On September 24, 2019, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) held a meeting of the Drafting Team and the Editorial Group for the development a Decree to replace Decree No. 101/2012/ND-CP on non-cash payments. SBV Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh – Head of the Drafting Team chaired meeting.
Overview of the meeting
Regulations on non-cash payments should follow closely the IR 4.0
Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh emphasized that the banking sector should continue to improve the mechanisms and institutions related to payment activities. According to the Deputy Governor, there are currently a lot of substances that need to be institutionalized, such as payment services based on new technology, because this is a practical problem emerging in recent years without a legal framework to govern. Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh also said that in some necessary cases, the SBV could formulate a scheme to submit to the Government to promulgate as a pilot mechanism.
Mr. Pham Tien Dzung – Director General of the SBV Payment Department, presents some changes in the draft Decree replacing Decree 101
Decree No. 101/2012/ND-CP (already amended and supplemented) was issued by the Government on November 22, 2012 and took effect from March 26, 2013. Since the Decree came into effect, the provisions of the Decree have contributed significantly to improving the basic legal framework for non-cash payments. After more than 6 years of implementation, Decree 101 has brought many positive changes to the payment activities in the economy, promoting non-cash payments in life, gradually limiting the habit of using cash in payments, ensuring the effective enforcement of the legal provisions in the monetary and banking fields.
However, in light of the rapid and strong IT development, the IR 4.0 and the trend of global economic integration, the current regulations on non-cash payments should be further supplemented and revised to meet the practical needs, and to ensure stringent solutions to improve the efficiency of the state management, fostering innovations and competition.
Mr. Pham Tien Dzung - Director General of the SBV Payment Department - presented the purposes and viewpoints in drafting the new Decree; at the same time, he also analyzed the outstanding issues and proposed solutions to resolve them through state management mechanisms. The Draft Decree will be publicized for comments and finalized in order to be submitted to the Government at the earliest possibility.
Ensuring the safety and efficiency of the payment system
The formulation of a new Decree to replace Decree 101 aims to ensure the safety and efficiency of the payment systems in the economy, maintain the stability of the national monetary security, the social order and safety, prevent systematic risks, protect the rights of users, and comply with the regulations on anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing in payment transactions.
At the same time, the formulation of the new Decree will further promote non-cash payment transactions, limit the use of cash in payments to ensure transparency in financial transactions, and increase utility payment services with a view to enhancing business efficiency, minimizing costs and focusing on the interests of customers, changing people's habit of using cash to electronic payments and non-cash payments, which are more convenient and faster.
The proposed new regulations will further protect the legal rights and interests of organizations and individuals in non-cash payment activities, enhance the integration capabilities of the economy and the effectiveness of the monetary policy in macroeconomic management. The new Decree also aims at specifying violations, business conditions, provisions on responsibilities and obligations of the related parties, as a basis for the SBV to perform the functions of managing, inspecting, examining and supervising non-cash payment activities, facilitating a legal framework for credit institutions and non-credit institutions to effectively provide convenient and modern payment products to their customers using their services; Establishing a unified legal basis to regulate crypto-currencies; Serving the goal of financial inclusion to cover rural, remote areas, where people do not have bank accounts, with the participation of non-credit institutions, foreign banks branches providing the services at reasonable fees in accordance with the applicable laws, contributing to promoting cashless payments, helping customers to choose and access safe and convenient products and services.
Participants making comments on the Draft Decree
At the meeting, representatives of the SBV Departments and a number of credit institutions gave their opinions on the Draft Decree to be submitted to the Government. The participants all agreed on these points: The formulation of the new Decree to replace Decree 101 is consistent with the orientations, guidelines and policies of the Party and the State on administrative reforms, raising the effectiveness and management efficiency of the State administrative agencies. A key policy of the Party and the Government in the recent years is to further promote non-cash payments, encourage and facilitate organizations and individuals to provide and utilize payment services for socio-economic development objectives, limit the wasteful cash use and prevent corruption.
At the same time, the formulation of the new regulations in the draft Decree is also consistent with the Constitution, the Law on Organization of the Government, the Law on the State Bank of Vietnam, the Law on Credit Institutions and other related laws, ensuring consistency and synchronization with the current legal documents and other relevant legal provisions. It is also consistent with the international commitments and treaties to which Vietnam is a member, applying the practices and experience of other countries that have successfully implemented in real life, which are suitable to Vietnam's socio-economic conditions, and to institutionalize the guiding orientations of the Prime Minister on improving the system of related legal documents on payments.
The Draft Decree provides the necessary grounds for effective state management in the field of payments, ensuring feasibility, in close association with the IT application in order to develop modern and safe payment products, and to ensure close and synchronous coordination among the ministries and agencies in the process of formulating and implementing the Decree.
VA