Vietnam to Restrict Corporate Bank Access Without Biometric Verification by 2025

Vietnam’s central bank has announced that corporate bank accounts will face digital service restrictions if they fail to complete biometric verification by July 1, 2025. The policy, established under Circular 17/2024/TT-NHNN, requires legal representatives of businesses to complete identity and biometric authentication through their banks, primarily via mobile apps.

Biometric Verification Now Mandatory for Businesses

To maintain access to digital payment and withdrawal services, companies must ensure that their authorized representatives submit government-issued identification and undergo facial biometric capture through their bank’s application. Those unable to meet the deadline risk temporary suspension of digital banking services. For certain users, such as foreign nationals and stateless persons, in-person verification remains mandatory due to the lack of a Vietnamese electronic ID.

The requirement follows Vietnam’s 2024 rollout of biometric checks for individual account holders and high-value transactions. The updated regulations extend similar requirements to businesses and align with the country’s effort to integrate banking procedures with the national digital identification system (VNeID), also being extended to foreign nationals in July 2025. Biometric records are cross-referenced against Vietnam’s National Population Database, offering a centralized mechanism for digital identity verification.

Tech Upgrades and Security Concerns

Vietnamese banks have made rapid progress in adopting secure biometric technologies. Earlier this month, Cake Digital Bank became the first financial institution in Southeast Asia to receive ISO/IEC 30107-3 Level 2 certification for its facial authentication system. Other domestic providers, including Viettel, have also received international recognition for their liveness detection capabilities.

However, the nationwide push for biometric adoption has not been without complications. The initial rollout in 2024 saw technical difficulties with mobile apps, long queues at bank branches, and a rise in fraud attempts. Scammers posing as bank representatives used the biometric update process as a pretext to phish for personal information. Concerns have also emerged around inadequate presentation attack detection (PAD) in some banking apps, with reports of spoofing attacks using photos or videos.

The current policy is part of a broader regulatory effort that includes Decision 2345/QSS-NHNN and Decree 163, aimed at strengthening anti-money laundering measures, fraud prevention, and financial modernization. Authorities have emphasized that this unified approach is intended to boost trust in digital services while aligning with international compliance frameworks.

Multinational corporations and foreign banks operating in Vietnam are also affected. Some have already received compliance warnings and may require additional support to navigate the new verification process, particularly where local ID systems or infrastructure are lacking. Regulators have acknowledged these challenges but believe the extended implementation timeline gives institutions sufficient time to adapt.

Source: Vietnamnet Global

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May 27, 2025 – Ali Nassar-Smith