Following the publication of an article titled “Easy to Obtain but Hard to Cancel Credit Cards” in the Báo Người Lao Động newspaper, numerous customers have come forward with their own arduous cancellation experiences.
Mr. Nguyễn Nam, a resident of Ho Chi Minh City, shared that he applied for a credit card with a limit of 30 million VND at the request of a friend working for a joint-stock bank in the city. The application process was straightforward, requiring only his ID card, phone number, and screenshots of his salary for the past three months.
After more than a week, Mr. Nam received his card and was instructed by his friend to top up 100,000 VND to activate it. As he had no need to use it for about two months, he decided to cancel the card through the bank’s mobile application but was unsuccessful. When he contacted the customer service representative, he was directed to either visit a branch office or call the hotline to process the cancellation.
Due to his busy schedule, Mr. Nam opted for the latter option and made multiple attempts to cancel his card over the phone, to no avail. Eventually, he chose to temporarily lock the card on the app to prevent potential misuse.
“Later, I received a notification from the bank about an annual fee of nearly 300,000 VND. Unable to pay this fee and worried about potential negative credit implications, I went to a bank branch and was informed that I could only pay the annual fee there, and for card cancellation, I had to either call the hotline or visit another branch in a different district,” Mr. Nam recounted.
He continued, “After multiple unsuccessful attempts to reach the hotline, I went to the bank’s transaction office in Phu Nhuan District to finally cancel my card.”
Many customers are left wondering why the cancellation process is so cumbersome and time-consuming compared to the relatively simple application process. On the bank’s mobile application, users can only temporarily lock their cards or disable online payment functions, with no option to register for card cancellation.
Many banks require card cancellation through hotlines instead of allowing customers to visit branches or transaction offices directly.
According to the reporter’s investigation, the nature of credit cards, which allow customers to “buy now and pay later,” with an interest-free period of 45 to 55 days depending on the card type, contributes to the cancellation process taking a significant amount of time.
Why do many banks require card cancellation through hotlines instead of allowing customers to visit branches or transaction offices directly?
According to several banks, centralizing card cancellation requests through hotlines is intended to provide customers with the convenience of handling the request from the comfort of their homes or offices. This arrangement also caters to the busy lifestyles of most card users, who tend to be young professionals from the 8x and 9x generations with limited time during regular business hours.
A representative from one bank explained that when a credit card balance reaches zero and a customer wishes to cancel their card, the card is temporarily frozen. To initiate the cancellation process, customers need to call the hotline, and the bank will verify the card’s status. If the balance is indeed zero, the card will be temporarily locked, and the cancellation will be finalized within 30 days.
This is a standard procedure across many banks, allowing for potential delays in transaction processing by intermediary payment organizations and system errors that may cause late updates to card balances.
An official from the card center of another joint-stock bank in Ho Chi Minh City added that, on average, it takes three working days to cancel a credit card at their institution. This process includes the requirement for cardholders to settle all outstanding debts, including recent or pending transactions.
“For recent transactions, cardholders may need to wait a few days for the merchant’s bank (the bank that issued the card reader machine where the cardholder made the purchase) to settle the transaction with the card-issuing bank. This settlement process can take up to 30 days according to the agreed-upon terms between the parties involved,” the official elaborated.
Banks advise cardholders to pay attention to essential card-related information, such as card features, statement closing dates, payment deadlines, payment amounts and methods, annual fees and their associated benefits (if any), commonly encountered fees during card usage, and how to access the comprehensive fee schedule. Additionally, cardholders should understand the mechanism for calculating interest when they are unable to fully settle their card balances…
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