* How long does credit card debt double?
Quite a number of customers visit banks on the first day of the week to check their bank cards, credit cards.
Many customers come to the bank to check their accounts, bad debts, and cancel bank cards. |
At the Vietnam Export Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Eximbank) Binh Phu Branch, Mr. Huan (residing in Binh Tan District) was surprised to know that he still owed the bank VND 713,000 for 64 months without paying the account maintenance fee (VND 11,000/month). Of that, the total debt for 64 months is VND 648,182 and the tax fee is VND 64,818.
Mr. Huan said that in April 2016, he opened a bank card to transfer money when buying a house, then the account still had a balance of VND 300,000 and he did not withdraw it, and the staff did not advise on cancelling the card if not used anymore. Due to not having any transaction needs, Mr. Huan forgot about this card for the past 8 years. The bank also did not inform anything related to this card.
 Mr. Huan is frustrated about having a debt of over VND 700,000 from Eximbank’s debit card even though he has not used the card for the past 8 years.
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“I thought that if I didn’t use the card for a long time or after deducting all the maintenance fees, the bank would automatically close the card. I didn’t expect that today when I came to check, I realized that the bank still continues to deduct fees, even though the card has been at zero balance for a long time.” – Mr. Huan expressed his frustration.
Similarly, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa (residing in Tan Phu District) has been burdened with bad debts of over VND 800,000 from Eximbank for nearly a decade without her knowledge. According to her, when she applied for the bank card, the staff did not provide thorough advice and she also did not receive any information about not using the card anymore, but the maintenance fees continue to be charged.
At the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank), Ms. Le Minh Ha (residing in Thủ Đức District) got a bank card and has not used it since 2018 but has not cancelled the card yet. Worried about the maintenance fees that are still accruing, she brought her ID card to check. The bank staff said that when the balance in the card account reaches zero, the bank will automatically close the account. Therefore, Ms. Ha does not have to pay any additional fees.
Similarly, other banks such as the Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank also close the bank card account when customers do not use it and do not charge any fees. If a customer wants to cancel the card, they just need to pay an additional VND 20,000.
Representatives from Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank said that within 6 months, if the customer’s bank card account has a balance of zero and no transactions are made, the bank will suspend the account and not charge any fees…
 When customers do not use the bank card for a long time and the account balance is zero, Agribank automatically suspends the account and does not charge any fees to maintain the card.
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In an exchange with reporters, Mr. Nguyen Duc Lenh – Deputy Director of the State Bank of Vietnam Branch in Ho Chi Minh City – stated that according to Article 18 of Circular No. 23/2014/TT-NHNN dated August 19, 2014 of the State Bank of Vietnam, guiding the opening and use of payment accounts at payment service providers (as amended and supplemented), regulations on closing payment accounts are as follows: Payment service providers are responsible for closing payment accounts upon request from the account holder and the account holder has fulfilled all obligations related to the payment account…
The deadline for closing the payment account due to insufficient minimum balance and no transactions made for a long period of time; the deadline for notifying the account holder before closing the payment account and specific issues related to closing the payment account in this case are regulated and publicly announced to customers by payment service providers.
Based on the above regulations, banks will close accounts that do not maintain sufficient balance and have no transactions made for a long period of time. The deadline for notifying the account holder before closing the payment account and specific issues related to closing the payment account in this case are regulated and publicly announced to customers by payment service providers.
Uyen Phuong
