Among the State-owned banks, BIDV applies the lowest fee for interbank transfers at VND2,000 per transaction. — Photo courtesy of Bidv

Another 15 commercial banks have slashed fees for interbank transfers of small sums worth less than VND500,000 (US$22) on March 4.

So far, 32 out of 45 commercial banks have instituted the reduction, following the move of the National Payment Corporation of Viet Nam (NAPAS) to cut switching fees with an aim to promote cashless payments.

According to NAPAS, transactions at 32 banks account for 98 per cent of the whole banking system in Viet Nam.

Among 15 banks, five would offer zero charges for 24/7 interbank transfer services including MSB, BaoViet Bank, VIB, Nam A Bank and IVB.

Meanwhile, ACB and OceanBank applied a fee of VND2,000 per transaction for each transfer.

VietinBank reduced the interbank fees from VND9,000 to VND7,000 for transactions and applied no fees for transaction on its VBiz package.

Agribank collected VND5,000 per transaction on its E-mobile banking and ATM system instead of VND8,000. It also applied VND8,000 instead of VND10,000 per transaction on its internet banking.

Shinhan Bank took VND5,000 instead of VND10,000 on its mobile banking and internet platform, while SHB, SCB, LienVietPostBank and IBK applied a reduction of between VND500 to VND1,800 for each transaction.

Among the State-owned banks, BIDV applied the lowest fee of VND2,000 per transaction.

NAPAS started to cut service fees on electronic switching for commercial banks from late February in an effort to promote cashless payments.

Accordingly, switching fees were cut by VND500 to VND1,800 for each transaction.

It also offered zero charge for electronic payments for public services until the end of this year.

The company said that the exemptions and reductions on service fees would erase at least 15 per cent from its revenue this year, but the move was essential in the face of the novel coronavirus epidemic.

NAPAS was operating a switching system interconnected with more than 18,600 ATMs, 261,000 POS machines and 300 electronic payment companies and serving over 100 million cardholders of 48 domestic and international commercial banks operating in Viet Nam.

According to the State Bank of Viet Nam’s Payment Department, from January to the end of November 2019, there were 146 million transactions conducted via interbank electronic payment system, worth VND87.5 quadrillion, up by 17.7 per cent and 32.49 per cent, respectively, over the same period of 2018. — VNS