Customers report difficulties completing banking biometric authentication

Nguyễn Hữu Thuận, resident in HCM City's Thủ Đức City, visits the Sacombank) branch on Nguyễn Trãi Street seeking help to update biometric information on the bank's app. Photo tuoitre.vn

HCM CITY – Many customers have been forced to visit their banks for help in updating biometric information online to authenticate money transfer transactions, however even then some still cannot complete the biometric update process.

On Tuesday customer T from HCM City’s District 5, went to the Sài Gon Thương Tín Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank) branch on Nguyễn Trãi Street seeking help to update biometric information on the banking app, as he could not do it at home.

Despite multiple attempts by a female bank employee to assist him, the app repeatedly reported that the biometric update process could not be completed.

As a result, the employee advised him to return another time or temporarily transfer amounts over VNĐ10 million using the Sacombank mBanking app instead of the Sacombank Pay app.

According to T, in the preceding days, he also could not update his biometric information on the app of the Vietnam Maritime Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MSB) and had to visit the bank for assistance.

Needing to transfer over VNĐ10 million, on the morning of July 2, Nguyễn Hữu Thuận, from Thủ Đức City, tried using the apps of Techcombank, ACB, Vietcombank, and HDBank, but all four banks reported errors, stating they could not scan his ID card, even though his iPhone has NFC functionality for information verification.

Later that day, Thuận took advantage of his lunch break to visit the Techcombank branch on Xô Viết Nghệ Tĩnh Street in Bình Thạnh District to have his information updated in person. Only after a bank employee directly scanned his citizen ID card using the bank’s reader, was Thuận able to complete the update and proceed with his transactions.

"My phone has NFC payment integration and works normally, but I don't understand why I can't update biometric information. Now I have to visit each bank one by one to get staff assistance," he said.

On the morning of Tuesday, many people visited the HDBank branch on Nguyễn Cư Trinh Street in District 1 for assistance in updating their biometric information.

Lê Nguyễn Hùng Cường, a male employee, noted that many users with older phones, faulty devices or incorrect operations had to visit the bank for direct assistance.

Late in the afternoon, a branch of VietinBank in Thủ Đức City still saw a large number of customers updating their biometric information. According to a bank employee, on July 1 and the morning of July 2, an overload in the system prevented updates via the app due to the high number of users attempting to update their information.

According to Techcombank, as of July 1, over 1.4 million customers had successfully updated their biometric data on the Techcombank Mobile app, representing more than 80 per cent of customers who frequently conduct transactions exceeding VNĐ10 million.

"We are intensifying communication efforts to encourage customers to proactively update their information via the app. Customers unable to do so can visit the nearest Techcombank branch or transaction office for support," a representative from the bank said.

Meanwhile, ACB reported that 500,000 customers had successfully completed facial recognition authentication through the ACB ONE digital banking app, enhancing account security and protecting high-value online transactions.

ACB's CEO, Từ Tiến Phát, told the Tuổi Trẻ (Youth) online newspaper that the new biometrics system effectively addresses security and account safety risks. With facial recognition, only the account owner can transfer money. Even if account information is leaked and criminals take control of the phone, they cannot transfer money without matching the facial authentication.

Nguyễn Minh Tâm, deputy CEO of Sacombank, said that most of Sacombank's customers have registered and successfully authenticated their biometric information for transactions over VNĐ10 million per transaction, or VNĐ20 million per day.

"We continue to notify customers to update their biometric information to ensure smooth online transactions, avoiding disruptions to daily life and work," Tâm said.

He added that most customers can update their biometric information through the Sacombank Pay app.

"For specific cases, such as elderly customers or those without NFC-enabled devices, bringing their chip-embedded citizen ID to our transaction points will allow our staff to assist them," he said. – VNS