Vietnam integrating digital ID with more public services to make super app

The Vietnamese government is in the processing of expanding its digital government ecosystem by adding more services to its national digital ID application dubbed VNeID (Vietnam Electronic Identification).

In line with the country’s digital transformation program of 2022-2025 and the broader 2030 development vision, authorities hope to add more features to the digital ID app as part of a push to make it a super app from which almost every service can be easily accessed, according to Tuoi Tre News.

Already, several government services and processes can be accessed using the VNeID app, such as administrative documents, completing administrative procedures, and getting social welfare and other government grants. This has made life easier for users by reducing travel costs and related expenses of having to go to physical offices to obtain these services.

In the near future, authorities intend to enable digital payments, digital wallet integration, payment of utility bills such as electricity and water, transactions in the stock market as well as payments for pensioners and the unemployed using the app.

In August, the Prime Minister, Pham Minh Chinh, called on government ministries, departments and agencies to add more services, and consequently more information fields, to the digital ID app to simplify the way users get access to their services.

The PM said fields asking for information about people’s educational background, bank accounts, driving licenses, and others, should be added to the app before a December 31 deadline. This is also the deadline when current ID cards will be officially replaced by a chip-embedded Citizen Identification Card.

The VNeID was upgraded in October with the integration of digital signatures and health records, in addition to its linking with banking transactions for biometric authentication, which has led to a dip in bank-related fraud cases.

Bank accounts without biometrics registered to be shut down

In line with another banking rule, authorities have announced that all bank accounts not linked to the biometrics of the owner will be shut down from the start of next year.

In the past months, banks have been urging all customers to upgrade their biometrics as this measure will come into effect on January 1, 2025, reports Vietnam News.

Vietcombank is one of those banks which have been working beyond official hours to allow people update their bank information with biometrics, and about 8.5 million customers are said to have done so as of the start of this month. The bank is continuing with the drive until January, two weeks after the official deadline given by the government.

Other banks like VPBank and Agribank have both introduced incentives to encourage customers to comply with the new biometrics requirement.

After the deadline, it is said that bank users will be unable to carry out certain online financial transactions, neither will they be able to withdraw or transfer money using ATMs.

This, the government says, is part of new regulations which intend to enhance the security of digital financial operations and create at atmosphere necessary for advancing a cashless economy.

Article Topics

banking  |  biometric authentication  |  biometrics  |  digital government  |  digital ID  |  super app  |  Vietnam  |  VNeID