E-wallets have become popular in Viet Nam. The central bank allows a monthly transaction limit of VND100 million. — Photo vietnamplus

The State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) will abolish the daily transaction limit of VND20 million (US$854) for personal e-wallets but keep the monthly limit of VND100 million per month, according to Director of SBV’s Payment Department Pham Tien Dung.

The transaction limits are part of the central bank’s draft circular about intermediary payment services, which was recently made public to gather ideas from relevant agencies, businesses and people.

Speaking at a recent conference held in HCM City on Tuesday, Dung said the central bank had received ideas from the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry for its draft circular saying that the transaction limit of VND20 million a day for personal e-wallets is not practical because many electronic products and tourism services cost more.

According to statistics from the SBV, the average value of payments via each e-wallet is about VND58,000 a day, equivalent to VND1.74 million a month. Meanwhile, the average limit for each individual e-wallet worldwide is only US$206 per month.

"In comparison with the international level, Viet Nam’s limit of VND100 million ($4,271) per person per month is not low," Dung said.

He added that Singapore had an e-wallet rule that must not exceed the payment limit of $5,000 per day and $30,000 per year, meanwhile China has a similar limit.

Dung also said that the regulations on transaction limits for e-wallets came from the need to cover the gap in Know your customer (KYC), a process whereby a business verifies the identity of its clients and assesses their suitability, along with the potential risks of illegal intentions towards the business relationship.

Dung said the current process in Viet Nam is not complete, so when a number of cases of fraud and money laundering occurred through e-wallets, authorities cannot verify the wallet owner.

“With mobile banking, users still have the choice when they want to use non-cash payments,” Dung said. — VNS