Mobile Money is expected to push cashless payments in Vietnam, as only 70 percent of the population have a bank account. (Photo courtesy of Viettel) In earlyDecember, after many years of waiting, the State Bank of Vietnam officiallylicensed three carriers, VNPT, Mobifone and Viettel, to pilot Mobile Moneyservices. VNPT and Viettel are the only two that have so far put Mobile Moneyservices into commercial use. Mobifone is still in the process of completingthe preparation steps to participate in this area as soon as possible.
Mobile Moneyis expected to be a push towards cashless payments in Vietnam, a country whereonly 70 percent of the population have a bank account. The biggest differencebetween Mobile Money and e-wallets is that customers can pay for services andgoods of small value, without a bank account. In addition, Mobile Moneyaccounts can also be used on "feature phones" that do not have aninternet connection.
Mobile Moneyservices will be easy-to-use in rural and remote areas, where bank branches andthe internet have not yet been strongly developed. People only need atelecommunications account to perform many different transactions, such aspaying for goods and services of small value, transferring money and depositingor withdrawing money directly at the store.
Pham DucLong, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications, said Mobile Moneyheralds a new stage in telecommunications business as telecom providersofficially enter the fintech market. In the past they made e-wallets andpayment intermediaries, but the market was small.
Once MobileMoney services are licensed, in theory any telecommunications subscriber canaccess the service. However, operators must ensure that subscribers have the correctidentification information to provide services, as well as bring convenienceand trust to customers, Long said.
Thecountry’s telecom market currently has about 126.3 million subscribers, ofwhich the three largest carriers and those licensed to pilot MobileMoney account for more than 97 percent of the market share. Among morethan 126.3 million existing subscribers, the proportion of users with 2-3telecommunication accounts is very large. Therefore, the three providers willface huge competition to attract customers to their Mobile Money service.
A VNPTrepresentative said that Mobile Money services among network operators willshare common characteristics, but will also have their own strengths. WithVNPT, the advantage will be their experience in successfully implementingdigital financial services in recent years. VNPT also has the strength of alarge service ecosystem, a loyal customer base, and a team of highly qualifiedand enthusiastic human resources.
Those arethe resonating factors that help VNPT's Mobile Money to be eligible forsustainable development, bringing a lot of value to the community and thecountry. VNTP will integrate Mobile Money into their existing digital paymentecosystem so that users can have the most convenient access to use Mobile Moneyin all transactions in daily life, the representative said.
He suggestedadjusting the draft Mobile Money business policy related to serviceimplementation, such as extending transaction limits for customers andexpanding the selection criteria for business locations. VNPT also proposesissuing policies and co-operation mechanisms between Mobile Money serviceproviders, so that users can use Mobile Money between different telecomproviders.
A Viettelrepresentative said the fact that all three operators are licensed to pilotMobile Money will help increase the coverage of this service. Many people stilldo not have access to digital payments and digital finance is a huge space.Viettel has built and accumulated the digital financial ecosystem for more than10 years.
“Viettelhopes that the Mobile Money service will contribute to the development of acomprehensive financial system in Vietnam and the goal of making non-cashpayments a habit of the people. In addition, we also expect that people whohave never had access to bank accounts, digital payment electronic servicescould access this type of digital payment more easily, thus improving knowledgeand bringing digital utilities to change the lives of many people," headded.
Mobifonesaid that, as it has just been licensed as a payment intermediary, it will haveto complete its system. They will provide their Mobile Money service a bitlater than VNPT and Viettel. Mobifone expects that early this year they will beable to internally test their service. The trial period will be between threeweeks and a month, after which Mobifone will open their Mobile Money servicesubscribers nationwide.
In order todevelop Mobile Money and support remote areas, to narrow the digital gap andpromote socio-economic development, the telecom providers need to pay specialattention to the customer's experience, thereby creating a spillover so thatMobile Money can really "take off"./.
VNA
