Students at the HCM City University of Technology attend a fintech conference (Photo: VNA) It has been nearly two years since a proposal was made by the State Bank ofVietnam (SBV) for a sandbox model for the country's fintech sector. There havebeen calls and opinions for the government to expedite this process to helpreduce risks and promote the development of fintech in Vietnam.
Vietnam's fintech market has been among the fastest growing in the region, onlybehind Singapore in Southeast Asia, and is forecast to reach 18 billion USD insize by 2024, according to Robocash, an online lending service in Vietnam.
The company said fintech and mobile platforms have allowed businesses tointroduce a wide range of financial services including payment, lending, moneytransfer, collection and disbursement.
According to the SBV, non-cash payments in the first seven months of 2023increased by 51.14% in terms of number, 66.46% through online channels, 63.09%via mobile phones, and 124.15% through QR Code compared to the same period in2022.
The number of accounts opened online since the end of March 2021 has beensteadily on the rise, reaching 27 million through eKYC and 10.8 million cardsin circulation.
According to Pham Tien Dung, SBV deputy governor, non-cash payment has beenincreasingly popular among consumers in recent years, especially after theCOVID-19 pandemic.
The key to helping more people access financial services, especially residentsin far and remote regions of the country, lies with the development ofelectronic platforms, which has allowed banks and finance companies to findsolutions and offer flexible options to more customers.
In recent months, commercial banks have been offering customers small loansdespite the absence of a legal framework.
Nguyen Thi Kim Oanh, deputy director-general of Vietcombank, said small loansaddressed the real needs of both the banks and customers. Banks, however, saidthey had been holding back due to legal concerns related to contracts.
Nguyen Dinh Tung, director-general of the Phuong Dong Commercial Joint StockBank (OCB), said legal issues prevented the banks from rolling out morefinancial services as they must still maintain services in physical offices tominimise risks.
Industry experts said banks and fintech companies had been waiting for asandbox model for online lending for a long time now and the implementation ofone such model would help many people gain access to financial services andcontribute to the development of the country's finance sector.
Lawyer Le Van An, director of ANLAW Law said consumer lending should be encouragedto boost economic activities and that the fintech industry should be viewedwith a more open-minded approach and allowed to experiment. He said while heagreed that fintech companies weren't banks they should be given more room forgrowth.
Pham Anh Tuan, head of the payment department of the SBV, said a sandbox modelwas being reviewed and studied and expected to arrive as early as the beginningof 2024 in an earlier interview with the press.
However, he said it was a complicated process that involved variousgovernmental ministries and agencies, all having their own concerns andopinions, and therefore, would take time. In addition, there might be delays asthe Government must submit the model to the National Assembly for finalapproval./.
VNA
