VP Bank to Become 19th Member of Card Market
The Vietnam Bank for Private Enterprises (VPBank) will become the 19th player in the card market after the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) recently licensed the bank to operate issuing and payment services available for MasterCard domestic and international card holders.
Prior to the move, the card market in March admitted the 18th member, namely the VID Public Joint Venture Bank.
According to Le Dac Son, VPBank’s general director, the bank has made the necessary preparations to enter the card market in upcoming months.
Presently, the VPBank’s system has 34,000 accounts of individual clients, 5,000 accounts of institutions and 900 bank staff accounts.
By the end of 2005, seventeen banks issued domestic cards, and six issued international cards. The country has some 1,200 automated teller machines (ATMs), and 1,200 points of sales (Pos).
The number of issued cards amounts up to more than 2.1 million and the volume of card payments in 2005 tripled compared to a year earlier.
Currently, there are three card alliances, namely an alliance of the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) and other 17 commercial joint stock banks, Banknetvn including eight banks and Vietnam Data Communication Company (VDC) and Vietnam Bank Card (VNBC).
VnEconomy
Vietnamese
