Voters in Ha Nam province have just sent two petitions to the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) after the 8th Session of the 15th National Assembly.
Proposal to exempt account services and relief money transfers
Voters recommend that the SBV have a policy of free card management for meritorious people and social protection beneficiaries, and at the same time expand the scope of free transfer of donations and relief at all banks, instead of only applying the Social Policy Bank.
Responding to this proposal, the SBV said that according to the provisions of the Law on Credit Institutions (CIs), banks have the right to set their own service fees. However, the SBV has repeatedly directed banks to research and apply fee exemption and reduction policies, especially for customers enjoying social security policies, to promote cashless payments.
Regarding donation and relief transfer transactions, the SBV affirmed that it has issued many documents requesting banks to implement fee exemption/deduction policies. Currently, many banks have applied the policy of "zero fee" - free transfer, account management... to help about 90% of electronic payment transactions not be charged.
Proposal to expand ATM and transaction branches
Ha Nam voters also reflected that the ATM system and bank branches have not met the demand, especially in areas far from the center, causing difficulties for people when withdrawing money and making transactions.
Regarding this issue, the SBV said it has implemented many solutions to encourage banks to invest in developing ATM and POS systems, especially in rural, remote and isolated areas. According to the latest report, by the end of November 2024, the country had 21,089 ATMs and 733,456 POS, up 0.36% and 42.82% respectively over the same period last year.
The expansion of bank branches depends on the decision of each credit institution, based on operational efficiency and market demand. However, the SBV still encourages banks to expand their networks in rural areas and areas without branches to increase people's access to financial services.
