The banking sector in Vietnam is now implementing stricter security standards for businesses. Several financial institutions, including Vietcombank and TPBank, have officially mandated the use of biometric authentication for large transactions by newly established companies. This policy is a strategic measure to narrow the operational scope of cybercrime syndicates that frequently exploit fake corporate identities to carry out fraud through digital banking.
Vietcombank, for instance, requires business entities established within the last 12 months to use biometric scanning for fund transfers exceeding 50 million VND, or when cumulative daily transactions exceed 100 million VND. This procedure involves facial validation combined with security tokens like SmartOTP. Similar steps have been taken by TPBank through its TPBank Biz system, which sets flexible facial verification requirements tailored to the risk profile of each business group, particularly for micro and household enterprises.
Cybersecurity expert Vo Do Thang views this initiative as a crucial step in combating the rise of "shell companies." Previously, many irresponsible parties deliberately established business entities solely to open hundreds of bank accounts, which were then sold to criminal syndicates. These accounts were frequently used to hold illicit funds, often involving individuals who were unaware that their identities had been misused.
This regulation aligns with the directive from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) issued through Circular 77/2025. The government not only emphasizes customer authentication but also requires banks to strengthen defenses against advanced fraud technologies. Starting in 2026, banks are required to integrate Presentation Attack Detection (PAD) systems to counter *deepfake* threats and reinforce application security against hacking attempts such as *rooting* or the use of *emulators* on customers' mobile devices.
To date, the integration of customer data with chip-based citizen IDs and the VNeID application continues to be expedited. This synergy between the banking sector and public security authorities is expected to create a digital transaction ecosystem that is more transparent, secure, and resilient to identity abuse by high-tech criminals.
