Vietnam’s VNeID digitizes 20M driving licenses, 26M health cards

Vietnam is marking the successful development and implementation of the National Population Database, which serves as the central information system for all citizens. The initiative, led by the Ministry of Public Security’s Department of Administrative Management of Social Order, is transforming how state agencies and citizens interact.

“The national population database was created with the goal of being a major information system, the ‘root’ database for all Vietnamese citizens,” said Lieutenant Colonel Tran Duy Hien, Deputy Director of the Population Data Centre. He described the VNeID digital identity platform as “a tool to connect with, serve citizens, and maximise the value of the National Database.”

As of August 2025, the database had been integrated with 15 ministries, the state-owned electricity provider EVN, three telecommunications enterprises, and authorities in 34 provinces and cities.

More than 2.1 billion requests for information verification have been processed – an increase of over 200 million since the end of 2024 – with over 1.2 billion completed. Government bodies can now share and exploit data with greater efficiency as the fragmentation that previously hampered service delivery is eliminated.

The VNeID platform has digitized six major categories of documents, including over 20.2 million driving licences, nearly 7.5 million vehicle registrations, more than 26.4 million health insurance cards, and hundreds of thousands of marriage certificates and judicial record extracts. It has also been integrated with 13 commercial banks, enabling secure and convenient financial transactions for citizens, leading to the biometric validation of over 120 million customer accounts.

VNeID has integrated essential daily life functions, including digital signature services, e-wallet platforms, pharmacy chains, and airlines offering online ticketing and check-in. To ensure accessibility for all, mobile teams have been deployed to assist elderly residents, those in remote areas, and vulnerable groups, with document collection and account setup at home or nearby locations.

Since April, the Ministry of Public Security has also made content from Nhan Dan Newspaper available on the VNeID app as part of its effort to establish the platform as a national “super app.”

VNeID accounts are anchored to Vietnam’s national digital ID, which uses biometric matching technology from NEC and fingerprint scanners from Integrated Biometrics.

Popularity causes outage

Following the government’s announcement of a 100,000 Vietnamese Dong (US$3.79) National Day gift for every citizen via the VNeID digital identity app, many users encountered login issues on the evening of August 28.

VNExpress reports that from around 9pm, users started to see an error message stating, “System under maintenance. Please try again later,” when attempting to access the app. Several individuals noted that even after successfully entering their password or using face biometrics, the app became unresponsive and failed to load further.

Access to the VNeID app had been restored by the following morning, but users attempting to enter their passcode in the Social Security section were met with a “failed to connect to system” error.

The platform last faced widespread login disruptions on June 30, when a surge in activity followed public interest in hometown registration updates linked to the administrative reorganization of provinces and cities.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh issued a directive confirming that the Politburo had approved a cash gift of VND100,000 for every Vietnamese citizen in celebration of the 80th anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day on September 2.

The Ministry of Finance, along with other relevant agencies, has been instructed to secure and allocate the necessary funds ahead of the August 29 distribution deadline.

To receive the payment, citizens must hold a level-2 VNeID account and have a bank account linked to the Social Security benefits section within the app.

The State Treasury announced on August 31 that VND 5,687 trillion ($215.3 million) had been distributed to 1,929 communes — 58.5 percent of the total — as cash gifts of VND 100,000 per citizen.

This represents 53.15 percent of the planned budget of VND 10.7 trillion. Eleven provinces and cities have completed their fund withdrawals and gift distributions. Citizens can choose to receive their gifts via direct transfer to their social welfare accounts through the VNeID app or collect cash at designated local distribution points. The distribution period runs from August 30 to September 2, with a final deadline of September 15 for any delayed cases.

Article Topics

digital ID  |  digital identity  |  financial services  |  government services  |  mDL (mobile driver's license)  |  national ID  |  Vietnam  |  VNeID