E-wallet MoMo announced the deadline information on its main screen of the application. — Photo momo.vn

The number of e-wallet users completing identity verification surged ahead of the July 7 deadline, according to e-wallet firms.

Article 9 of Circular 23/2019/TT-NHNN regulates that e-wallet owners must provide accurate information in the application form for wallet opening to service providers before July 7.

E-wallet users must authenticate the information by uploading a picture of a valid ID card or passport or face being temporarily locked out of the service after the deadline.

This is a revision of Circular 39 issued in 2014. The information verification aims to ensure the ownership of e-wallet users, preventing unauthorised access, changes to and destruction of information.

Nguyen Ba Diep, vice chairman cum founder of e-wallet firm MoMo, said as the deadline had expired, the number of users verifying their personal information was many times higher than in previous days.

Although the verification of wallets is to protect user accounts, there were still some users who were concerned about sending personal information such as photos of ID cards or passports to suppliers, he added.

Nguyen Thu Trang in Ha Noi’s Hoang Mai District told Viet Nam News that she felt worried about providing personal information to authenticate e-wallets.

“When opening a bank account linked to an e-wallet, we have to provide sufficient information, including ID card to the bank. Now the e-wallet requires an identification again. When providing personal information to intermediary payment providers, I wonder whether the personal data can be as well-secured as it is with the bank,” Trang said.

MoMo said the firm is using leading security technology to protect the information of e-wallet users and retains user data in accordance with applicable laws. The information provided by the user is only used to authenticate the wallet owner according to the Government’s regulations. All authentication processes are performed under the supervision of the State Bank of Viet Nam.

Tran Tuan Anh, managing director of AirPay, said the situation was the same at his e-wallet firm.

Payoo said most customers were ready to provide information to continue using their e-wallet services.

It said some customers only needed to use the e-wallet for a certain period. Therefore, they might not see the need to declare information and would proceed with identification when they want to use it again.

Moca, an e-wallet partner of the ride-hailing app Grab said the number of people verifying information was three times higher than their forecast.

The e-wallet providers have committed not to provide users’ information to others.

Statistics from the central bank showed that by the end of May, the country has 34 organisations which are not banks that are licensed to provide intermediary payment services. Around 4.24 million out of the total some 9 million e-wallets with an association to bank accounts were verified. — VNS