Currently, financial technology or FinTech has impacted customer’s behaviors around the globe. Most countries are accepting a cashless society trend which includes Vietnam, with the majority of the people still using cash.

Vietnam has modern communication technology and the government’s policy that favors a cashless society which aims that only 10% of cash transactions will be expected in 2020. They are projecting for e-payment to increase by 200 million transactions annually with the development of e-payment standards to cover people’s daily life. These make the growing middle-class sector adapt their behavior by adopting the e-payment. This can be seen as $6.14 billion was done through the e-payment system during 2017, which was a 22% increase from the year before. It is expected that the online transaction will reach $12.33 billion by 2022. 

Currently, Vietnam has an online payment system E-wallet which is developed by financial institutes with 18 banks operating. This allows more customers to buy goods over the internet and smartphones, especially the new generations who are familiar with e-wallet as they are paying for coffee, electric bills, and taxi fare online. These make 3 major operators become market leaders in Vietnam which are:

1. MoMo e-Wallet which has 12 million customers and more than 100 thousand stores joined. Their application is only in Vietnamese and originated from VinaPhone, the mobile phone operator. The application focuses on paying for airfares, merchandise, and services through customer’s phones. They are the first mobile phone operator that owns e-wallet service.

2.  Moca e-Wallet is one of Vietnam’s leading mobile payment providers which can be used through the Grab application. The system supports both Vietnamese and English. The application has an e-wallet for paying Grab services (GrabCar, GrabBike), delivery (GrabExpress), food (GrabFood), bill payment, money transfer, mobile phone reloads, and products and services. This application requires users to link their wallet with their bank account.

3. Zalo Pay which is owned by ZION, the call mobile application with 70 million users in Vietnam. Zalo Pay comes from the application name Zalo which supports only in Vietnamese. It is the number-one chatting platform like WeChat in China and Line in Thailand.

Moreover, there is TrueMoney from Thailand which services as TrueMoney Wallet in Vietnam. The service covers e-Money, e-Payment, money transfer, and also is a paying channel. TrueMoney Vietnam is operated under Ascend Money Limited who is authorized in Wallet service. The company has more than 1million transactions monthly and there are more than 500 thousand customers using TrueMoney, TrueMoney Wallet, and Singapore-owned AirPay.

The highly competitive Vietnam E-wallet business aims to resolve customer pain points and improve customer experience and the entrepreneurs by creating an online platform for paying which promotes the convenience of the transaction and demotes the limitation of conducting business. It is also safer as people do not need to carry cash and there is no fee like using credit cards. Hence, this is another option for business owners to create a digital experience for customers.

For the investor who interest in CLMV or the Great Mekong Subregion (GMS) which includes Cambodia, Lao, Myanmar, and Vietnam, SCB has our international branches to take care of you. 

#SCBInternationalBanking # TheMostAdmiredBank #SiamCommercialBank

Thanks for Siam Commercial Bank PCL. Ho Chi Minh City Branch, Vietnam

References :

1 ธนาคารแห่งประเทศไทย. “ระบบการชําระเงิน สาธารณรัฐสังคมนิยมเวียดนาม”. https://www.bot.or.th/Thai/MonetaryPolicy/EconMakhongCanelArea/Vietnam/Doclib_Financial_VN/vietnam%20payment%20system.pdf (ค้นหาเมื่อ 9 เมษายน 2563)

2. RYT9. “เกร็ดการเงินระหว่างประเทศ: เวียดนามกับการปรับเปลี่ยนพฤติกรรมสู่การชำระเงินแบบ e-Payment” https://www.ryt9.com/s/exim/2880983 (ค้นหาเมื่อ 9 เมษายน 2563)

3. Grab. “What is Moca wallet on Grab app”. https://help.grab.com/passenger/en-vn/360001970387-What-is-Moca-wallet-on-Grab-app (ค้นหาเมื่อ 9 เมษายน 2563)

4. fintechnews.sg.  “Vietnam’s Zalo Pay Brings Payments To Social Media in Vietnam”.  https://fintechnews.sg/10595/vietnam/vietnams-zalo-pay-brings-payments-social-media/ (ค้นหาเมื่อ 9 เมษายน 2563)