This remark was made by Editor-in-chief of Tien Phong newspaper Le Xuan Son ina webinar on digital payments on April 13.
Son underlined the pandemic as a key factor that has promoted non-cash paymentsin Vietnam over the past two years.
Banks have shifted their focus to these methods of payments and reaped great success.
To further promote digital transformation in the banking system, he called fora favourable environment and a suitable technology infrastructure to encouragemore clients to change their payment habits.
“Cashless payments are novel methods of payment. Unfortunately, a majority ofthe Vietnamese population still do not have access to technology,” he said.
Le Van Tuyen, deputy director of the Payment Department under the State Bank ofVietnam, revealed that the Government Project on Cashless Payments in Vietnam between2021 and 2025 has four major objectives.
First, the project aims to make non-cash payments a norm in urban areas andexpand their coverage in rural areas.
Second, it seeks to develop safe non-cash payment infrastructure with variousconveniences and facilities to meet the rising demand of firms and individuals.
Third, it strives to enhance the security and transparency of cashlesspayments, allowing authorities to better monitor economic transactions in thecountry.
Lastly, it aims to realise growth targets set for non-cash payments in theshort term, including 50 percent of transactions on e-commerce platforms beingconducted through cashless payments and economic transactions via smartphonesgrowing at 50-80 percent per year.
Nguyen Quang Minh, deputy general director of the National Payment ServicesCorp. (Napas), noted that his corporation had developed various financialsolutions to promote cashless payments in Vietnam.
Notably, it has introduced multi-purpose chip cards that are compatible withapplications from different fields, including healthcare and insurance,allowing cardholders to easily make payments in such fields.
However, he also admitted that current payment acceptance networks areinadequate to meet the demand of a market of nearly 100 million.
“For this reason, Napas, banks and financial intermediaries will cooperate toexpand payment acceptance networks in the near future,” he added.
Pham Thi Mai Anh, director of the Digital Banking Service Centre at MilitaryBank, claimed that her bank was the first to cooperate with Napas in theroll-out of QR Code payments, notably VietQR.
“We are continuing to promote VietQR among sellers in local marketplaces toexpand its coverage,” she added.
The director also revealed that her bank’s virtual cards would target youngpeople, which are the driving force behind the growth of digital payments.
Hoang Xuan Que, director of the Finance and Banking Institute at the NationalEconomic University, highlighted non-cash payments as an inevitable globaltrend and Vietnam is no exception.
In the near future, cashless payments will move at a faster pace thanks tobetter technology infrastructure and cheaper smartphones.
“Many Vietnamese families have opted for cashless payments to pay their billsand tuition fees of their children. This indicates that it is time to step upnon-cash payments in the country,” he added.
The director also anticipated that 100 percent of undergraduates would switchto chip cards in the near future and their payment habits would affect theirfamilies, drawing more clients to the new methods of payment./.