In Vietnam, e-banking is growing strongly with many products launched to the market, including online savings products. Instead of going to the transaction counters, customers can perform operations like opening a savings book, checking interest rate information, depositing money, settling, etc. on internet-connected electronic devices at any times and any places.
Online savings service deployed since 2009 to serve busy individuals. With this online saving method, users only need to perform simple operations via Internet banking, mobile banking of banks at any time of the day to transfer idle and accumulate cash from their payment accounts to savings account. Customers can close the savings book at any time when they need cash, including weekends and holidays.
In parallel, customers can also access Internet banking and mobile banking to check whether the savings account has been recorded to the system, and check balances and interests at any time.
Sending online will help not only customers with many conveniences but also help the bank save time and staff in the transaction office. Thus most banks encourage customers to send savings online to bring benefits to both parties.
But is it safe?
However, many people still worry about the safety of this form of savings deposit. Sending online savings, for example, users have neither physical books nor voucher as “evidence”, how to know if the deposit is safe in your savings book?
Answering this question, bank executives said saving deposits online was even safer than depositing money at the counter. Because the order was processed by customer, and the bank employee could not interfere. Moreover, when making online deposit transactions, the bank’s system authenticated users with multiple layers and sent authentication information to customers via phone messages, email, tokens or fingerprint identification, etc. This information cannot be fake and without any human intervention, born from the system and stored on the system.
Experts also believed that online deposit service users did not need to worry about legality. Authenticating information to customers via phone messages, via email and so on was considered as valid electronic documents and legally valid for online deposit.
To gain user’s trust, all banks have solutions in security and safety for online savings service. When there is any change related to the savings account, immediately the system of banks will send a notification message to the registered phone number.
For example, at current online deposit transactions at Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank), Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint-Stock Bank (Techcombank), Vietnam Prosperity Joint-Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank), Vietnam International Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VIB), customers will be authenticated by a receipt confirming the term deposit transaction sent to their email inbox. On their account, the bank also has a separate list for online transactions for customers to track whether money has entered the system or not. At the end of the savings book, customers must also enter the OTP code from a message or a code generated from Smart OTPa higher security method than a message because it is born only for each transaction.
Recently, Sai Gon Joint Stock Commercial Bank (SCB) was the pioneer bank in allowing customers to send online savings via customer emails and look up information by scanning QR codes on online books. The Bank also adjusted the interface of eBanking screen, helping customers easily select the online savings book receiving feature by email at any time.
However, as recommended by banks, to be completely safe when dealing online, customers need to maintain mobile phone, email and login passwords confidentially. In the case of phone loss or information leakage and so on, users need to make changes or notify the bank emergently.
Tips when saving money to enjoy the highest interest
For low-income people who do not have large sums of money available, online donations are a good way to accumulate money for your spending plan.
Simultaneously, online saving is also the choice of many young people because it is suitable for those who do not have large savings but have a stable monthly income. This way help users easily accumulate daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly savings for spending plans such as school fees, car purchases or home repairs, etc.
Grasping this demand, many banks now offer a wide range of online savings deposit forms with attractive interest rates, much higher than deposit at the counter, popular from 0.1 percent to 0.3 percent, even up to 0.4 percent to 0.5 percent. As explained by banks, the adjustment of online interest rates was higher because banks did not have to pay operating costs at the counters.
Due to this gap, many banks listed interest rates for online deposits up to eight percent to 8.7 percent per year. For example, Vietnam Export Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Eximbank) listed interest rates at 8.5 percent per year for 24 to 36-month terms. Nam A Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Nam A Bank) listed the interest rate of eight percent per year for six-month term and 8.7 percent for 36-month term; VIB had interest rates ranging from 7.5 percent to eight percent per annum for terms of 18-36 months depending on the number of deposits. Sai Gon Joint Stock Commercial Bank (SCB) had ladder interest rates on term and deposits with interest rates of 8.76 percent per year.
