Circular No. 22/2026/TT-NHNN Amending and Supplementing Certain Articles of Circular No. 40/2024/TT-NHNN on Payment Services Intermediary Service Provision Activities

Amending and Supplementing Certain Articles of

D irective number/2024/TT-NHNN40Governing 

the Provision of Payment Services as a Third Party Citing Law on State Bank of Vietnam No. 46/2010/QH12; Citing Law on Credit Institutions No. 32/2024/QH15, amended and supplemented by Law No.

6/2025/QH15;

Citing Law on Prevention and Combatting Money Laundering No. 14/2022/QH15; Citing Decree No. 19/2023/NĐ-CP of the Government, detailing certain provisions of the Law on Prevention and Combatting Money Laundering; Citing Decree No. 952/2024/NĐ-CP of the Government concerning Cashless Payment;;

Citing Decree No. 26/2025/NĐ-CP of the Government on Functions, Tasks, Powers and Organizational Structure of the State Bank of Vietnam;

In accordance with the proposal by the Director of the Payment Department;

The Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam promulgates this Decree amending and supplementing certain articles of Decree number

40/2024/TT-NHNN

governing the provision of payment services as a third party.

Article 1. Amend and Supplement Article 41“Article 41. Cooperation Responsibilities in the Process of Issuing Payment Service License1. In case the application documents are incomplete or not valid, the State Bank (Payment Department) shall issue a written notice to the organization requesting supplementation and completion of the application documents. Within 60 days from the date of the State Bank's (Payment Department) request for supplementary documentation but if the organization does not submit the application document within this period or the supplementary document submitted by the organization fails to meet the requirements, the Director of the Payment Department shall decide to return the application documents to the organization..

2. After receiving complete valid application documents in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 24 of Decree No.

52/2024/NĐ-CP, the Payment Department shall issue a written notice requesting comments from relevant Departments, Bureaus, and units under the State Bank (if necessary) as per the provisions in paragraph 3 of this article.
3. From the date of receipt of the request from the Payment Department:
a) Within 20 working days, the Information Technology Bureau shall provide written comments to the Payment Department evaluating and assessing the organization's application documents and technical conditions as per points c, d, and đ (human resources for technical staff implementing payment service provision), point h (for financial transfer switching services, electronic reconciliation services), and point i (for international financial transfer switching services) in paragraph 2 of Article 24 of Decree No.
52/2024/NĐ-CP;
b) Within 10 working days, the Anti-Money Laundering Bureau shall provide written comments to the Payment Department evaluating and assessing compliance with anti-money laundering legal provisions for the organization's application documents as per point c in paragraph 2 of Article 24 of Decree No.
52/2024/NĐ-CP, including general principles and internal regulations on preventing money laundering, financing terrorism, and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction;
c) Within 10 working days, relevant Departments, Bureaus, and units under the State Bank (if any) shall provide written comments to the Payment Department regarding functions and tasks.
4. After receiving comments from relevant Departments, Bureaus, and units of the State Bank as per paragraph 3 of this article, the Payment Department shall consolidate these comments and proceed:
a) Issue a written notice requesting the organization to provide additional information or complete the application documents where the application documents are incomplete for evaluation against Article 22, paragraph 2 of Decree No.
52/2024/NĐ-CP; or
b) Submit a report to the Governor of the State Bank on the results of evaluating the organization's application documents and request comments from the Ministry of Public Security and relevant agencies (if the application documents are evaluated as meeting Article 22, paragraph 2 of Decree No.
52/2024/NĐ-CP). After receiving comments from the Ministry of Public Security and relevant agencies, the Payment Department shall consolidate these comments and submit a report to the Governor for decision on issuing the license or issue a written notice rejecting the application (specifying reasons).
5. Within 60 days from the date of the State Bank's request for additional information as per paragraph 1 of Article 4, point a:
a) In case the organization does not provide a written response or complete the application documents, the Director of the Payment Department shall decide to return the application documents;
b) In case the organization provides a written response and completes the application documents, the Payment Department shall conduct an evaluation, seek comments from relevant units under the State Bank (if necessary) as per the process in paragraph 3 of this article, and proceed:

Article 2. Amendment and Supplement to Article 42

"Article 42. Cooperation Responsibility in the Process of Reissuing a License
1. In case the license expires, the Payment Department receives the application from the organization and processes it:
a) After receiving a complete set of valid documents as stipulated in Clause 1, Article 25 of Decree No. 52/2024/NĐ-CP, the Payment Department sends a written request for comments to the Information Technology Bureau, Anti-Money Laundering Bureau, and other relevant Bureaus, Departments, and units under the State Bank (if necessary); simultaneously, the Payment Department submits a written request for comments to the Governor of the State Bank and relevant agencies according to the provisions in Point a, Clause 1, Article 28 of Decree No. 52/2024/NĐ-CP;
b) Within five working days from the date of receiving the request from the Payment Department, the Information Technology Bureau, Anti-Money Laundering Bureau, and other relevant Bureaus, Departments, and units under the State Bank (if applicable) provide written comments to the Payment Department;
c) After receiving the comments from the relevant Bureaus, Departments, and units of the State Bank, the Ministry of Public Security, and other relevant agencies, the Payment Department compiles these comments, submits them for decision by the Governor of the State Bank on reissuing the license according to regulations or sends a written response rejecting the reissue of the license (specifying the reasons).
2. In case the license is lost, torn, damaged by fire, or destroyed in any other manner, the Regional Branch of the State Bank receives the application from the organization with its principal office located within the jurisdiction of the Regional Branch and processes it:
a) After receiving a complete set of valid documents as stipulated in Clause 2, Article 25 of Decree No. 52/2024/NĐ-CP, the Regional Branch of the State Bank sends a written request for comments to relevant Bureaus, Departments, and units under the State Bank (if necessary);
b) Within five working days from the date of receiving the request from the Regional Branch of the State Bank, the relevant Bureaus, Departments, and units under the State Bank (if applicable) provide written comments to the Regional Branch of the State Bank;
c) After receiving the comments from the relevant Bureaus, Departments, and units as stipulated in Clause 2 hereof, the Regional Branch of the State Bank compiles these comments and decides on reissuing the license according to regulations or sends a written response rejecting the reissue of the license (specifying the reasons)."

Article 3. Amendment and Supplement to Article 43

"Article 43. Cooperation Responsibility in the Process of Amending and Supplementing a License
1. In case there is a change in the principal office location of an organization from that recorded in its Payment Service Operation License, the Regional Branch of the State Bank where the organization's new principal office is located receives the application and processes it:
a) After receiving a complete set of valid documents as stipulated in Clause 1, Article 26 of Decree No. 52/2024/NĐ-CP, the Regional Branch of the State Bank sends a written request for comments to relevant Bureaus, Departments, and units under the State Bank (if necessary), Ministry of Public Security, and other relevant agencies;
b) Within five working days from the date of receiving the request from the Regional Branch of the State Bank, the relevant Bureaus, Departments, and units under the State Bank (if applicable) provide written comments to the Regional Branch of the State Bank;
c) After receiving the comments from the relevant Bureaus, Departments, and units under the State Bank (if applicable), Ministry of Public Security, and other relevant agencies, the Regional Branch of the State Bank compiles these comments and decides on amending or supplementing the license according to regulations or sends a written response rejecting such amendment or supplementation (specifying the reasons).
2. In case there is a change in any content specified in the Payment Service Operation License including: name of the organization, cessation of providing one or more payment services already licensed, additional connection with international payment systems for financial transfer service providers, the Payment Department receives the application from the organization and processes it:
a) After receiving a complete set of valid documents as stipulated in Clause 1, Article 26 of Decree No. 52/2024/NĐ-CP, the Payment Department sends a written request for comments to relevant Bureaus, Departments, and units under the State Bank (if necessary); simultaneously, the Payment Department submits a written request for comments to the Governor of the State Bank and other relevant agencies according to the provisions in Point a, Clause 1, Article 28 of Decree No. 52/2024/NĐ-CP;
b) Within five working days from the date of receiving the request from the Payment Department, the relevant Bureaus, Departments, and units under the State Bank (if applicable) provide written comments to the Payment Department;
c) After receiving the comments from the relevant Bureaus, Departments, and units under the State Bank, Ministry of Public Security, and other relevant agencies, the Payment Department compiles these comments, submits them for decision by the Governor of the State Bank on amending or supplementing the license according to regulations or sends a written response rejecting such amendment or supplementation (specifying the reasons).
3. In case there are multiple changes in any content specified in the Payment Service Operation License including: change in principal office location from that recorded in the Payment Service Operation License of the organization and other contents, the Payment Department receives the application from the organization and processes it according to the procedure set out in Clause 2 hereof."

Article 4. Supplementing Clause 4 of Article 51

"4. The Branch of the State Bank in the Region shall be responsible for receiving and processing administrative procedures of organizations with their principal place of business located within the territory of the Branch of the State Bank in the Region as assigned by the Governor of the State Bank, and shall bear legal responsibility to the Governor of the State Bank for the results of implementing the tasks and powers delegated pursuant to the provisions of this Circular."

Article 5. Implementation Responsibilities

The heads of units under the State Bank, credit institutions, foreign branches of banks, and organizations providing payment service intermediation shall be responsible for organizing the implementation of this Circular.

Article 6. Enforcing Provisions

1. This Circular shall take effect from May 19, 2026.

2. The provisions on Articles 16, 17, and 18 of Circular No. 41/2025/TT-NHNN by the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam amending and supplementing certain articles of Circular No. 40/2024/TT-NHNN on payment service intermediation shall be repealed.