CIRCULAR

AMENDING AND SUPPLEMENTING SEVERAL ARTICLES OF THE CIRCULAR NO. 37/2016/TT-NHNN DATED DECEMBER 30, 2016 OF THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE BANK OF VIETNAM,  REGULATING MANAGEMENT, OPERATION AND USE OF THE NATIONAL INTERBANK ELECTRONIC PAYMENT SYSTEM

Pursuant to the Law on State Bank of Vietnam dated June 16, 2010;

Pursuant to the Law on Credit Institutions dated June 16, 2010 and the Law on Amending and Supplementing certain Articles of the Law on Credit Institutions dated November 20, 2017;

Pursuant to the Law on Electronic Transactions dated November 29, 2005;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 130/2018/ND-CP dated September 27, 2018, elaborating on the implementation of the Law on Electronic Transactions regarding digital signature and digital signature authentication service;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 35/2007/ND-CP dated March 8, 2007 on electronic banking transactions;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 101/2012/ND-CP dated November 22, 2012 on non-cash payment; the Decree No. 80/2016/ND-CP dated July 1, 2016, amending and supplementing certain Articles of the Government’s Decree No. 101/2012/ND-CP;

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Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 16/2017/ND-CP dated February 17, 2017, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the State Bank of Vietnam;

Upon the request of the Director of the Information Technology Department;

The Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam hereby promulgates the Circular, amending and supplementing several Articles of the Circular No. 37/2016/TT-NHNN dated December 30, 2016 of the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam,  regulating the management, operation and use of the national interbank electronic payment system (hereinafter referred to as Circular No. 37/2016/TT-NHNN).

Article 1. Amending and supplementing several Articles of the Circular No. 37/2016/TT-NHNN dated December 30, 2016 of the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam,  regulating the management, operation and use of the national interbank electronic payment system (hereinafter referred to as NIEPS)

1. Clause 2 of Article 1 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“2. Subjects of application:

Participants, member firms and indirect participants of NIEPS, NIEPS operator, electronic central clearing houses and related units of the State Bank.”.

2. Clause 35 shall be added to Article 2 as follows:

“35. Electronic central clearing house (hereinafter referred to as central clearing house) is an organization providing payment intermediary services which is authorized by the State Bank of Vietnam to provide electronic transfer switch and clearing services, and participates in and directly get connected to the NIEPS to perform electronic settlement and clearing transactions.”.

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“1. Working time of NIEPS: 

a) Time to start receiving high-value payment orders, low-value payment orders and netting results from other systems:   8:00 a.m. of working days;

b) Time to start receiving foreign currency settlement orders: 9.00 a.m. of working days;

c) Time to stop receiving low-value payment orders, time to stop receiving requests for handling of netting results from other systems:   4.30 p.m. of ordinary working days; 5.00 p.m. of 02 working days at end of month;

d) Time to stop receiving high-value payment orders, foreign currency payment orders: 5.00 p.m. of ordinary working days; 5.45 p.m. of 02 working days at end of month;

dd) Time to complete the handling or processing of payment orders in the settlement queues (if any): 30 minutes at the latest after NIEPS stops receiving payment orders:

e) Time to perform end-of-day tasks (checking of comparison conditions, data comparison and verification with the NPSC): promptly after the time prescribed in point dd of this clause.”.

4. Point a of clause 1 of Article 10 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“a) If the delay is necessary for certain tasks; the NIEPS encounters any error at the NPSC; the settlement is not successful yet due to the member’s inadequate balance or other causes on the side of the State Bank;”.

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“1. The BNPSC will be used when the NPSC does not run properly due to failure or breakdown or conversion according to the plan in order to ensure the readiness for operation of the NIEPS.".

6. Article 25 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“Article 25. Processing of net settlement results received from other systems

1. The NIEPS are allowed to receive and process net settlement results from the automatic clearing houses (ACH), card clearing houses and other clearing houses.

2. Clearing settlement results are processed in batches (also known as batch clearing) on the basis of participants’ checking account balance. In the cases where a participant’s checking account balance is insufficient, these cases shall be handled under regulations on electronic clearing operations in the Circular providing instructions about payment intermediary services of the State Bank.

3. Whenever batch clearing demands arise, central clearing houses make (create) batch clearing requests which have data structures and formats regulated by the State Bank (Form No. TTLNH-30), sign their electronic signatures and send them to the NPSC to get them processed.  

4. Central clearing houses may cancel any unsuccessful clearing batch sent to the NPSC in order to manage the priority order and match the balance status of participants in clearing batches.

5. Whenever clearing batches are processed and recorded at the NPSC, NIEPS automatically create and send batch clearing transactions to members and participants in clearing batches. Members, participants receive, control and print out batch clearing transactions and keep record of them in accordance with current laws.

6. After completing the comparison by the NIEPS, units print and reconcile data on batch clearing transactions within a day in order to ensure these data is balanced and match on the system.   Tasks of each unit are as follows:

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- Chart of collation of clearing batches received from the NPSC (Form No. TTLNH-31);

- Reconciliation report of batch clearing results (Form No. TTLNH-32).

b) Central clearing houses:

- Chart of consolidation of batch clearing results sent to the NPSC (Form No. TTLNH-33);

- Chart of collation of clearing batches received from the NPSC (Form No. TTLNH-31).

c) Members, participants in clearing batches:

Reconciliation report of batch clearing results (Form No. TTLNH-34).

7. Handling of defective batch clearing reports.

In cases where there is any defect arising from reports or comparison of batch clearing transactions, units are required to contact the NIEPS operator to cooperate in seeking solutions.

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a) Sending written applications for net settlement services (Form TTLNH-29) online or in person or by post to the State Bank (via NIEPS operator)

b) Human resource requirements:

- At least 02 operation officers are granted qualifications or certificates of completion of training in operational handling procedures and procedures for operation of the NIEPS by the State Bank;

- The officer assigned or authorized to transmit and receive clearing data, and sign clearing batches must have the digital signature issued by the State bank in accordance with the State Bank’s Circular regarding the management and use of digital signatures, digital certificates and digital signature authentication services;

c) Technical requirements:

- There are a primary system and a backup system for software and databases;

- There is at least 01 primary transmission line and 01 backup transmission line independent from transmission cable infrastructure connected to the NIEPS;

- There are least 02 successfully activated digital signatures (01 communicator’s signature and 01 approver’s signature);

d) The participant in settlement must be a participant of the NIEPS;

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e) The Transaction center certifies that members of the NIEPS has placed margins to set electronic clearing limits under current regulations of the State Bank’s Circular, providing instructions about payment intermediary services

9. When there is any change in members of the NIEPS participating in net settlement services from other systems, central clearing houses send written documents to apply for registration of the list of changes of members participating in net settlement services from other systems (Form TTLNH-35) online or in person or by post to the State Bank (NIEPS operator).

10. When there is none of demands for net settlement services of the NIEPS, central clearing houses send written applications for cessation of net settlement services (Form TTLNH-36) online or in person or by post to the State Bank (via NIEPS operator).

11. NIEPS operator posts changes of central clearing houses and members of NIEPS participating in net settlement services from other systems on the State Bank’s web portal.”.

7. Clause 4 of Article 27 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

Net settlement results from other systems shall be handled in accordance with Clause 2 of Article 25 hereof.”.

8. Point c of clause 2 of Article 28 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“c) If the delinquent loan for settlement transactions is not completely repaid after the measures specified in points a and b of this clause, the transaction center shall share the loan debts among other participants in clearing settlement (other than the State Treasury) in the same session and inform each participant of its contribution.  Such contribution is defined according to the formula:

Contribution by participant

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A: Total amount of outstanding loan to be shared.

Bi: Average amount payable by participant i within 20 working days before the loan is granted.

C: Total average amount payable by participants within 20 working days before the loan is granted.

n: Number of participants among which the loan is shared.

i: from 1 to n.

In case where a new participant sends a low value payment order on the NIEPS less than 20 working days, the number of working days of that member on the system will be taken into account.”.

9. Point a of clause 1 of Article 39 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“a) Banks, branches of foreign banks or the State Treasury that wishes to participate in the NIEPS shall submit Form TTLNH-01 to the State bank (NIEPS operator) online or in person or by post.”.

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“d) Technical requirements;

- There are a primary system and a backup system for software and databases;

- There is at least 01 primary transmission line and 01 backup transmission line independent from transmission cable infrastructure connected to the NIEPS;

- There are least 02 successfully activated digital signatures (01 communicator’s signature and 01 approver’s signature);”.

 “4. Before using services of the NIEPS, affiliates of the State Bank, banks, branches of foreign banks or the State Treasury shall submit the following documents to the State bank (NIEPS operator) online or in person or by post:

a) Documents (except affiliates of the State Bank) about pledged or deposited securities or money to set net debt limits in the NIEPS which are certified by the transaction center in case of applying for the service of sending low-value payment orders;

b) Authorization contracts or prior agreements meeting the requirements set out in Clause 3 Article 5 hereof regarding payment of debts between members in case of applying for the service of sending debit orders;

c) Written applications for addition of NIEPS services for members and affiliated participants (Form TTLNH-26) in case of applying for addition of NIEPS services.”..

11. Clause 5 shall be added to Article 40 as follows:

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12. Clause 1 of Article 41 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“1. When wishing to cease one or several services of sending payment orders,  banks, branches of foreign banks or the State Treasury shall submit written applications for cessation of payment orders (Form TTLNH-27) to the State Bank (NIEPS operator) online or in person or by post.”.

13. Clause 1 of Article 42 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“1. The member has settled debts (if any) incurred during its participation in the NIEPS, annual fees and payment fees (if any), and has submitted a written request for withdrawal from the system (Form TTLNH-02) to the State Bank (the NIEPS operator) online or in person or by post.”.

14. Clause 3a shall be added to Article 42 as follows:

 “3a. After receiving a written request to withdraw from the NIEPS, the NIEPS operator temporarily suspends the service of sending payment orders of members and affiliates upon the request, and sends a written document to the transaction center or the State Bank branch in the province or city where the member or affiliate opens a checking account to cooperate in confirming fulfillment of obligations to repay debts (if any) incurred in participating in the NIEPS, annual fees and payment fees (if any).”.

15. Point r shall be added to clause 2 of Article 43 as follows:

“r) Status notification received from the NPSC regarding the processing and recording of Payment Orders for customers (if any).”.

16. Clause 5 of Article 45 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

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17. Article 46 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“Article 46. Finance and Accounting Department

Bear responsibility for the accounting service to affiliates of the State Bank participating in the NIEPS.”.

18. Clause 5 shall be added to Article 50 as follows:

“5. Recovering debts (if any) incurred in the process of participation in the NIEPS, annual fees and payment fees (if any) of members and affiliates of the NIEPS arising within their remit, and concurrently send a written confirmation to the NIEPS operator on the status of fulfillment of such obligation upon the member’s request for withdrawal from the NIEPS.”.

Article 2.

1. Replacing the phrase “Information Technology Administration” by the phrase “Information Technology Department” at clause 30 of Article 2, clause 2 of Article 8, clause 3 and 4 of Article 35, and clause 1 of Article 44 and 48, in the Circular No. 37/2016/TT-NHNN.

2. Replacing the Form TTLNH-29 annexed to the Circular No. 37/2016/TT-NHNN with the Form TTLNH-29 annexed to this Circular.

3. Adding Form TTLNH-30; TTLNH-31; TTLNH-32; TTLNH-33; TTLNH-34; TTLNH-35; TTLNH-36 annexed to this Circular.

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The Office Chief, the Director of the Information Technology Department, Heads of the State Bank’s subordinate units, members and central clearing houses shall be responsible for implementing this Circular.

Article 4. Entry into force

This Circular shall enter into force as of April 1, 2021.

pp. governor
deputy governor




Nguyen Kim Anh

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