Vietcombank Co. Ltd. will cancel and reissue all of its Connect24-branded debit cards because of a State Bank of Viet Nam plan to standardize the country’s bank identification number system, an official at the Hanoi-based bank tells PaymentsSource. More than two dozen other banks similarly plan to reissue cards.
“Between Jan. 10 and June 30, Connect24 cardholders will be allowed to ask for new cards with Vietcombank’s updated BIN,” he says. “The old cards will be active during this period, but effective July 1 they will be terminated.”
According to the official, Vietcombank’s Connect24 program has the largest debit card subscriber base in Vietnam at 4 million out of 18 million debit cards issued in total throughout the country. However, he declined to comment on the bank’s cost to cancel and reissue its debit cards.
The State Bank of Viet Nam is carrying out the standardization exercise because of recognition failure for certain cards, according to a statement from the central bank. Before 2007, each bank was allowed to select its own BIN, which resulted in repetition and subsequent debit card recognition failures at ATMs, the statement adds.
The central bank proposed the BIN-standardization regulation in 2007, and it now is providing a BIN for each bank. The central bank has issued 30 banks new BINs, and each bank must reissue its cards before July 1.
Officials at the central bank did not immediately return PaymentsSource calls for comment.
