The Việt Nam Banks Association said that charges for banking services via SMS were too high. — Photo nld.com.vn

HÀ NỘI — The Việt Nam Telecommunications Authority has urged telecom companies to lower charges for banking services via SMS for local banks so they can cut fees and promote cashless payments.

Earlier this month, the Việt Nam Banks Association proposed charges for banking services via SMS to be cut, making them equal to normal text message fees, or at least by 50 per cent.

The association said that the current SMS charges were too high, adding that it was necessary to lower them to encourage the use of cashless payments. 

For example, MobiFone and VinaPhone were charging VNĐ820 per SMS for financial transactions and VNĐ500 for ads and customer care messages. Viettel’s fee was VNĐ785 per SMS for financial transactions and VNĐ500 for others.

In comparison, charges for SMS between individuals were around VNĐ250-300 each.

To encourage cashless payments and prevent the spread of COVID-19, 44 out of 45 banks, which altogether held a market share of 99.7 per cent, reduced fees for online transactions. Some even cut their fees to zero, according to the association. — VNS