Business
SBV imposes daily cap on credit card withdrawals
  • | VET | November 14, 2017 12:38 PM
Credit card holders will not be allowed to withdraw cash in excess of VND5 million ($220) for domestic transactions and VND30 million ($1,300) in foreign currency under a draft circular released recently by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) to bolster safeguards against fraudulent payments, which have plagued some banks in recent years.


Illustrative photo


For withdrawals of cash by card abroad, to limit the use of cash as foreign currency spent for improper purposes that are not permitted by the law, the draft stipulates that cash withdrawal transactions will be subject to a daily cap limit.

For withdrawals of foreign currency in a foreign country, a card holder can withdraw a maximum equivalent to VND30 million ($1,300) per day. For cash withdrawal at domestic card accepting units, each card holder can withdraw a maximum of VND5 million ($220) in one day.

The draft also stipulates that in case of issuance of credit cards with secured assets, the credit limit granted to the card holder shall not exceed 80 per cent of the value of the secured assets, which is valued at a maximum of VND1 billion ($44,000).

In case of credit card issuance without secured assets, the credit limit granted to a card holder is VND500 million ($22,000).

The draft also supplements regulations on the issuance of cards to foreigners to prevent cases where foreigners enter the country for a short period and then exit the country to carry out criminal activities by using the credit cards issued by institutions in Vietnam.

Last year, prosecutors in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa charged two men from the Netherlands and the UK for using credit cards with stolen account details to withdraw cash in the beach resort of Nha Trang.

In July 2016, three Russians were also charged for allegedly using fake credit cards to withdraw nearly VND300 million ($13,200). They had used fake cards to withdraw nearly VND250 million ($11,000) from BIDV and Techcombank ATMs in Nha Trang between October 24 and 27, 2015, and more than VND44 million ($1,900) from ATMs in Ho Chi Minh City a few days earlier.

According to the central bank, the low daily cap limit, once set, will reduce the risk for credit card holders.

Leave your comment on this story