As soon as a cash-dominant nation, Vietnam has advanced considerably over the previous seven years, with digital cost strategies together with digital wallets, QR codes, and account-to-account (A2A) transactions changing into more and more fashionable, a brand new report by AppotaPay, a Vietnamese cost firm, says.

The report, which appears at cost tendencies throughout Asia-Pacific (APAC), finds that almost all of Vietnamese customers (59%) now want cashless funds, citing comfort, security and theft prevention, in addition to higher monetary administration as key causes. QR codes, specifically, are the favored methodology, with 62% of customers utilizing them to transact a median of 16.2 occasions per 30 days.

These findings are confirmed by knowledge from Vietnam’s central financial institution. Pham Anh Tuan, Director Normal of the State Financial institution of Vietnam (SBV)’s Fee Division, stated throughout an trade occasion in September that cashless cost transactions have grown at a median annual fee of over 67% since at the least 2021. Over the previous 12 months, greater than 60% of transactions in Vietnam have been contactless, with cashless quantity reaching 5.5 billion in Q1 2025, together with 4.5 billion digital transactions.

QR code funds, specifically, elevated by a staggering 106.7% in quantity within the first 11 months of 2024 and 84.8% in worth year-on-year (YoY).

A2A funds additionally surged. In 2024, the Nationwide Fee Company of Vietnam (NAPAS) processed 9.56 billion transactions, a rise of roughly 30% within the variety of transactions in comparison with 2023, stated NAPAS Deputy Normal Director Hung Nguyen.

Fintech and monetary entry

Vietnam’s adoption of digital funds has grown alongside its fintech trade. Between 2018 and 2022, the variety of new fintech companies rose by over 180 to about 260 fintech firms, in accordance to Statista.

Various these have reached huge success, attracting overseas buyers and pushing their valuations above the billion-dollar mark. For instance, M-Service, the proprietor of Vietnam’s largest cellular cost app MoMo, reached unicorn startup in 2021 after securing a US$200 million Sequence E spherical. MoMo is Vietnam’s main digital pockets, serving over 30 million customers and tons of of 1000’s of companions nationwide.

Final 12 months, M-Service posted its first full-year revenue, and the corporate is now reportedly working on an preliminary public providing (IPO) overseas. It’s stated to be in negotiations with companions and might be elevating 10% of its valuation from the providing, which might happen in Singapore or the US.

Monetary establishments are additionally increasing digital companies. VPBank, for instance, launched in 2021 its digital banking platform VPBank NEO. The platform is designed to supply an reasonably priced banking proposition with superior digital expertise, leveraging cloud computing, knowledge, and synthetic intelligence (AI) for customer support but additionally fraud detection. By the top of 2024, VPBank NEO had attracted greater than 10 million customers, processing greater than 700 million transactions.

Equally, VPBank’s digital-only financial institution, Cake, now serves 5 million prospects and processes 700,000 credit score functions month-to-month. These spectacular figures mirror a shift in the direction of digital transactions and profound buyer behavioral adjustments.

Vietnamese banks are additionally increasing their assist for small companies. For instance, Vietcombank has launched VCB DigiBiz, a digital banking answer solely designed for enterprise prospects, providing seamless and handy banking companies 24/7.

Doan Hong Nhung, Govt Board Member and Head of Retail Banking at Vietcombank, stated at an occasion in September that the financial institution is presently engaged on data-driven credit score scoring methods to ship extra clear and tailor-made lending.

Vietnam’s dynamic fintech panorama has helped considerably broaden monetary inclusion. Based on SBV’s Pham, 86.97% of adults held a checking account by the top of 2024, totaling 204.5 million particular person cost accounts and 154.1 million financial institution playing cards. Compared, solely 31% of adults had a banking account in 2014, demonstrating the fast growth of monetary inclusion.

Challenges stay

Regardless of progress, challenges to fintech progress and adoption stay. Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc recognized challenges resembling privateness points, and reluctance to share private knowledge as essential limitations. Infrastructure points, resembling weak or unstable community protection in some areas, are additionally impeding transaction effectivity.

AppotaPay’s report additionally highlights these issues amid hovering fraud dangers. In accordance to Sumsub’s APAC Identification Fraud Report 2024, the area has among the many highest fraud charges on the planet, peaking at 6% in Indonesia. This determine is 4 occasions the height within the US and Canada at 1.66%.

Trying forward, SBV’s Pham stated that the federal government can be specializing in advancing shared digital infrastructure, cost expertise platforms, and diversifying monetary companies. With digital funds remaining a cornerstone of nationwide digital transformation, the central financial institution will proceed to work on enhancing the authorized framework, selling trendy companies resembling home playing cards and e-wallets, and strengthening public-private partnerships to make sure a secure, environment friendly and inclusive cost ecosystem.

These initiatives will construct on notable developments which have already occurred this 12 months, together with the introduction of a banking regulatory sandbox, and a pilot program for the cryptocurrency trade. In July, new rules have been launched, permitting revolutionary fintech merchandise to be examined underneath a particular regulatory sandbox regime. Fintech options eligible for testing embrace credit score scoring, open API, and peer-to-peer lending.

In September, Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc signed and issued a decision on the launch a five-year pilot program with strict necessities for the crypto trade. These guidelines cowl the providing and issuance of crypto property, the group of crypto-asset buying and selling markets, crypto custody companies, and platforms for issuing crypto property, marking the primary time Vietnam has formally allowed crypto buying and selling and associated companies underneath a authorized framework.

Featured picture: Edited by Fintech Information Singapore, based mostly on photographs by Frolopiaton Palm, lifeforstock and Wagner France 3D Design through Freepik