THE STORY AS IT WAS The State Bank of Vietnam issued Official Letter 9362/NHNN-TT to payment service providers and intermediary payment service providers, directing them to strengthen security and prevent the use of payment services for illegal gambling, betting and unlicensed electronic games, the government's policy portal reported on 30 November 20221.
The instruction was framed around the World Cup 2022 period. The central bank said providers must act promptly and seriously on several points, and told them to follow its earlier guidance in Document 1080/NHNN-TT, along with other central bank guidance on payment security and anti-money laundering1.
"NHNN yêu cầu các tổ chức cung ứng dịch vụ thanh toán và các tổ chức cung ứng dịch vụ trung gian thanh toán khẩn trương, nghiêm túc thực hiện một số nội dung"
The letter set out three main areas of work for providers1:
| Area | What providers were told to do |
|---|---|
| Monitoring | Review monitoring criteria and transaction limits, update suspicious indicators to match account and customer categories, and improve detection of unusual transactions |
| Reporting and cooperation | Promptly supply information and report suspicious transactions, and work closely with law enforcement and relevant agencies on prevention, detection and crime control |
The central bank also told providers to step up customer communication, warning customers against prohibited conduct such as buying, selling, renting or lending payment accounts, e-wallets, bank cards or card information, opening cards for others, and using or allowing accounts, cards or e-wallets to move money linked to gambling, football betting and other illegal purposes1.
What it means for players
The letter targets the payment layer rather than the act of betting itself. For anyone in Vietnam using a bank account or e-wallet to move money to or from a betting operator, the practical effect is more scrutiny of account opening and of transfers that fit the bank's suspicious-transaction criteria. Accounts opened with borrowed, rented or falsified identity documents, and accounts lent to other people, are named in the letter as cases providers must detect and handle1.
The letter names football betting and gambling among the transfers providers should flag, and it also covers payments into unlicensed electronic games1. That means transfers described in ways that match those patterns can draw questions from the provider, and providers are told to report suspicious transactions to authorities1. The text does not set out new penalties for players, new thresholds, or any change to which forms of betting are legal in Vietnam; those points are not addressed in the letter1.
What happens next
The letter is dated 30 November 2022 and was reported the same day1. It does not set a deadline, a reporting schedule or a follow-up review date, and no later steps are given in the report1.
Sources1 sources
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