Keep Factually independent
Whether you agree or disagree with our analysis, these conversations matter for democracy. We don't take money from political groups - even a $5 donation helps us keep it that way.
What is the current status of digital ID implementation in Vietnam as of 2025?
Executive Summary
Vietnam has rolled out a national digital identity system around the VNeID platform, issuing over 62 million citizen accounts by 2025 and expanding mandatory electronic identification to companies and foreign residents as policy milestones stack up toward full coverage by 2026. The program now combines biometric authentication, bank integrations, corporate e‑ID mandates, and sectoral digitalization (notably tax) while facing persistent interoperability and data‑sharing challenges that the government acknowledges and is seeking to address [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. A rapid national rollout that's already reaching tens of millions — and ticking boxes for banks and services
Vietnam's VNeID platform shows mass uptake with more than 62 million digital ID accounts issued and average daily logins measured in millions, indicating active usage across the population. The system is integrated with at least a dozen major banks to enable biometric login for online banking and is being positioned as the authentication backbone for a wide set of public and private services; officials have framed these integrations as core to reducing paperwork and improving service speed [1] [2]. These technology linkages underpin government claims of moving toward 100% digital ID coverage by 2026, but the speed of front‑end adoption by citizens and institutions is only one axis of program maturity.
2. Foreign residents and corporate entities moved into scope with firm legal deadlines
From July 1, 2025 Vietnam extended Level‑2 e‑ID access to foreign nationals and enforced corporate e‑ID rules that rendered earlier corporate accounts invalid after June 30, 2025, pursuant to a 2024 decree that standardizes Level‑1 and Level‑2 accounts and corporate registrations. The Immigration Department led a 50‑day campaign to register eligible foreigners and the Ministry of Public Security framed the move as simplifying administrative compliance for residents and businesses [5] [3] [6]. These deadlines illustrate the legislative and administrative push to consolidate identity management across citizens, foreigners, and organizations, though they also placed short windows on entities to meet technical and verification requirements.
3. Operational expansion — biometrics, airports, and the push to automate travel and tax flows
The government is actively extending biometric functions from banking to border and airport operations, with pilots and expansions of VNeID biometric check‑in services ahead of a scheduled mandate for wider use in late 2025. Simultaneously, tax authorities linked tax registration and e‑invoicing to national IDs and rolled out corporate e‑ID capabilities to streamline filings and monitoring of e‑commerce, creating real‑time verification pathways between identities and fiscal records [7] [4]. These technical deployments are intended to reduce fraud and speed transactions, but they also concentrate highly sensitive data flows across government and private systems.
4. Progress claims versus interoperability realities: fragmented systems remain a core vulnerability
Officials cite 80% online availability of public services and systemic targets for full coverage by 2026, yet independent assessments and reporting highlight fragmented data systems and limited inter‑agency sharing as ongoing obstacles to seamless operation and reliable identity verification across platforms. Achieving the government's 100% coverage goal requires not just front‑end registration but backend data standardization, governance frameworks, and technical APIs that permit secure, auditable exchanges — gaps that have been repeatedly flagged in program reviews and media accounts [2]. The existence of mandates does not by itself resolve these architectural and bureaucratic frictions.
5. Privacy safeguards, regulatory framing, and competing agendas shaping rollout
The e‑ID expansion operates under Vietnam's Personal Data Protection Decree of 2023 and the 2024 electronic identification decree, which the government cites as legal safeguards for privacy and security; these frameworks govern verification procedures, account levels, and data handling for citizens, foreigners, and corporate entities [5] [3]. Advocacy groups and privacy‑conscious observers warn that centralized biometric and tax linkages increase surveillance risk and call for robust oversight and transparency, while government agencies emphasize efficiency, fraud reduction, and administrative convenience—two competing agendas that will determine how access controls and redress mechanisms evolve as the system matures [1] [4].