Decision No. 2453/QD-TTg dated December 27, 2011 of the Prime Minister approving the scheme on stepping up non-cash payment in Vietnam during 2011 - 2015

THE PRIME MINISTER

Decision No. 2453/QD-TTg of December 27, 2011, approving the scheme on stepping up non-cash payment in Vietnam during 2011-2015

THE PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the December 25, 2011 Law on Organization of the Government;

Pursuant to the June 16, 2010 Law on the State Bank of Vietnam;

Pursuant to the June 16, 2010 Law on Credit Institutions;

At the proposal of the State Bank Governor in Document No. 172/TTr-NHNN of July 30, 2011, and Document No. 85/BC-NHNN of July 30, 2011,

DECIDES:

Article 1. To approve the scheme on stepping up non-cash payment in Vietnam during 2011-2015 with the following contents:

I. OBJECTIVES

1. General objectives: To diversify payment services, develop payment infrastructure, step up the application of electronic payment technology, focus on developing non-cash payment in rural areas to better meet payment needs of the economy, reduce cash-related social costs and create vigorous and remarkable changes in the society’s payment practices, contributing to raising the effectiveness of operation of the banking system and the state management.

2. Specific objectives:

a/ By the end of 2015, the percentage of cash in total instruments of payment will be below 11%.

b/ By the end of 2015, the number of people having access to payment services will significantly increase and the percentage of people with bank accounts will rise to 35-40% of the population.

c/ To achieve the objectives of the master plan on development of e-commerce in the 2011-2015 period, which was approved by the Prime Minister in Decision No. 1073/QD-TTg of July 12, 2010.

d/ To develop card payment services, focusing on the development of payment via card-accepting places. By 2015, the whole market will have around 250,000 card acceptance devices (CAD) installed to serve around 200 million transactions a year.

e/ To apply a number of new forms of payment suitable to the conditions and characteristics of rural, deep-lying and remote areas.

II. TASKS AND SOLUTIONS

1. To concentrate on performing 3 major tasks:

a/ Developing electronic payment with many new, diverse, safe and convenient products and services, focusing on the development of payment via card-accepting places to reduce cash payment and form the habit of non-cash payment in the majority of population.

b/ Selecting and applying modes of payment suitable to Vietnam in order to lay a foundation for developing non-cash payment activities in rural areas, contributing to realizing the Party’s and the State’s policies on agriculture, rural areas and farmers and building a new countryside.

c/ Enhancing the management of cash payment and reducing the use of cash in payment transactions.

2. To synchronously implement the following 5 groups of solutions:

a/ Supplementing and synchronously finalizing the legal framework, mechanisms and policies:

- Reviewing, amending and revising legal documents guiding the implementation of the 2010 Law on the State Bank of Vietnam and the 2010 Law on Credit Institutions concerning payment activities.

- Issuing a decree to replace the Government’s Decree No. 64/2001/ND-CP of September 20, 2001, on payment via payment service providers.

- Revising the Government’s Decree No. 161/2006/ND-CP of December 28, 2006, on cash payment.

- Reviewing, amending and revising regulations on methods of disbursement in credit institutions’ loans to customers and transactions of equity contribution, capital transfer, stock and bond trading and transfer among enterprises and individuals in order to reduce cash payment transactions.

- Promulgating regulations on responsibilities of payment and payment intermediary service providers and payment service users; regulations on assurance of security, safety, confidentiality, prevention and handling of violations in non-cash payment activities.

- Promulgating appropriate incentive tax mechanisms and policies or similar measures such as tax incentives for turnover of goods and services paid by cards via card-accepting places in order to encourage goods sellers and service providers to accept card payment and people to use cards for payment to purchase goods and services in replacement of cash.

- Promulgating appropriate mechanisms and policies on payment service charges to encourage institutions and individuals to make non-cash payments; imposing charges for a number of cash payment transactions; adopting appropriate charge policies to encourage people to use payment cards through automatic teller machines and card acceptance devices; reducing charge rates for inter-bank payment services so as to reduce payment service charge rates of payment service providers and apply reasonable charge rates to service users.

- Promulgating regulations requiring via-bank payments for transactions of trading in real estates and valuable assets (cars, motorcycles, ships, boats, etc.).

b/ Raising the quality of, and developing, technical infrastructure facilities:

- Promoting technology transfer and application of new and advanced technologies to serve non-cash payment.

- Raising the quality of and increasing investment in developing infrastructure facilities of the card accepting network, and installing more card acceptance devices at trade centers, restaurants, hotels, entertainment centers and tourist sites.

- Connecting card payment systems nationwide and promoting the mutual card acceptance among card payment service providers.

- Establishing a rational network and installing more automatic teller machines at places where conditions permit to meet the people’s needs.

- Concentrating on elaborating and finalizing the scheme on building a Unified Card Switching Center already approved by the Prime Minister.

- Maintaining uninterrupted operation and fully exploiting the capacity of the inter-bank electronic payment system, expanding connection with the State Treasury’s payment system; developing and upgrading other payment systems in the economy.

- Increasing security, safety and confidentiality measures for the payment infrastructure; elaborating standards on machinery and equipment used in card payment, inspecting the quality of automatic teller machines and card acceptance devices; studying and orientating the application of standards on domestic payment cards, and planning the development of chip cards in Vietnam in conformity with international standards in order to improve card security and increase card uses.

- Building an automatic clearing payment system for retail banking transactions.

c/ Diversifying, and raising the quality of, payment services and applying new and modern payment instruments:

- Concentrating on developing card payment via card-accepting places with synchronous measures for the use of payment cards to become convenient and a habit of people.

- Developing and applying types of cards to serve public-service expenditures of state budget-funded agencies and units.

- Continuing to expand the via-account payment of salaries to those who are salaried from the state budget suitable to the payment infrastructure capacity; further raising the quality of the service of via-account salary payment and accompanied services; mobilizing and encouraging cadres and civil servants to make non-cash payments via their accounts (making transfers directly on automatic teller machines, making payment via card-accepting places and other new payment services) and extending these payment services to those who are not salaried from the state budget.

- Promoting the development of multi-purpose cards (for paying road and bridge tolls, buying petrol and oil or bus fares, paying taxi charges, social insurance premiums, etc.).

- Developing forms of non-cash payment of regular charges (electricity, water, telephone, etc.).

- Stepping up the application of new and modern methods of payment (via the Internet, cell phones, etc.); especially, encouraging the application of modern and convenient methods and instruments of payment suitable to the conditions in rural, deep-lying and remote areas and those having no bank accounts, on the basis of application of successful models in some other countries and use of existing networks of credit institutions and other relevant institutions.

d/ Stepping up public information and guidance in the whole society:

- Regularly organizing public information campaigns for non-cash payment in appropriate forms in the mass media.

- Formulating and implementing programs for training employees of payment and payment intermediary service providers and related institutions.

e/ Support solutions:

- Stepping up international cooperation in order to receive necessary technical, counseling, experience and financial assistance for the development of non-cash payment:

+ Enhancing cooperation with and mobilizing international financial and monetary institutions to assist Vietnam in building and quickly developing an appropriate modern payment system;

+ Enhancing cooperation with international card institutions, payment institutions, payment solution-providing institutions and banking associations in the region and the world to learn experience and promptly grasp the trend of development of new and modern instruments of payment for effective application in Vietnam.

- Enhancing coordination among ministries, sectors, localities and enterprises in applying non-cash payment solutions.

- Increasing the number and raising the quality of personnel, especially officers taking part in the formulation of policies and strategies on payment; enhancing the training of employees engaged in payment activities in the banking sector.

- Intensifying examination and supervision of payment activities in the economy to assure compliance with the law on payment and the stable, safe and effective operation of the payment system.

- Working out and applying various forms of emulation, reward, honoring, rating and evaluation of retail enterprises in order to encourage non-cash payment; mobilizing payment and payment intermediary service providers, goods suppliers and service providers to apply non-cash payment incentives such as charge exemption and reduction, sales promotion, point accumulation, lottery, lucky drawing, etc., for consumers.

III. ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

1. The State Bank of Vietnam shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries, sectors, localities and units in, applying, monitoring and urging the application of the above solutions; periodically review, assess and report to the Prime Minister on implementation and results; propose measures to overcome difficulties and solve problems; and organize a general review at the end of 2015.

2. Based on their assigned functions and tasks, related ministries, sectors and localities shall:

a/ Take the initiative in closely coordinating with the State Bank of Vietnam in directing the implementation.

b/ Before December 15 every year, report implementation results to the State Bank of Vietnam for summarization and reporting to the Prime Minister.

c/ Perform the major tasks assigned to them in the task performance plan attached to this Decision.

IV. FUNDS FOR THE ELABORATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SCHEME

Funds for the elaboration and implementation of the Scheme shall come from the state budget (for implementation of incentive mechanisms and policies, public information, provision of domestic capital corresponding to foreign loans, elaboration of the scheme, etc.); official development assistance (ODA), foreign loans and investments, and investments of other credit institutions, enterprises and individuals, and other sources.

Article 2. This Decision takes effect on the date of its signing.

Article 3. The Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies and government-attached agencies, and chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees shall implement this Decision.

Prime Minister
NGUYEN TAN DUNG

Performance plan for a number of major tasks to implement the scheme on stepping up non-cash payment in Vietnam during 2011-2015

(Promulgated together with the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 2453/QD-TTg of December 27, 2011)