New regulations on use of credit cards

HÀ NỘI — Credit cardholders will not be allowed to withdraw cash worth more than VNĐ5 million for domestic transactions and no more than VNĐ30 million for foreign currency.

The State Bank of Việt Nam (SBV) recently released a draft circular amending and supplementing Circular No 19/2016/TT-NHNN on bank card operation.

Accordingly, for the withdrawal of cash by cards 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 a withdrawal of foreign currency in a foreign country, a card holder can withdraw a maximum amount of cash in foreign currency equivalent to VNĐ30 million (US$1,300) per day.

For cash withdrawal at domestic card accepting units, each card holder can withdraw maximum VNĐ5 million in one day.

The draft also stipulates that in case of issuance of credit card with security assets, the credit limit granted to the cardholder shall not exceed 80 per cent of the value of the security assets, which is valued at a maximum of VNĐ1 billion.

In case of credit card issuance without security assets, the credit limit granted to a cardholder is VNĐ500 million.

These stipulations have no precedent, therefore credit institutions should review them carefully.

The draft also supplements regulations on the issuance of cards to foreigners to prevent the case 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 Việt Nam. — VNS