Business

QR payments make Vietnam more convenient for international visitors

International visitors no longer need to rely solely on cash or cards in Vietnam. Singaporean tourists can use LiquidPay, Aleta Planet and DCS DeCard, while Chinese visitors can scan VietQRGlobal codes with WeChat and WeChat Pay.

Using familiar payment apps from home to scan QR codes at points of sale is becoming increasingly popular among consumers. (Photo: VNA)
Using familiar payment apps from home to scan QR codes at points of sale is becoming increasingly popular among consumers. (Photo: VNA)

Ho Chi Minh City (VNA) – Cross-border QR payments are making it easier for international visitors to spend in Vietnam, allowing them to use familiar payment apps from home while giving local businesses a new way to capture tourist spending.

International visitors no longer need to rely solely on cash or cards. Singaporean tourists can use LiquidPay, Aleta Planet and DCS DeCard, while Chinese visitors can scan VietQRGlobal codes with WeChat and WeChat Pay.

Similar QR payment links are available to visitors from the Republic of Korea, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand.

Vietnam welcomed around 13.9 million international visitors in the first seven months of 2026, up 6.6% year on year, according to the National Statistics Office under the Ministry of Finance.

NAPAS said transactions by visitors from Thailand, Laos and Cambodia in Vietnam surged nearly eightfold in volume and sixfold in value in the first eight months of 2026 from a year earlier.

Chinese visitors using domestic payment apps to scan VietQRGlobal codes also tripled their transaction volume and quadrupled transaction value compared with April 2026.

The payment links are spreading beyond hotels and shopping centres to traditional markets, restaurants and souvenir stalls.|

More than 20 Vietnamese banks and payment intermediaries are now involved in developing cross-border QR payments.

BVBank has integrated WeChat Pay with VietQRGlobal, enabling Chinese customers to pay directly through WeChat or WeChat Pay. The system automatically converts yuan into Vietnamese dong and credits the merchant's account, eliminating the need for foreign-currency cash or additional POS terminals.

Similarly, Sacombank has enabled Chinese visitors to pay via Alipay by scanning VietQRGlobal codes at participating outlets.

Duyen, a food-stall owner at Ben Thanh Market, said around 70% of her customers pay cashlessly, with the rate rising to 80–90% among younger customers. International visitors, particularly those from other Asian countries, are also increasingly opting to pay via QR codes.

For small businesses, the shift means a simpler way to serve foreign customers and fewer lost sales simply because visitors do not have Vietnamese dong./.

VNA
#CPTPP #NQ 59 #HNNG 33_2 #NQ10 #QR payment #Vietnam #WeChat #WeChatPay #codes
Follow VietnamPlus

International integration

Related News

The Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) partners with Alipay+ to introduce cross-border QR payments which allows customers to use its VCB Digibank app abroad. (Photo: Vietcombank)

Vietnam, RoK launch cross-border QR payment service

The service was launched in Hanoi on April 23 by National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (NAPAS) in cooperation with GLN International, with Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam and Hana Bank as settlement banks.

Delegates launch cross-border QR code payment services between Vietnam and China (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam–China QR payment expansion boosts tourism, business opportunities

The launch marks a significant step forward in digital payment connectivity, helping to facilitate trade and tourism flows between the two countries. Under the new arrangement, Chinese tourists can use Alipay - a member wallet of Ant International - to scan VIETQRGlobal codes and make direct payments at merchants within NAPAS’ network across Vietnam.

See more

A view of SSIT deep-water port in Ho Chi Minh City, which can accommodate large-tonnage vessel. (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam sees high growth prospects

Experts from the Institute of Vietnam and World Economy under the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences noted the quality of recent growth as the high growth rate has been recorded against an increasingly higher comparative base.

Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park is expected to have about 800ha of cleared land by the end of 2026. (Illustrative image: Photo: cafef.vn)

Hanoi steps up targeted investment promotion to deepen global value chain engagement

Hanoi is moving from broad-based investment promotion towards targeted efforts focusing on projects and corporations with strong leadership capacity and potential to create spillover effects. For 2026-2030, it aims to attract 10 multinational corporations to establish executive offices, research and development (R&D) centres, innovation centres or regional service centres, helping build an technology and innovation ecosystem with international competitiveness.

Promoting Vietnamese products at a trade fair. (Illustrative photo: VNA)

Vietnamese exports face tougher challenges in EU market

Despite the challenges, the EU remains a major market for Vietnamese goods. Two-way trade reached 52.6 billion EUR in the first seven months, up 23.2% year on year. Vietnam's exports rose 26% to 45.6 billion EUR , while imports increased 6% to 7 billion EUR.

Mai Xuan Thanh, Director of the Tax Department speaks at the event (Photo: VNA)

Tax policies, investment environment updated for FDI enterprises

Politburo Resolution No. 10 calls for a strong shift from focusing on scale and quantity towards quality, efficiency and added value. It gives priority to projects featuring advanced technologies, modern management, innovation capacity and the ability to participate more deeply in global value chains.

In the first eight months of 2026, Da Nang welcomed more than 411,000 visitors from Russia and other CIS countries, up 94.2% year on year and accounting for around 5.8% of the city's total international arrivals. Russian arrivals alone reached nearly 300,000, up 151.4%, making Russia the city's seventh-largest international tourism market. Da Nang's tourism sector is stepping up efforts to tap the Russia and CIS markets, focusing on long-stay and high-spending visitors while expanding air connectivity, digital promotion and tourism products tailored to market demand. (Photo: VNA)

Da Nang steps up efforts to tap Russia, CIS markets

Da Nang welcomed more than 411,000 visitors from Russia and other CIS countries in the first eight months of 2026, up 94.2% year-on-year and accounting for about 5.8% of total international arrivals.

Delegates visit the booth of Hanoi Xanh Cooperative (Vietnam) at Halal Expo 2025 in Türkiye, November 2025. (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam seeks bigger share of global Halal market

Vietnam's Halal exports remain modest at around 900 million USD a year, accounting for less than 1% of the global market. Most exports are still raw agricultural and seafood products. Only around 1,000–1,300 Vietnamese businesses obtained or maintained Halal certification during 2024–2026.

Illustrative image (Photo: kinhtexaydung.petrotimes.vn)

Hanoi sets up inter-agency mechanism to operate carbon market

Under a decision of the municipal People’s Committee on establishing an inter-agency working group, departments and agencies are responsible for identifying facilities subject to greenhouse gas inventories, developing emissions-reduction plans and studying projects capable of generating carbon credits.

The exhibition drew more than 18,000 online registrations, with about 75% of visitors being professional buyers from factories, manufacturers, distributors and procurement departments of brands operating in Vietnam. (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam draws new supply-chain links from OCTF 2026

Against the backdrop of changing global and regional supply chains, stronger connections between Vietnamese businesses and foreign suppliers could help diversify sourcing, improve production efficiency and expand domestic firms' participation in value chains.