Trang Chủ
Depositors' awareness of deposit insurance policy is at a moderate level but not uniform
Depositors are the key public target audience in the communication activities of the Deposit Insurance of Vietnam (DIV) in recent years, especially small depositors in rural and remote areas. This is an audience that has little access to information about banking and deposit insurance, and is very vulnerable to negative information about banking activities.
In 2023, DIV conducted a survey of over 1,880 depositors in 6 provinces and cities representing Vietnam's economic regions, including: Phu Tho, Hanoi, Nghe An, Da Nang, Lam Dong, Can Tho Tho.
According to the survey results, 37.4% of depositors have general awareness about deposit insurance. The general awareness of depositors about the objectives of deposit insurance, the rights and obligations of depositors and some concepts related to deposit insurance is relatively good. Among them, awareness of the objectives of deposit insurance policy is the best, followed by awareness of related concepts, and finally awareness of the rights and obligations of depositors. Besides, there are still 14% of depositors who do not know about deposit insurance at all.
On the other hand, awareness of specific information of deposit insurance policy still needs to be supplemented. Depositors have good awareness of the organization responsible for reimbursement, specifically DIV, and the subjects covered by deposit insurance, but the awareness of the party paying deposit insurance premiums and insured institutions is still low. The number of people who know about DIV is still quite modest (less than half of the survey participants); part of depositors only hear about DIV and do not recognize the slogan, logo, or website of the deposit insurance organization.
Depositors' perceptions also differ according to demographic factors, income, place of residence, etc.
According to the gender, depositors' general awareness of deposit insurance is not significantly different, but women's specific awareness is better than men's on many contents such as subjects covered by deposit insurance, nature and mission of the deposit insurance, insured institutions, types of insured deposits.
According to age, the general awareness of deposit insurance among the younger group (30 years old and under) is significantly higher than that of the group over 60 years old. Young people have better access to information, so they are properly aware of many specific contents such as insured institutions, insurance payment terms, deposit insurance coverage limits, forms of insured deposits, etc.
According to education level, depositors with higher education levels are more aware of deposit insurance policy. The higher the education, the higher the level of awareness; conversely the lower the education, the lower the level of awareness. However, highly educated people still misunderstand some specific content.
According to location of residence, the results show that the general awareness of depositors surveyed in Hanoi and Nghe An are at a low level, Phu Tho has the highest, followed by Da Nang; Lam Dong and Can Tho ranked in the middle position. However, in specific contents, the awareness of depositors surveyed in Phu Tho is not always the highest; depositors in Hanoi have a better perception of some contents. The general awareness of depositors in rural and urban areas is not significantly different, but the awareness of some specific contents is different in the direction that depositors in urban areas have better awareness than those in other areas.
Regarding depositors' information needs about deposit insurance policy, less than 50% of deposit holders actively seek information related to deposit insurance at credit institutions. According to statistics, the demand for information channels used when learning about deposit insurance policy of depositors, the information channels chosen by depositors the most are: Television, Credit institution officers; Friends/Acquaintances; Social Network, Electronic Newspaper and the website of DIV. Male depositors give priority to the information channels used to learn about deposit insurance policy in the following order: Credit institution officials’ introduction; TELEVISION; Friends and acquaintances, social networks and electronic newspapers. Meanwhile, the choices of female depositors are: Television, Credit institutions officials' introduction, Friends and acquaintances, social networks and DIV website.
The group of depositors with an income of less than 5 million VND per month and the group with an income from 5 to 10 million VND are less interested in the deposit insurance policy than the group with an income of over 10 million VND. There is no difference in the level of interest in deposit insurance policies between the income group under 5 million VND and the income group from 5 to 10 million VND.
There is a relationship between depositors' awareness, behavior and trust in credit institutions and deposit insurance policies. People who know about deposit insurance have higher confidence in deposit insurance than people who have never heard of deposit insurance. People who have confidence in the deposit insurance and credit institutions are those who calmly follow official information from credit institutions and authorities. At the same time, they are not too worried about the money they are depositing in these institutions. This shows that it is necessary to increase the confidence of the people in general and depositors at credit institutions, creating safety and stability for the system of credit institutions and finance - banking.
Solutions to raise depositors' awareness of deposit insurance policy
Based on the Deposit Insurance Development Strategy and the current level of depositor awareness, DIV has set the goal of raising public awareness of deposit insurance policy to better protect depositors and contribute to stability of the financial and banking system.
Specifically, by 2025, 45% and by 2030, 55% of depositors will grasp the core contents of the deposit insurance policy. DIV also focused on communication about amending the Law on deposit insurance; the implementation of the Deposit Insurance Development Strategy and in association it with the operations of the DIV to ensure effective, synchronous and consistent communication across the whole system. At the same time, creating the image of DIV - a State-owned financial institution operating not for profit to protect the legitimate rights and interests of depositors, implementing deposit insurance policy to contribute to maintaining stability of the credit institution system, ensuring the safe and healthy development of banking activities.
The core contents of the deposit insurance policy are focused on disseminating to the public include: Scope of insured deposits, insured institutions, deposit insurance fees, coverage limit, reimbursement to depositors and deposit the deposit insurance. In addition to the above contents, general issues of deposit insurance policy will also be disseminated to the public at a reasonable level depending on the time and the level of awareness of each public audience.
Communication to raise depositors' awareness and confidence in the stability and sustainability of credit institutions as well as the policy of protecting depositors at credit institutions should be carried out regularly. Hence, building the form and content of information suitable for each target audience to achieve the highest effectiveness is necessary.
Regarding communication tools, under normal conditions, communication and dissemination of deposit insurance policy need to be deployed regularly and periodically through many mass media channels suitable to target audience. In addition, attention should be paid to financial education for depositors to raise awareness about deposit insurance. During the stressful time or restructuring process, it is vital to focus on transparency and widespread disclosure of information - especially information about prioritizing the protection of the legal rights of depositors. At the same time, it is necessary to periodically evaluate the effectiveness of communication and dissemination of deposit insurance policy through surveying the awareness level of depositors in order to update and supplement specific solutions for each period.
In the context of technology and digitalization exploding, media needs to pay attention to both traditional media methods (event organization, radio, television) and modern media (social media, viral information). At the same time, attention should be paid to communication through officials at organizations participating in deposit insurance because this is a direct and effective communication channel to depositors.
In addition, to promote depositors' awareness of deposit insurance, a strong and comprehensive effort is needed not only from DIV but also requires the participation and involvement of relevant agencies. Therefore, it is necessary to build an effective coordination mechanism between DIV and authorized agencies such as the SBV, National Financial Supervisory Commission, Ministry of Finance, etc. and organizations participating in deposit insurance such as commercial banks, PCF... to create trust for depositors in the entire financial and banking system.
Promote the dissemination of deposit insurance policies on all aspects: scale, depth of information, access to the public, and propose to authorize authorities to consider and adjust calculation methods. Expenses for communication and dissemination of legal policies on deposit insurance to meet the requirements of practical activities. Deploy inclusive communication, leaving no public group behind. At the same time, clearly identify specific public audiences for each communication program, ensuring uniformity of communication channels, messages, content, and forms of expression.
Propose to evaluate the overall awareness and behavior of depositors every 3 years with a large sample size, conducted by an independent market research and survey unit. From there, propose corresponding communication solutions, striving to achieve the goal that by 2025, 45% and by 2030, 55% of depositors will grasp the core contents of deposit insurance policy.
Communication Department
