Banks move to foster cashless payment ahead of Tet

As the traditional Lunar New Year (Tet) festival is just around the corner, commercial banks are offering a wide range of promotional programmes and financial solutions to encourage cashless payment during the peak shopping season.
Banks move to foster cashless payment ahead of Tet ảnh 1Cashless payment services are convenient and cost- and time-saving for both sellers and buyers. (Illustrative photo: VietnamPlus)
Hanoi (VNA) – As the traditional Lunar New Year (Tet) festival is justaround the corner, commercial banks are offering a wide range of promotionalprogrammes and financial solutions to encourage cashless payment during the peakshopping season.

Whentransferring money, conducting QR code or credit card payments, paying power orwater bills, or opening online saving accounts via VPBank NEO – an app ofVPBank, users will have a chance to play a game with gifts worth over 20billion VND (819,200 USD) in total, the Sai Gon Giai phong (Liberated Saigon)daily reported.

Toattract clients to non-cash transactions, Sacombank has opened a programmefeaturing 352 chees of gold (each chee is equal to one-tenth of a tael) asgifts and different types of refund for those making QR code payments via the Sacompayapp of Sacombank.

Manycommercial banks like MSB, VPBank, and TPBank have also added the function ofgiving “li xi” (lucky money) to their apps. Users of this function will have achance to receive gifts worth up to hundreds of millions of VND.

NguyenDuc Lenh, Deputy Director of the State Bank of Vietnam branch in Ho Chi MinhCity, said cashless payment services are convenient and cost- and time-saving forboth sellers and buyers. Such services of banks and intermediary payment institutionsalso help boost sales and revenue for business activities, especially duringshopping seasons like Tet or big holidays.

Capitalisingon the soaring demand for financial transactions at not only large shoppingcentres and supermarkets, commercial banks are also running many preferential programmesand solutions for business households and small traders at traditional markets.

Aleader of Nam A Bank said the promotion of the QR code payment use among smalltraders and business households has contributed to a safe and modern paymentenvironment and facilitated digital transformation in traditional businessactivities. It has also helped them improve competitiveness and service quality.

Besides,the enhancement of modern payment services has also helped ease the moneywithdrawal pressure at automated teller machines (ATMs) ahead of Tet and major holidays.As a result, cashless payment is becoming popular in cities and people nolonger have to wait in long queues at ATMs for money withdrawal.

Accordingto the National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (NAPAS), money withdrawals fromATMs have been on a downward trend over the past year. In particular, 2023recorded a sharper decline in the number of withdrawals from ATMs compared toprevious years to make up only 3.6% of all transactions. Meanwhile, the NAPASsystem handled over 20 million transactions each day on average and sawincreases of 52% in the volume and 12% in the value of transactions from2022./.
VNA

See more

An overview of the meeting in Ho Chi Minh City to discuss measures to ease pressures on production and trade, and stablise the domestic market amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East. (Photo: VNA)

Measures sought to address business challenges amid Middle East conflict

Vietnam is facing a three-stage ripple effect - first on transport and fuel-dependent industries, then on sectors relying on their outputs, and ultimately on consumers. Volatility in key commodities like fuel is disrupting the entire supply chain and increasing the risk of market instability.

Workers load rice bags onto a vessel for delivery. (Photo: VNA)

PM directs tasks to accelerate 2026 export growth

During January – February, Vietnam’s total export-import value hit 155.7 billion USD, up 22.3% year-on-year. Of the total, exports were estimated at 76.4 billion USD, up 18.3%, while imports totaled 79.3 billion USD, up 26.3%.

A quick report from data analytics platform Metric shows the number of active sellers across Shopee, TikTok Shop, Lazada and Tiki has dropped to just over 602,000, marking a year-on-year decline of more than 7%. (Illustrative photo: VNA)

Higher marketplace fees weigh on online sellers

Analysts identify rising operational costs as the key factor behind the exodus. In 2025, platforms simultaneously rolled out fee hikes ranging from 10–15%, significantly increasing the financial burden on merchants.

The latest approvals underscore the growing presence of Vietnamese rice in one of the world’s most demanding markets. (Photo: VNA)

Fragrant rice deepens EU market presence

Although the volume of individual shipments remains relatively modest, industry experts say the steady flow of exports reflects stable demand in the EU for high-quality rice.

Promoting stronger foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows is considered an important solution to help drive economic growth. (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam emerges as hub for high-quality FDI

Vietnam is gradually becoming a strategic destination for high-quality global FDI. Investment flows are increasingly directed toward sectors such as high-tech manufacturing, electronics, digital infrastructure, modern logistics, and industries that are closely linked to global supply chains.

Shrimp processing for export at Huy Nam company, An Giang province. (Photo: VNA)

Fisheries sector proactively adjusts to emerging challenges

In addition to food safety regulations, the US continues to closely monitor the origin of imported seafood through the Seafood Import Monitoring Programme (SIMP) administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Requirements linked to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) are also a major concern for businesses.