National Bank of Vietnam: 2019Q1 Vietnam smartphone payment growth 97.7% higher than in the same period last year

The first quarter of 2019 was the strongest year for Internet and smartphone payment growth in Vietnam, up 70 percent and 97.7 percent, respectively, from the same period in 2018, according to data from the national bank of Vietnam’s payment department.

Vietnam’s 2016-2020 non-cash payment development plan has entered its final years. The goal of the plan is to reduce the proportion of cash payments to less than 10%. In early 2019, the Vietnamese government stressed the importance of promoting non-cash payments, piloting new payment models through Fintech enterprises and applying innovative solutions to the banking sector.




“The legal framework, infrastructure and diversification of products and services related to non-cash payments have all been greatly improved,” Nghiem Thanh Son, deputy director of the national bank of Vietnam’s payment department, said at a news conference on May 20, assessing the development results of the country’s non-cash payment projects.

Nghiem Thanh Son said the highlight of the results of the project implementation was a sharp increase in the number of consumers paying through the internet and mobile phones. Compared to the same period in 2018, the number of transactions conducted through Internet channels increased by almost 70% per cent in the first quarter of 2019, while the total value of transactions increased by 13.4% per cent; the number and value of transactions through mobile phone channels increased by 97.7% and 232.3% respectively over the same period in 2018.



“Mobile phones have become an important channel for online growth for Banks,” says Nghiem Thanh Son. “” Banks have introduced new modern technologies into their payment activities and have been welcomed by consumers during the promotion of modern and safe payment methods.” 

In addition, the form of payment through the banking system also has a good growth, but compared with the growth rate of the Internet and mobile phone channels, the growth rate is relatively low. At the end of the first quarter of 2019, Vietnam’s banking system processed 37 million transactions, up 23 percent from the same period in 2018, while the total value of transactions increased 17.84 percent.

The volume and value of domestic payments made through Vietnamese bank CARDS continues to increase. In the first quarter of 2016, 65 million transactions were made with a total value of 17.1 trillion dong, up 18.45 percent year-on-year and 8.82 percent year-on-year. Commercial Banks have received many card functions to pay for goods and services.

By the end of March 2019, Vietnam had set up more than 18,000 ATMs and issued more than 260,000 POS cards.

Data from the Central Institute of Economic Management (CIEM) in Viet Nam show that the amount of cash used is still very high, with 90% per 99% of the consumption being in cash; at the same time, two out of 100,000 people use cash to buy goods under VND 85%; In addition, nearly half of the transactions in ATMS are withdrawals.

To further promote cashless payments, the central Bank of Vietnam has designated June 16 as a cashless day in Vietnam to encourage cashless shopping and trading. At that point, consumers will enjoy preferential policies from credit institutions, payment intermediaries and retailer service providers.