Eximbank launches contactless cards in Vietnam

January 24, 2013 | 11:09

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Eximbank has announced the launch of contactless cards, enabled by MasterCard PayPass, with more than 500 new merchant acceptance locations countrywide.

Under the partnership with Eximbank, roughly 25,000 cards will be issued, converting all existing customers to PayPass cardholders.

Eximbank will facilitate the development of a network of PayPass-enabled merchants, targeting 500 access points in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City by the end of January.

PayPass cardholders in Vietnam will now be able to make contactless payments at any of these access points, as well as outside of the country, anywhere MasterCard PayPass is accepted.

MasterCard’s PayPass contactless payment network now boasts nearly 500,000 merchant locations in 41 countries.

A first for Vietnam, the availability of contactless payments marks a significant milestone in the country’s payments industry because it provides consumers with a fast, secure and convenient alternative to cash for their small everyday purchases, according to Eximbank.

Consumers simply tap their PayPass-enabled card or device on a specially equipped merchant terminal, eliminating the need to fumble for cash and coins, hand their card over to a clerk or swipe the card. Initial PayPass-enabled merchants in Vietnam include fast food restaurants such as KFC, Pizza Hut, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Tous Les Jours, convenient stores such as Shop & Go and Circle K, and supermarkets such as Maximark and Citimart.

Vietnam has made notable progress in recent months in its goal towards an increasingly cashless society, partly due to an initiative from the government which aims to reduce cash payment to below 11 percent of total transactions, and have some 250,000 card-accepting merchants and 200 million transactions per year by 2015.