Vietnam nears universal digital ID as biometric fraud controls tighten

Vietnam’s VNeID system has surpassed 102.1 million digital identity records and 71.5 million activated accounts, taking the platform very close to population-saturation level.

The country’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS) — a central government body for national security, law enforcement and public safety — intends to develop VNeID into a strategic national digital infrastructure and push the data economy, according to Saigon News.

Vietnam has looked to Estonian e-governance experts for digital identity and data unification experience. A bilateral exchange focused on adopting Estonia’s “once-only” data principle, where state agencies share data automatically across interconnected platforms so that citizens only submit information once.

Banks are also tightening biometric rules for businesses. Vietcombank now requires companies less than a year old to use face biometrics with SmartOTP or Hard Token for most online transactions. The requirement applies to payments above VND 50 million (US$1,900), or smaller transactions that push the daily total past VND 100 million ($3,800).

TPBank has introduced similar measures. Household businesses and micro‑enterprises must use face recognition plus OTP for transfers over VND 10 million ($380), daily totals above VND 20 million ($760), bill payments above VND 100 million ($3,800), and international transfers. ACB, VIB and others are following the same direction under regulation Circular 77/2025.

These changes follow a rise in “ghost companies” created to open multiple accounts for receiving fraudulent funds. Hung Yen Provincial Police recently prosecuted five people for establishing more than 100 corporate accounts and selling them to criminals based in Cambodia, reports Vietnam.vn. The new biometric rules are aimed at curbing this trend.

The State Bank of Vietnam is also cleaning and verifying customer data under Project 06. As of June 26, banks had cross‑checked 162.9 million individual and 2.6 million institutional records against biometric data from chip‑embedded ID cards or VNeID. All accounts using digital channels are now covered.

Since July 1, banks in Vietnam have been mandated to detect biometric spoofing attempts, including deepfakes and 3D masks. Since March 1, mobile banking apps must shut down automatically if they detect rooting, jailbreaking, emulators, code injection or app tampering.

Vietnam has reported early progress 18 months after Resolution 57 — the government’s strategic directive on digital transformation — with officials saying it is now producing concrete results.

Regulations have been streamlined, project oversight tightened and digital infrastructure expanded. 5G now covers over 91 percent of the population and fiber connections reaching all communes and wards, reports Nhan Dan.

Public service digitization has advanced through the National Public Service Portal, which now hosts more than 5,100 administrative procedures, most fully integrated. Hundreds of procedures and business conditions have been simplified. The national population database is complete and more than 71 million VNeID accounts have been verified. VNeID is evolving into a multi‑service platform, though rising usage will require stronger cybersecurity and data protection.

Inforadar said Vietnam’s next phase will be judged by actual usage, service quality and how effectively digital tools simplify interactions with the state, supported by sustained investment and stronger data governance.

Article Topics

digital ID  |  identity management  |  identity verification  |  Project 06  |  Vietnam  |  VNeID