E-wallet providers continue conquering local user base

All-in-one payment solutions are becoming all the rage worldwide

Ranked third in the Top 10 Fintech & E-commerce Ventures 2021 in Findexable’s ranking in October with an investment capital of $250 million, VNPAY is one of the e-wallets with the largest number of users, and is also one of the few businesses in the field of payment intermediaries reporting high profits in the last four years.

In 2020, VNPAY’s net revenue was VND3.6 trillion ($156 million) and profit after tax was VND2.7 billion ($117,000), thanks to constant efforts in technological innovation to offer smart payment solutions with multiple feature integration.

Le Tanh, general director of VNPAY said, “During the service development journey, VNPAY constantly innovates and applies the most modern technologies to meet the increasing needs of enterprises as well as users”.

At the end of last year, VNPay developed VNPAY-POS, an all-in-one payment solution integrated into a Smart POS device with outstanding features such as wireless connection to the merchant system, order placing, payments, and invoice printing. This single device meets all modern payment needs, and facilitates operation, cost optimisation, and revenue growth.

VNPAY-POS accepts many types of cashless payments including bank cards and VNPAY-QR payment, which is accepted through more than 30 of the most popular mobile banking apps and nine e-wallets. Therefore, consumers can make payments more securely, quickly, and conveniently.

The solution also provides many outstanding features to help enterprises to develop and manage business effectively. Tanh added that Smart POS is widely applied in a number of countries in Europe, as well as Singapore and China.

Efficient solutions

Meanwhile, as an experienced and market-savvy payment intermediary in many fields, Payoo also started promoting the multi-channel payment solution with the motto “One-stop Payment”. The solution can support businesses to accept most of the existing payment methods, helping both merchants and shoppers make simple and convenient payments with just one connection.

Payoo also deployed and provided a tailored remote payment solution for partners in each industry, especially for partners who do not yet have an e-commerce website and platform system.

The seller will create a payment request on the system and takes advantage of over-the-top apps and social media, SMS, and email to send a link to guide customers to pay for the order. Customers can also make payments by domestic or international cards, QR codes via banking apps or e-wallets, and even interest-free instalments via credit cards.

“This is a timely support solution for businesses to meet the requirement of cashless payments. The application of this special payment solution also helps units manage cash flow efficiently without increasing staff,” said Ngo Trung Linh, general director of VietUnion, which operates and manages Payoo.

Although the nature of electronic payment has not changed, today’s e-wallets are moving in the direction of applying new payment technologies. This can be considered a new strategy in the long-term race to capture market share instead of burning money for discounts and promotions like before.

ZaloPay, a VNG-backed e-wallet that inherits the ecosystem of tens of millions of users of Zalo Chat, is the main payment channel for VNG’s services and has just launched a special feature that no other e-wallet in Vietnam has: The integration of ZaloPay in Zalo’s chat framework.

Accordingly, when users click on ZaloPay in the message chat frame, they will be directed to the transfer interface without having to exit the Zalo application and open the Zalo Pay application or any other money transfer application. Besides this, if users want, they can check their ZaloPay e-wallet right on Zalo.

In addition to technology investment, e-wallets also integrate systems with many businesses to increase their presence and give customers a more favourable payment method, especially when the demand of users increases during the pandemic for services such as ordering food and drinks, and paying for delivery services.

Big-time cooperation

Research results published by market researcher Cimigo showed that MoMo and ZaloPay are currently used to recharge phone credits, transfer money, and pay recurring bills. Moca is mainly used to pay for food delivery services and car reservations, top up phones, and transfer money.

VNPay is also cooperating with a number of major partners in transportation, entertainment services, and food and beverages (F&B) such as Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet, Mai Linh taxi, Sun World, Viettel Store, and HomeFarm to implement cashless payments.

According to VNPay’s strategic business director, On Nhu Binh, VNPay offers 30 per cent discount for customers paying by VN Pay QR code, 12 months of free use of POS sales management software, and up to 70 per cent for deferred payments of VNPay Post devices to support sales businesses.

“Previously, businesses had to use expensive sales solutions, hardware, management software, and payment support devices. Now within 30 minutes after signing a contract with VNPay, they will immediately be supported to deploy a comprehensive sales management solution,” Binh explained.

Payoo also cooperates with Mastercard and retail partners such as AEON mall, convenience stores, and electronics stores such as FamilyMart, B’s mart, Mobile Viet, and others to organise promotions for cashless payment methods to promote and encourage the use of e-payments and, at the same time, to support retail and F&B businesses to recover from the pandemic.

According to a new report from IDC, a global provider of market intelligence and advisory services, Southeast Asia has been the fastest-growing e-commerce market worldwide. In fact, the region is now poised to even be the world’s digital payment powerhouse, with digital payments accounting for 91 per cent of transactions. Vietnam currently has about 43 million bank accounts, but only 10 million e-wallet accounts. However, the number of e-wallet accounts and other online payment methods is increasing.

Data from YouGo Profile last September showed that e-wallets are becoming the most popular payment method for online purchases, accounting for 59 per cent. Currently, more than 40 e-wallet providers are trying to dominate the market, pouring money into promotions and aiming to acquire new users.