The proposal is part of amendments to Government Decree No. 52/2024/ND-CP, which governs non-cash payment services.

Under Article 5 of the draft decree, banks would be permitted to close payment accounts that have recorded no transactions for at least three years.

Where a bank and its customer have previously agreed on account closure conditions, those contractual terms would continue to apply.

Banks suggest different approaches

Feedback from commercial banks has varied.

Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MB) proposed shortening the inactivity period to 12 months.

According to MB, one year is sufficient to determine that an account is no longer being actively used. Maintaining dormant accounts for extended periods, the bank argued, increases the risk that criminals could exploit them to transfer illicit funds while also consuming unnecessary system resources.

Some lenders suggested that commercial banks should have full discretion to decide whether to close or retain dormant accounts once the relevant conditions are met, except where specific agreements with customers already exist.

Meanwhile, Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) proposed limiting account closures to those with a zero balance that have remained inactive for at least three years.

Clarification sought on automatic payments

Previously, individual banks maintained their own policies regarding inactive accounts, with some closing accounts that had no balance and no transactions for two to three years.

Several banks also asked the central bank to clarify whether the term "no transactions" includes automatic recurring payments, such as electricity, water, telecommunications and other postpaid utility bills.

According to the State Bank of Vietnam, the draft has been revised to explicitly include circumstances under which a payment account may be closed without prior agreement with the customer.

Where a prior agreement between the bank and the account holder already exists, account closure would continue to follow the agreed contractual terms.

 
Tuan Nguyen