🥖 FaceID, IPOs, and Russia‘s song contest

Xin chào and welcome back to Bánh Mì Brief - your weekly update on Vietnam‘s economy. We cut through the noise to provide you with the week‘s most important headlines.

This week’s menu: account shut downs, IPOs, and Vietnamese pop culture.

Let‘s dive in.

Vietnam started shutting down 86 million bank accounts after owners failed to meet new biometric rules that require a face scan or fingerprint to prove the account’s authenticity.

The country has roughly 200 million bank accounts on the books. After cross‑checking with the national ID database and enforcing biometric verification, only about 113 million personal accounts and roughly 711,000 corporate accounts remain valid. If an account wasn’t verified or has been gathering dust, it’s on the chopping block. The move has also reignited debates about digital assets, with some pointing to on‑chain solutions as a hedge against sudden access restrictions.

The State Bank of Vietnam also introduced stricter thresholds for transactions. Biometric approval is required for online transfers above VND 10m (about USD 380) as well as for cumulative daily transfers over VND 20m (USD 760). The policy is part of the central bank’s broader cashless strategy to combat fraud, identity theft, and deepfake‑enabled scams.

In May, police said they dismantled a ring that used AI‑generated face scans to slip past checks, allegedly moving more than VND 1 trillion (around USD 39m). Regulators argue stronger biometrics are already helping to deter similar schemes, even if drawing a straight causal line is tricky in a moving system.

Consumers should expect more step‑up prompts including face scans for larger transfers and a one‑time re‑KYC using a chipped ID or an in‑branch visit. Foreign residents may face extra friction where remote verification is not supported. Businesses should treat Q4 as a biometric onboarding sprint for legal representatives to avoid frozen payouts or payroll delays.

Vietnam’s deal machine just logged a statement print: Techcom Securities raised roughly USD 410m, one of the year’s heftiest local listings and a barometer for investor appetite as the pipeline swells.

The brokerage, a unit of Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint-Stock Bank, sold about 231 million shares to more than 26,000 investors. The firm plans to list its shares in the fourth quarter, and the successful IPO is likely to lift sentiment for both Techcombank and brokerage stocks across the board. The split interest from domestic buyers and foreign capital reads like a confidence check with plenty of demand for scaled, cash‑generative market‑infrastructure plays.

The IPO comes as Vietnam is pushing to have its stock market status upgraded to emerging market, with the finance minister expressing confidence that a long-coveted upgrade by global index provider FTSE Russell would be confirmed next month. The VN Index is up about +31% YTD, putting some extra gas behind Vietnam’s IPO pipeline.

Đức Phúc delivered Vietnam’s winning act at the Intervision Song Contest on September 20, 2025. For the uninitiated, Intervision is Russia’s answer to Eurovision (yes, the song contest where Germany regularly gets zero points).

Moscow’s Live Arena was buzzing as flag‑draped fans watched 23 acts battle for a 30 million‑rouble prize (about USD 360k), while Russia’s own entrant performed but asked not to be ranked.

Intervision is a reboot of a Soviet‑era contest that ran from 1965 to 1980. After Russia was ejected from Eurovision in 2022 over its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow dusted off the brand and brought the event back.

The lineup partially looked like a printout from your compliance department - Russia, Cuba and Venezuela alongside former Soviet republics such as Belarus, and Uzbekistan. Either way, tourism boards love this, streamers love it even more, and marketers will try to ride the chorus straight into holiday promos.

Anything missed, feedback to share, or a topic to cover next week? Just hit reply to this email.

Enjoyed the read? Share it with friends, colleagues, and anyone curious about Vietnam’s growth path.

See you next week! 🥖