In recent time, noncash payments in Vietnam have been developing robustly. The legal environment for this operation has been gradually improved. Moreover, the support of the people, the businesses and the public service providers upon recognizing the economic benefits has contributed to the development of noncash payments. In order to enhance cashless payments and financial inclusion, the consistence of the legal framework, the infrastructure for finance, the communication and financial education all play important roles.
This was the information at the press conference on May 26, 2020 in Ho Chi Minh City announcing the series of events within the framework of the “Non-cash Day 2020” (June 16, 2020), organised by the Tuoi Tre Newspaper in coordination with Vietnam E-Commerce Association (Vecom) and the National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (Napas). Attending the Conference were the Editor-in-Chief of the Tuoi Tre Newspaper, the Directors General of the SBV Payment Department and the SBV Communication Department; representatives from Napas, Vecom, Sacombank, HDBank, Vietinbank, CoopMart, intermediary payment service providers, etc.
The “Non-cash Day”, which was initiated by the Tuoi Tre Newspaper, has been celebrated since 2019. This is the day when all cashless payment means are encouraged to use for shopping and transactions, and consumers can enjoy preferential policies from the credit institutions, intermediary payment service providers, retailers and other service providers.
There will be various activities on the framework of the “Non-cash Day 2020”, such as “Vietnam Agricultural Produce Support Program”, “Cashless Small Business Program”, “Online Running Tournament – Non-cash Day”, Webinar on non-cash payments in Vietnam (June 10, 2020); Non-cash Week (June 10-16, 2020), etc. Through these programs and events, the people will have opportunities to experience and understand more about the benefits of electronic payment means, especially during the implementation of Directive No. 16/CT-TTg of the Prime Minister on social distancing, and in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Overview of the press conference
Non- cash payments have been developing comprehensively
According to the SBV’s report, the period of 2016-2020 continues to mark the excellent progress in the development of payment activities with various modern payment products and services on the basis of IT applications; non-cash payment indices have been growing impressively; the tasks of ensuring security and safety of the non-cash payment system have been paid much attention and enhanced.
Those results are reflected in the following areas: (i) Technological infrastructure for cashless payments, especially electronic payments, has been invested into and upgraded (up to now, there are 78 institutions providing payment services via the internet and 49 institutions providing payment services via mobile phones). By May 2020, there were 34 non- bank institutions granted licenses for providing intermediary payment services. The inter-bank electronic payment system is operating smoothly and safely, meeting the demand for inter-bank payments nationwide; (ii) Non-cash payment operations have been growing robustly, especially payments via the internet and smart phones (by the end of 2019, transactions via the internet increased by 64% in the number of transactions, and by 37% in the transaction value; the transactions via smart phones rose by 198% and 210% in the number and value of transactions respectively as compared to the figures of 2018); (iii) the trends of payments have been shifting toward using more non-cash payment means. The proportion of transactions at ATMs through Napas’s system in 2018 accounted for 62%, in 2019 decreased down to 42% while the proportion of inter-bank transactions in 2018 was 26%, in 2019 rose up to 48%. This means that there has been a change in a habit of withdrawing cash from ATMs for daily spendings to using non-cash payment means via e-banking; (iv) Electronic payments in the public sector has been paid much attention and enhanced. By the end of 2019, there were 50 banks connected for e-tax and e-customs collections in all 63 provinces/cities, 95% of customs revenues has been collected via banks; 99% of the businesses have registered to pay e-tax; 27 banks and 10 institutions providing intermediary payment services have coordinated with the EVN to collect electricity bills, with nearly 90% of the EVN’s revenues are now collected via banks; 30 hospitals have deployed electronic hospital fee collection systems, with several hospitals reaching 35% of their hospital fees collected by non-cash payment means.
According to Mr. Pham Tien Dzung, Director General of the SBV Payment Department, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, modern payment products and services, as well as various promotion programs, have further facilitated and encouraged the people and businesses to utilise cashless payment services, thereby helping to minimize direct contact and preventing the infection in line with the Government’s directions.
Mr. Pham Tien Dzung, Director General of the SBV Payment Department
Notably, in the first months of 2020, despite the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, the payment operations still increased remarkably in comparison with the same period last year. The value of transactions via the inter- bank electronic payment system in the first three months of 2020 rose by over 21% as compared to that of the same period of 2019. The total transactions via the financial switching system and the electronic clearing system in the first three months of 2020 rose by 81.32% in number and by 145.32% in value in comparison with the same period of 2019.
No one is left behind in accessing financial products and services
In order to further promote non-cash payments, the task of information and communication on cashless payments, and the dissemination of knowledge of payment products and services, as well as the skills of making payment transactions play an important role.
Upon answering the question of “Which one word can describe the promotion of non-cash payments?”, Mrs. Le Thi Thuy Sen, Director General of the SBV Communication Department, said: “that word is “consistence”, including the consistence of the legal framework, the infrastructure for finance and communication”.
Mrs. Le Thi Thuy Sen, Director General of the SBV Communication Department
According to Mrs. Sen, in recent years, the SBV has collaborated with many authorities to deploy communication activities, focusing on providing information about the utilities of non-cash payments, the products and services, as well as how to ensure safety and security in non-cash payments, thereby encouraging and supporting people in accessing and effectively using online banking services, raising the awareness and minimizing the risks for customers when using the financial and banking products and services.
Over the past time, the SBV has proactively developed the content and formulated several financial education programs, such as "Smart Money", "Smart-kids”, “Wise Money”,... thereby improving the knowledge and reducing the risks for customers when accessing financial products and services, contributing to improving the accessibility to financial products and services, promoting non-cash payments.
In order to increase the proportion of using cashless payments, the SBV would focus on the information and communication in the communities, especially the rural areas, among the vulnerable people such as women and the poor, in order to change the awareness, the practices and behaviors of the consumers in using financial services.
The SBV is also looking forward to coordinating with the ministries, agencies, payment service providers, payment intermediaries, socio-political organizations, local authorities and press agencies to promote non-cash payments in Vietnam, with the goal that no one is left behind in accessing financial products and services.