric information linked to chip-based citizen ID cards or the VNeID application.

In addition, around 29.44 million individual e-wallet users and 471 corporate wallet accounts have undergone biometric verification through e-wallet applications.

These measures come as digital payments continue to grow rapidly. In the first two months of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025, non-cash payment transactions increased by 40.7% in volume and 13.4% in value.

Transactions conducted via internet channels surged by nearly 73.1% in volume and 28.1% in value, while mobile-based payments rose by approximately 34.4% in volume and 10.5% in value.

QR code payments also recorded growth of 20.2% in volume and 12.6% in value. Meanwhile, transactions through the interbank electronic payment system increased by 9.5% in volume and 69.1% in value, and those processed via financial switching and clearing systems rose by 43.7% in volume and 11.7% in value.

The figures highlight both the rapid expansion of Vietnam’s digital payment ecosystem and the growing importance of real-time monitoring systems in safeguarding users against increasingly sophisticated fraud schemes.

Tuan Nguyen