Three Vietnamese startups were last week honoured at the Visa’s Everywhere Initiative final contest, a startup competition held in Vietnam for the first time with the aim to building the next generation of fintech and e-commerce solutions. Thanh Van reports.

More than 2,000 students from universities all over Vietnam improved their money management skills by taking part in the Visa 2018 Financial Football Championship.

E-commerce and e-payments in Vietnam have been growing quickly alongside each other in recent years, with the rapid development of the former said to be the booster for the latter’s  continuous expansion in the future.

Alexis Sanchez is set to join Manchester United's pre-season tour of the United States after the club confirmed the Chile forward's visa issue has been resolved.

Visa waivers for property developers investing in HCM City have been recommended by the HCM City Real Estate Association to the Government to develop the city’s property market.

Foreign visitors have warmly welcomed Vietnam’s continued visa exemptions for guests from the UK, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy, saying the policy is good for the country to spur tourism.

Fintech companies have grown both in quantity and quality in Vietnam in recent years. However, to further encourage the development of fintechs and inventive financial solutions, for the sake of customers and the market, it would take more than just support from the government, but also the accompanying mentorship from financial institutions, industry experts, and investors.

Payment systems giant Visa said late on Friday (Jun 1) it was "operating at close to normal levels" after a hardware failure left it struggling to process transactions in Europe.

Vietnam has maintained two-way visa exemption with 81 countries around the world and is offering unilateral visa exemption for citizens of 13 countries.

The scale of connectivity and the pace of change in technology is transforming payments. The rise of e-commerce and the adoption of EMV chip technology has contributed to a shift in payment fraud from the card-present to the card-not-present channel across the Asia Pacific region and on a global scale, whereas the fraud rate for Vietnam has reportedly been relatively low. Abdul Rahim, senior director of risk services for Visa Southeast Asia, spoke to VIR’s Trang Nguyen about the current development of the payment landscape in Vietnam and the proposed risk initiatives and security roadmap to ensure a safe and sound payment ecosystem for the country.

Digital payment provider Visa launched the first competition for startups in Vietnam today, aiming to encourage innovations in the local fintech sector for the prize of $30,000.  

As the Asia-Pacific is going ahead in the transformation from cash to digital payments, payment security has risen as a key focus for payment providers, banks, governments and consumers, according to Visa.

In an effort to allure more European tourists, the prime minister has agreed to continue extending visa exemption for citizens from five European nations which are Vietnam’s strategic partners.

With tourism a key area for growth, Vietnam’s strict visa policy is a barrier that is making foreign tourists choose other destinations instead.

On April 24, Visa and the Central Committee of Vietnam Students’ Association (CCVSA) kicked off the seventh Practical Money Skills, a financial literacy programme for students under the theme “Spend wisely-win the gold cup,” just in time to link in with the excitement and fun of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.