Vietnamese take increasingly to cashless payments

Illustrative image (Source: internet)

Speaking at a press briefing in Ho Chi Minh City on May 26 to announce a series of events for Cashless Day 2020 (June 16), Pham Tien Dung, director of the central bank’s payment department, said the use of cash as a ratio of payments has gradually fallen over the years.

Last year online payments went up by 64 percent in terms of number of transactions and 37 percent in terms of value, while mobile payments surged by 198 percent and 210 percent.

Payment trends in the economy have shifted towards non-cash modes and e-banking channels including away from ATMs.

Electronic payments for public services have also become popular. By the end of last year some 50 banks linked up with tax and customs departments, and tax collected through them accounted for 95 percent of tax revenues.

Electricity bills paid through banks and intermediary payment organisations doubled to nearly 90 percent last year.

At some hospitals, cashless payments accounted for 35 percent of all bills.

In the first quarter interbank electronic payment transactions rose by 21 percent year-on-year.

Dung said the SBV would continue to amend the legal framework to facilitate electronic payments.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc issued Directive No. 22/CT-TTg on May 26 to promote non-cash payments.

He instructed the SBV to review and strengthen the legal framework for cashless and electronic payments that meets the requirements of new payment services and models and set up the automated clearing house (ACH) system for retail transactions by December 15.

He instructed the Ministries of Industry and Trade, Finance, Health, Education and Training, and Transport to develop mechanisms and policies to encourage non-cash payments.

According to SBV statistics, as of the end of last year the country had 88.5 million personal bank accounts, an 11 percent increase from 2018. It is expected that by the end of this year 70 percent of Vietnamese will have bank accounts.

2020 Cashless Day

From now until June 16 there will be a series of programmes with many special incentives to promote cashless payments such as Supporting Vietnamese Agricultural Products, Non-cash Small Traders, Online Run, a webinar on cashless payments in Vietnam on June 10, and Cashless Week from June 10-16.

The Supporting Vietnamese Agricultural Products programme will be carried out by Saigon Co.op together with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper and Momo e-wallet from June 10 to 30 to support consumption of farm produce after the pandemic.

Customers in HCM City can order lychee and ST Xuan Hong rice at cheap prices on MoMo, and the supermarket will deliver the products home.

The Online Run tournament will be organsied by Sacombank and Tuoi tre. For each participant who completes their race between June 14 and 16, Sacombank will donate VNĐ100,000 to frontline medical workers fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Cashless Day is organised by the SBV, Tuoi Tre newspaper, Vietnam E-Commerce Association, and Napas, with Sacombank being the diamond sponsor.