Le Anh Dung, Deputy Director General of the Payment Department at the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), shared the figures at a press conference on August 11 announcing the 2026 Banking Digital Transformation event.

Dung also provided an update on the operation of SIMO, a suspicious transaction warning system currently deployed at 16 banks. By the end of July 2026, the system had issued 4.9 million warnings to customers, with 1.6 million transactions canceled after the alerts were received, helping safeguard approximately $200 million.

The Payment Department representative said SIMO would continue to be expanded and rolled out across the banking sector in the coming period.

As part of efforts to protect the assets of businesses and individuals amid growing online fraud, the SBV recently sent a directive to credit institutions regarding a waiting-period mechanism for transactions suspected of being fraudulent. The central bank instructed credit institutions to provide customers with an option to set a minimum 24-hour waiting period and transaction limits for online transfers to newly added accounts.

Under the mechanism, the default transaction limit is approximately $15,400, with a minimum waiting period of 24 hours. Customers can adjust the limit themselves or choose not to activate the feature.

According to Dung, amid the rapid expansion of online payments between 2021 and 2026, online payment transactions grew by an average of 30% annually. Transactions through the electronic clearing and switching system increased by an average of 50.2% a year in volume and 30.85% in value.

By the end of 2025, 89% of Vietnam’s adult population had a payment account. The total value of cashless payment transactions in 2025 was equivalent to 28 times the country’s GDP.

Mobile payments also recorded strong growth, rising by an average of 73.23% annually in transaction volume and 52.5% in value.

Bui Quang Cuong, Deputy CEO and Chief Information Officer at TPBank, said AI is helping banks analyze millions of transactions and behavioral signals to detect anomalies and issue near-real-time fraud alerts. This role is becoming increasingly important as AI-powered scams, phishing and social engineering grow more sophisticated.

For banks, AI not only improves productivity, reduces operating costs, enhances service quality and strengthens risk management, but also enables them to understand customers better, make better decisions and provide better services.

However, Cuong said AI’s effectiveness depends heavily on data, while banking data remains fragmented across multiple systems and varies in quality. Questions also arise over data usage rights, personal data protection and customer consent.

AI, particularly generative AI, can produce inaccurate results or outputs that are difficult to explain. This is especially significant in lending, investment, risk management and decisions that directly affect customers. At the same time, criminals can use AI to create deepfakes, impersonate identities and conduct phishing and social engineering attacks on a large scale.

“We need to address accountability when AI makes recommendations or decisions, as well as personal data protection, privacy, algorithmic transparency and the responsible use of AI,” Bui Quang Cuong said.

The 2026 Banking Digital Transformation event will take place on August 18-19 at the I.C.E Hanoi International Exhibition Center, 91 Tran Hung Dao Street, Hanoi. The opening session and main conference will be held on the morning of August 18, while exhibitions and opportunities to experience products and services will remain open to the public until noon on August 19.

Tuan Nguyen