Compulsory e-signature might be a cost burden: banking association

The E-signature should not be made compulsory but optional, according to the Việt Nam Banking Association. — File Photo

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam Banking Association has sent a document to the Ministry of Information and Communications with regard to the draft decree on electronic signatures, saying that if they are made compulsory in banking transactions, it might become a cost burden to both users and enterprises.

Under the draft decree on e-signatures, detailing several points of the Law on e-Transactions 2023, individuals and enterprises must buy e-signatures from organisations providing e-signature services for online transactions with credit institutions.

This will be a cost burden on individuals and enterprises, the association said, adding that they estimate that the cost might amount up to trillions of đồng per year for each bank, which is not feasible in the current economic climate.

Currently, 80 per cent of Vietnamese adults have bank accounts and more than 95 per cent of banking transactions are handled digitally.

Under the draft, major services of credit institutions such as receiving savings, credits and foreign currency transactions all require e-signatures for transactions.

The annual fee for purchasing an e-signature is averaging around VNĐ800,000 per year or VNĐ2,500 per signature.

The association cited statistics of a State-owned commercial bank that with 12 million customers and 6.5-7 million transactions per day or 500 transactions per second, the certificate authority (CA) services might cost around VNĐ6.6 trillion – 21.6 trillion per year (US$260 million – 850 million).

This will amount to a huge sum for the entire credit system, a heavy cost burden on citizens and enterprises, the association said.

The dependence on few CA providers also implies risk, the association said.

The association is worried about the information security and the system capacity to ensure smooth operation for huge number of transactions per second.

The association said that while it should be necessary that every citizen has an e-signature for public and business transactions, consideration needs to be given for timing, with regard to technological infrastructure and when people can adapt to the new system.

At the moment, e-signature should not be made compulsory but optional. — VNS