Participants at the seminar (Photo: VietnamPlus)
Hanoi (VNA) – Representatives from the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) have stressed the necessity to promote e-payment, and ensure safety in this method.
Promoting e-payment towards a cashless society is an indispensable development trend, which both boosts economic growth and supports the universalisation of banking and financial services, experts said.
The Government adopted a resolution on national competitiveness in 2019, with orientation to 2021, emphasising the importance of promoting e-payment and provision of level-4 online public services.
However, the development of e-payment methods still faces many barriers.
A seminar discussing solutions to the problem was hosted by the Government Portal in Hanoi on December 16.
E-payment applied for only simple services
With the Internet booming and information technology development today, cashless payment has brought in many important utilities, helping reduce costs related to cash issuance and circulation.
However, functions and utilities for users are still limited, and most of them only focus on simple transactions such as payment of electricity, water, internet and TV bills.
Phung Anh Tuan, Secretary General of the Vietnam Association of Financial Investors, said risks of e-payment are also making many users doubtful.
It is necessary to have a protective mechanism in order to ensure safety in applying the method, he added.
According to Pham Trung Kien, General Director of the Viettel Digital Services Corporation, it takes only a few seconds to implement a cash transaction but e-payment takes more time.
A survey carried in Hue city shows that, only about 7 percent of respondent people can upload an application to their mobile phones for e-payment, while 93 percent cannot use modern applications on their phones.
Cash payment is not only convenient but also fast, while e-payment requires many steps, Kien said, stressing the need to ensure usability and convenience in order to increase the feasibility for using this method.
Dang Hoang Hai, Director of the MoIT’s E-Commerce and Digital Economy Department (Photo: VietnamPlus)
Increasing confidence of users
According to Dang Hoang Hai, Director of the MoIT’s E-Commerce and Digital Economy Department, e-payment is a barrier for enterprises, especially those doing platform-based e-commerce business.
Apart from increasing people’s access to the applications, it is necessary to pay attention to ensuring absolute safety for users, he said.
The MoIT will hold an Online Friday event which is expected to promote e-commerce shopping experience without cash in the community, Hai revealed.
Sharing with Hai’s opinion, Kien also underlined the importance of access and experience, saying that real experiences will help customers realise values and benefits of the applications.
When customers see benefits and have confidence in the applications, e-commerce will be really developing sustainably, he said.
The Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) issued a document asking the central bank’s branches in cities and provinces to push ahead with non-cash payment for public services.
Accordingly, branches at the provincial level are asked to provide consultations for municipal and provincial People’s Committees, and closely coordinate with local departments and agencies to effectively implement solutions aiming to intensify cashless payment for public services in line with the Government’s Decision No. 241 and the SBV Governor’s Decision No. 923, with priority given to the education and healthcare sectors.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc late last year approved a scheme to intensify payment for public services via banks, including tax, electricity, water, hospital and education fees.
Specifically, by 2020, 80 percent of tax payment transactions in central-level and provincial-level cities are hoped to be implemented via banks, while all State Treasuries will have cashless payment devices.
The scheme also targets non-cash payments being accepted by 70 percent of electricity companies, 70 percent of water companies, 100 percent of universities and colleges and 50 percent of hospitals in major cities.
The country is focusing on developing new and modern payment methods, especially those suitable for rural areas and people without bank accounts.
Besides, it will also develop new multi-functional and multi-purpose bank cards that allow different forms of payments such as internet banking and near-field communication payments.
More efforts will be made to ensure security and safety during transactions to gain consumer confidence, and authenticity measures intensified to avoid fraud, according to the decision.
The SBV’s Payment Department reported that 96.2 million cards have been issued nationwide, up 210 percent from early 2011.
There are some 60 organisations providing internet banking payment services and 30 organisations providing mobile banking payment services.
The payment infrastructure has also been improved, evidenced by the rapid increase of ATMs and points-of-sale, by 47 percent and 300 percent, respectively./.
