State-Run Vietnamese Banks Offer Online Gold Bullion Sales
State-run Vietnamese lenders BIDV and Agribank announced that they began selling gold bullions online from Monday.
Earlier, Vietcombank, another state-run local bank, announced its online gold bullion sale service on Wednesday last week.
BIDV’s Gold Bullion Purchase Process
At BIDV, customers can register gold purchases between 9:30 am and 11:30 am every day.
The bank will refuse new registrations when it receives enough registrations for handling in a day.
Customers successfully making registrations will make payments and receive the purchased gold from 1:30 pm to 4:00 pm on the same day.
BIDV will sell gold bullions to only customers who make registrations and arrive at venues to receive gold at the time announced by the bank.
Agribank’s Online Gold Bullion Purchase Process
Meanwhile, Agribank’s customers can make registrations to purchase gold bullions on the bank’s website from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm from Monday to Friday every week.
The time for making payments and receiving gold is between 1:30 pm and 4:00 pm.
Both BIDV and Agribank announced that they will cancel appointments with customers if they come to the venue late by 30 minutes or later.
Insight: Shift Towards Online Sales Amid Demand
With the rise in demand for gold bullions, the move by state-run Vietnamese banks to offer online sales reflects a shift towards more efficient and convenient buying options for customers. This shift not only caters to customer preferences but also helps in streamlining the purchase process.
Central Bank’s Decision on Gold Sales
Earlier, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) decided to directly sell gold bars to four state-run banks – Vietcombank, VietinBank, Agribank, and BIDV instead of continuing holding auctions.
The four banks would later sell the gold bullion to customers.
According to the central bank, the solution has proved effective as the gap between domestic and global gold prices has shrunk.
Controlling Market Speculation
As a response to market manipulation and speculation, three out of the four state-run Vietnamese banks have shifted to online gold bullion sales. This move not only helps in maintaining market stability but also provides a safer and more transparent way for customers to purchase gold.
Some people hired others to queue up at banks’ gold outlets to hoard gold bullion in a bid to push the gold prices up and earn profits, according to the central bank.
The central bank has asked the Ministry of Public Security to help ensure security at gold sales points and heavily punish those spreading inaccurate information and involved in manipulation and speculation on the domestic gold market.
