Circular No. 38/2019/TT-NHNN on providing payment services without using customer accounts at postal service enterprises

CIRCULAR

Provisions on the supply of payment services without using customer accounts

payment of customers at enterprises providing postal services

public service

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

Pursuant to the Law on Credit Institutions dated June 16, 2010; the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Articles of the Law on Credit Institutions dated November 20, 2017;

Pursuant to the Law on Posts dated June 17, 2010;

Pursuant to Decree No. 101/2012/ND-CP dated November 22, 2012 of the Government on non-cash payments; Decree No. 80/2016/ND-CP dated July 1, 2016 of the Government amending and supplementing certain articles of Decree No. 101/2012/ND-CP dated November 22, 2012 of the Government on non-cash payments;

Pursuant to Government Decree No. 16/2017/NĐ-CP dated February 17, 2017 on the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the State Bank of Vietnam;

At the proposal of the Payment Department Director;

The Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam issues this Circular prescribing provisions on the supply of payment services without using customer accounts at enterprises providing postal public services.

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of application

This Circular prescribes provisions on the supply of non-cash payment services by enterprises providing postal public services, including: money transfer, collection on behalf, payment on behalf in Vietnamese dong without using customer accounts.

Article 2. Applicability

1. Enterprises providing postal public services (hereinafter referred to as the service provider).

2. Organizations and individuals using payment services without using customer accounts at enterprises providing postal public services (hereinafter referred to as customers using services).

Article 3. Payment vouchers

1. The service provider shall specify the format, forms, printing, issuance of payment vouchers ensuring compliance with the payment process of each type of service and relevant laws.

2. The establishment, signing, control, circulation, management, use, and preservation of payment vouchers must comply strictly with the legal regulations on accounting voucher systems.

3. For electronic vouchers, all information data within the voucher must be fully controlled to ensure the legality, validity, and integrity of the information. At the same time, the voucher must be controlled and managed securely to prevent illegal exploitation, intrusion, and copying of information.

Chapter II

ACTIVITY OF SUPPLYING PAYMENT SERVICES WITHOUT USING CUSTOMER ACCOUNTS

Article 4Money Transfer Service

1. The service provider shall implement money transfer services ensuring prompt, thorough, accurate, safe, and secure processing in accordance with the law; establish and issue internal procedures, which must include the following contents:

a) Clearly stipulate the handling stages such as: preparation, verification, and control of money transfer vouchers; processing of money transfer orders; errors and correction of errors, investigation, complaints; accounting according to the current accounting system, maintaining complete accounting records;

b) Specifically stipulate the limit for transferring and receiving money at their service points in accordance with the material conditions, technical infrastructure, operational machinery to ensure safety and compliance with the law during implementation;

c) Specify the responsibilities of each department and individual managing, operating, and implementing the money transfer process, at least including: adhering to the procedure, transaction processing, security and confidentiality regulations, responsibility for coordinating investigations and handling complaints, and bearing responsibility for compensating customers for losses caused by their own mistakes;

d) Other related provisions.

2. Processing of money transfer orders

a) Upon receipt of a request for money transfer, staff of the service provider shall be responsible for controlling the information on the money transfer form. After verification, if the payment voucher established by the customer is legal and valid and the cash submitted by the customer matches the amount stated on the money transfer order, the staff shall sign the voucher and proceed with the money transfer for the customer. The service provider must process and complete the money transfer for the customer within the latest one working day from the date of receipt of the customer's legal and valid payment voucher;

b) Upon receipt of a money transfer order, the service provider serving the beneficiary must check the voucher to ensure its legality and validity and immediately record it into the appropriate account and notify the beneficiary to collect the money or deliver the money at the address requested by the remitter according to the agreement;

c) In case the service provider serving the beneficiary has notified the beneficiary but the beneficiary does not come to collect the money or cannot contact the beneficiary to notify them of the money collection, within a maximum of thirty days from the date of receipt of the money transfer order, the service provider shall proceed to return the money to the remitter.

3. Errors and correction of errors, investigation, complaints in money transfers

a) When discovering errors or discrepancies in money transfers (collectively referred to as errors), the parties involved must take measures to correct the errors in accordance with the regulations, ensuring accurate and consistent figures without affecting the money transfer activities or causing damage to customers. Correction of errors in money transfers must adhere to the following principles:

(i) Strictly follow the regulations and methods for correcting errors in accounting and money transfer: errors at which stage should be corrected at that stage, strictly prohibiting unauthorized modification of figures to correct errors;

(ii) Individuals or organizations causing errors or violating the regulations and methods for correcting errors will be dealt with and compensate for damages caused to related parties according to the law depending on the nature and severity of the violation;

b) The service provider shall specifically stipulate the period during which customers using services have the right to request investigation and complaint against the service provider, but not less than sixty days from the date of occurrence of the transaction requiring investigation;

c) The service provider shall be responsible for handling customers' requests for investigation and complaint, ensuring compliance with the following minimum regulations:

(i) Apply at least two methods to receive investigation and complaint information through the hotline (with recording) and at the service provider's transaction locations; ensure the verification of basic information provided by the customer to the service provider;

(ii) Develop a model form for requesting review and complaint for customers to use when requesting review and complaint. In cases where information is received through a call center, the service provider shall require customers to supplement the request form according to the model within the time limit set by the service provider as the basis for officially handling the review and complaint. In cases where a customer authorizes another person to request a review or complaint, the customer shall comply with the provisions of the law on authorization.

(iii) The service provider shall be responsible for promptly responding to or resolving any inquiries or complaints from customers within the agreed timeframe but not exceeding thirty days from the date of receiving the customer's complaint regarding the use of services as stipulated at point c(i) of this Clause.

d) Handling the results of review and complaint:

(i) Within a maximum period of five working days from the date of notifying the results of the review and complaint to the customer, the service provider must bear responsibility for paying money to the customer and compensating for losses (up to the amount transferred) if such errors or omissions are due to its own fault and/or not attributable to force majeure as agreed with the customer using the service.

In cases where errors are due to the customer's (the remitter's) fault, the service provider shall cooperate with the remitter to handle the payment order before making any payment to the beneficiary and refund the money to the remitter if requested by the remitter.

(ii) In cases where the deadline for resolving the review and complaint as provided for in point c of this Clause has expired without identifying the cause or fault of either party, within the following fifteen working days, the service provider shall agree with the customer on a resolution plan; if no agreement can be reached on a resolution plan, the dispute resolution shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the law.

Article 5Collection and disbursement services

1. The service provider shall establish and issue internal procedures for collection and disbursement services, ensuring that all steps and processing stages, inspection and control contents, and specific responsibilities assigned to each unit and individual executing the procedure are clearly defined, ensuring speed, accuracy, safety, and compliance with the law.

2. Contract/agreement on collection and disbursement services

To provide collection and disbursement services, the entrusting party or the payer must provide the service provider with necessary documents related to the amount to be collected or disbursed as conditions for the service provider to perform the collection and disbursement of funds. The service provider shall carry out the collection and disbursement in accordance with the content of the contract/agreement with the entrusting party or the payer and in compliance with relevant legal regulations.

Based on the type of collection and disbursement services, the service provider shall enter into contracts/agreements with customers using the services, ensuring that they contain basic elements:

a) Contract number/agreement document number;

b) Date (day, month, year) of establishment;

c) Name and address of the parties involved;

d) Agreement on the processing period for transactions and settlement;

đ) Scope of service provision;

e) Customer category;

g) Transaction location;

h) Implementation of security and confidentiality measures;

i) Contents regarding rights and obligations of the parties;

k) Responsibility for coordinating the handling of reviews, complaints, and disputes arising during the implementation process, including detailed responsibilities of each party in receiving information from customers, processing time, liability, and compensation plans for any losses incurred.

l) Provisions on collection and disbursement fees;

m) Other contents agreed upon by the parties in accordance with this Circular and relevant legal regulations.

Article 6. Rights and responsibilities of customers using services

1. Customers have the right to request and receive notifications, guidance, and warnings from the service provider to recognize and prevent risks when using non-account-based payment services.

2. Customers may lodge complaints and demand compensation from the service provider when the service provider fails to execute transactions as agreed, does not execute transactions, transfers funds to the wrong address, provides incorrect recipient information, executes transactions with incorrect details compared to the information provided by the customer, transfers insufficient amounts of money submitted by the customer, charges non-account-based payment service fees incorrectly or exceeds the published fee levels, or violates other agreements with the customer.

3. Customers are legally responsible for the accuracy and honesty of the payment information and documents they provide; they must protect their transaction information secrets to ensure security and confidentiality in payment transactions; and promptly notify the service provider of any errors, mistakes, or suspicions of misuse of transaction information discovered.

4. They may not use payment services for money laundering, terrorist financing, fraud, deception, or any other illegal activities.

5. They shall fulfill other rights and responsibilities as prescribed in this Circular and relevant legal regulations.

Article 7. Rights and responsibilities of service providers

1. Service providers have the right to refuse or terminate the provision of payment services to customers who fail to meet legal requirements fully, violate contracts or agreements between the parties, or violate laws on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing.

2. Equip physical facilities, technical equipment, and information technology systems at service delivery locations to ensure smooth, secure, and safe provision of payment services.

3. Implement measures to ensure payment capacity within the system, while maintaining the total balance of payment accounts at banks and cash reserves at their own units always exceeding the amount payable to customers at the time of executing payment transactions.

4. Issue risk management mechanisms: identify risks, classify types of risks occurring for each type of service provided, ensure the security and integrity of transaction-related data, implement evaluation, control, prevention measures for risks, and comply with legal regulations.

5. Issue procedures and processes for handling review requests, complaints, disputes; compensation mechanisms for damages arising from risks and incidents occurring during service provision.

6. Issue regulations on the handover, storage, equipping of safes at transaction locations within their system, collection and transportation of cash to ensure daily deposits into settlement accounts opened at banks, with fire prevention and extinguishing plans in accordance with legal provisions; ensuring security and safety for cash circulation as well as determining daily cash reserve limits for each transaction point in line with their management capacity and liquidity for service users.

7. Publicly display and post on the electronic information website of the service provider the following minimum contents: procedures for implementing each type of service between the service provider and customers; procedures and processes for handling review requests, complaints, disputes; compensation mechanisms for damages; types of fees (for services with charges).

8. Specify specific contents to ensure compliance with legal provisions on anti-money laundering and terrorist financing.

9. Provide relevant transaction payment information, personal customer information, and other related information upon request by customers, competent state agencies, or as prescribed by law.

10. Perform other rights and responsibilities as stipulated in this Circular and relevant laws.

Article 8. Reporting System

1. The service provider shall report to the State Bank of Vietnam (through the Payment Department) on the implementation of services according to quarterly periodic reporting (before the 5th day of the month following the quarter reported) and annual periodic reporting (before January 15 of the following year reported) as attached to this Circular.

2. The service provider shall promptly report to the State Bank of Vietnam the relevant information in the following cases:

a) At the specific request of the State Bank of Vietnam to serve state management purposes;

b) When there are unusual developments or incidents causing disruptions in service provision that may affect the operations of the payment service provider or related organizations and individuals.

Chapter III

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 9. Effective Date

This Circular takes effect from February 19, 2019.

Article 10. Implementation

1. The Payment Department shall be responsible for monitoring, guiding, inspecting, supervising, and coordinating with related units to resolve issues arising during the implementation of this Circular.

2. Banking inspection and supervision agencies, State Bank of Vietnam branches in provinces and centrally-administered cities shall be responsible for inspecting and supervising non-account-based payment service provision activities in accordance with the law, reporting violations to the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, and promptly addressing such violations within their authority, and notifying the Payment Department for follow-up.

3. The Information Technology Department shall cooperate with the Payment Department to inspect compliance with regulations on security, confidentiality, and risk management in electronic transactions by service providers.

4. Within three months from the date this Circular takes effect, service providers shall review internal procedures to ensure compliance with this Circular and provide them to the State Bank of Vietnam (Payment Department) immediately upon issuance and when amending, supplementing, or replacing these procedures.

5. The Director of the Office, Heads of the Payment Department, Chief Inspectors of Banking Supervision, and Heads of related units under the State Bank of Vietnam; Governors of State Bank of Vietnam branches in provinces and centrally-administered cities, Chairmen of Management Boards, and General Directors of postal public service enterprises shall be responsible for organizing the implementation of this Circular./.