Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh chairs the 5th meeting of the Payment and Technology Council

In his opening speech, SBV Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh stressed the significance of this meeting as an opportunity for the Council members to discuss and exchange perspectives on some important issues, such as: The issuance of the Decision of the SBV Governor establishing the basic standards "QR Code Specifications in the payment sector in Vietnam"; the organization for implementing the tasks, and the coordination between the SBV and the credit institutions in the field of information security.

SBV Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh addressed the meeting

At the meeting, a representative of the SBV Payment Department presented the Draft Decision establishing the basic standards "QR Code Specifications in the payment sector in Vietnam". Accordingly, QR Code payments are a simple form of payment, which does not require banks and payment acceptors to invest a large capital for the initial infrastructure, and can be easily scaled up and deployed at a low cost; the users can pay quickly, conveniently on their mobile devices.

Vietnam is considered a potential market for the development of payments on mobile devices and QR Code payments. Recently, in Vietnam there have been several banks and institutions starting to introduce intermediary payment services for payment solutions via mobile devices, QR Code payments in the market, such as Vietinbank, Vietcombank, BIDV, Agribank, Techcombank, etc. Therefore, to meet the market requirements, the SBV has studied and developed a Draft document establishing the basic standards "QR Code Specifications in the payment sector in Vietnam" as the basis for payment service providers (banks), institutions providing intermediary payment services to implement with common technical standards, ensuring the synchronization of infrastructure and data, avoiding the wastes of resources, time, expenditures and minimizing the risks that may arise.

Mr. Pham Tien Dung - Director General of the Payment Department presented at the meeting

The Information Technology Department representative presented about the organization for implementing the tasks and the coordination between the SBV and the credit institutions in the field of information security. According to this representative’s sharing, the SBV has issued many legal documents to ensure the information safety and security in the banking sector. However, as the information technology is developing rapidly, the legal corridor needs to be revised and improved, and there needs to be a mechanism for enhanced coordination between the SBV and the CIs to improve the capabilities of troubleshooting and handling of information security incidents. In addition, the banking sector also needs to focus on training high quality human resources on information security and safety in the banking operations.

After the members had discussed and exchanged their perspectives on the two substances above, Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh - Chairperson of the Council made the following conclusions:

Basically, the Draft Document of the Basic Standards was developed based on the practical operations of banks, intermediary payment services providers, and it has met the requirements of the market. However, the Payment Department should continue to review, research and take note of the comments by the Council members to finalize the Draft and follow the procedures for early submission to the SBV Governor for signing. At the same time, after the issuance of the Decision establishing the basic standards "QR Code Specifications in the payment sector in Vietnam", the Payment Department should continue to monitor the implementation, research and recommend solutions to the arising issues in reality related to payment activities via QR Code in Vietnam.

The SBV Deputy Governor stressed that the organization of the network of information security solutions in the banking sector is one of the key tasks that need to be focused on in the coming time. In order to ensure the security of the information system in each unit and the whole banking industry, the Information Technology Department shall act as the coordinating agency of the banking industry’s network to respond to information security incidents. The Department should proactively gather information to timely alert the network members, collaborate with the authorities and organizations working on information security to receive early information on network security risks, organize workshops/seminars on safety, information security and troubleshooting of cyber security incidents, as well as set up a communication channel to ensure safety and security. The Department shall also be the focal point to gather information security training needs of the members in order to organize tailored training courses on information safety for network members.

The Deputy Governor also requested the credit institutions to set up a task force on information security and to actively and fully participate in the activities of the banking sector's security response network; strictly implement the regulations on providing information on information security incidents to the SBV; actively review and complete the elaboration of processes, scenarios and conduct exercises for information security incident preparedness and response; ensure constant and safe operations of critical information systems in all circumstances.

VA