Vietnam is rapidly entering an aging population phase. While efforts are being made to boost the digital economy and enhance national credit ratings, a "weakness" has emerged that requires fundamental, long-term solutions: the financial vulnerability of the elderly—the generation holding the largest accumulated assets in society—against the wave of cross-border financial crimes.
It is time to move beyond fragmented solutions; Vietnam needs a national-level strategy, a legal framework, and breakthrough financial insurance products to build a robust digital social safety net, elevating the nation's status in the new era.
Each successful financial scam targeting the elderly, from impersonating law enforcement, banks, and utilities to taking control of phones using deepfake technology, not only depletes retirement savings and funds for education and livelihoods of descendants but also erodes trust in the digital payment system and places a social welfare burden on the government's budget.
From a broader financial perspective, when trust is eroded, the elderly tend to withdraw cash to convert into physical assets like gold and foreign currency to "store at home." This reluctant shift, if widespread, will directly pressure the liquidity of commercial banks and exchange rates, indirectly weakening the "Institutional Strength" and "Monetary Stability" criteria of organizations like Moody’s or S&P in the process of evaluating Vietnam's national credit rating.
The need for a "financial protection law for the elderly"
Experience from investment-grade countries shows that to counter the trend of cybercrime targeting the elderly (aged 65 and above) with financial potential but technological limitations, some countries have early on legislated regulations to provide maximum protection for this vulnerable group. For example, the United States enacted the Senior Safe Act in 2018, focusing on financial protection for the elderly through anti-fraud measures and preventing financial abuse against them, protecting financial institutions and employees from legal liability (regarding information privacy) when proactively reporting suspected exploitation or financial fraud against the elderly. This law also promotes cooperation between financial institutions and law enforcement agencies to detect, report suspicious transactions promptly, and support victims.
Some other developed countries protect the elderly by slowing down financial processes: in Japan, large money transfers from elderly accounts are "slowed down" by banks for 24-48 hours, allowing victims time to calm down and family members to intervene timely; in the UK, banks have the right to refuse transactions if there is reasonable suspicion that the customer is being scammed without legal liability if the transaction is later proven valid.
International experiences, along with the reality that the elderly are becoming the main target of financial scams and the rapid aging society trend (forecasted to have 14% of Vietnam's population as elderly by 2034), have created an urgent need for Vietnam to build a legal framework to protect this vulnerable group through enacting a separate law or amending the Law on Credit Institutions and related legal regulations with four main contents.
Firstly, add the "Emergency Suspension" right in Article 10 of the Law on Credit Institutions. Accordingly, credit institutions have the right to temporarily suspend customer transactions when detecting signs of suspected fraud or psychological manipulation, especially for vulnerable customer groups, to protect customer assets as regulated by the State Bank. Add Article 13 allowing credit institutions to share suspicious transaction information with a "Financial Guardian" registered by the customer beforehand or with security agencies in emergencies to prevent fraud, without being considered a violation of information confidentiality obligations in Article 13.
Secondly, the "Financial Guardian" mechanism: establish a guardian mechanism, allowing family members to receive parallel notifications when there are transactions exceeding the threshold or transferring to strange account numbers from the elderly's bank account. Large transactions are only executed with the joint confirmation of the "guardian."
Thirdly, clearly define the responsibilities of cross-border platforms: if online fraud occurs through these platforms' infrastructure without appropriate filtering measures, these units must contribute to the victim compensation fund.
Fourthly, build a Direct Confiscation and Compensation Mechanism: when illicit funds are blocked in the criminal's account or intermediary e-wallets, if the source from any victim is clearly identified, authorities have the right to coordinate with banks to directly refund the victim immediately after a preliminary investigation conclusion, instead of waiting until the entire case is concluded (which can take years). A portion of the recovered money is allocated to the Financial Fraud Victim Support Fund to support fraud victims who cannot recover money from perpetrators or to support psychological trauma treatment after financial fraud.
Financial fraud insurance for the elderly
In reality, cyber insurance products have appeared in some countries, with designs specifically for the elderly being a new trend. In the US, insurance companies like AIG or State Farm offer identity theft and financial fraud insurance packages. In Singapore, banks like OCBC have launched "Emergency Services" combined with insurance packages to partially compensate for losses if customers are scammed through digital applications, provided they have followed basic security steps. In the UK, corporations like Aviva or Lloyd’s have products compensating victims of "Social Engineering" (psychological manipulation fraud), including impersonating authorities.
In Vietnam, cyber insurance products have emerged in recent years and are offered by some insurance companies like MIC, VBI, BIC, but the scope is still narrow. Therefore, a financial fraud risk insurance product for the elderly should be developed on a national scale to anticipate the aging population phase, considered a mandatory or encouraged social security product similar to health insurance with low premiums, wide coverage, directly integrated into the account/card maintenance fees for those aged 60 and above.
To ensure insurance companies can confidently deploy this product without fear of "insurance exploitation," insurance companies only compensate 70-80% of the damage, and the insurance buyer still has to bear the remaining damage to maintain vigilance. Additionally, compensation is paid after confirmation from cybersecurity agencies about a high-tech fraud case when the insurance buyer has taken certain appropriate actions to prevent risks.
Thus, facing online fraud targeting the elderly and addressing this issue with a strong, modern legal and insurance system will demonstrate superior security-social management capabilities, positioning Vietnam as a leading country in ASEAN in digital social risk management and ensuring welfare for an aging society. Pioneering in legislating financial protection for the elderly also positions Vietnam as a model "Policy Sandbox" for other rapidly aging and digitizing countries, creating a competitive advantage in attracting sustainable investment flows and affirming the commitment that "no one is left behind" in the digital era. Therefore, protecting the elderly from financial fraud is no longer a choice but a national welfare mandate in the new era.
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