Vietnamese consumers are moving toward an era of cashless payment thanks to the numerous benefits offered by both bank card issuers and merchants.

One of the instances in this race of payment transformation is Vietnam Electricity Corporation (EVN).

EVN is collecting electricity fees through such banking services and intermediary organizations as auto debit, ATMs, Internet banking, mobile banking, and e-wallets, according to Nguyen Quoc Dung, sales manager of the state-owned utility company.

The power firm has so far cooperated with 27 banks and 10 intermediaries to boost electricity charge collection through third parties.

The ratio of bill payment through banks and intermediaries of EVN rose from 14.8 percent in 2015 to over 45 percent in 2018.

The revenue of electricity payment from this channel has also climbed 20 percent, compared to 64.35 percent it contributed to the total revenue of all payment methods in 2015, while the rate of collection at counters dipped steeply.

In addition to new payment methods, banks also pay attention to upgrading bank card forms, including contactless cards and payment via mobile devices which allow people to make cashless transactions in a streamlined and prompt fashion simply by swiping their cards or smartphones and other mobile devices over the reader at a point of sale (POS) terminal.

And consumers are enjoying the convenience of banks’ transformation to these modern payment ways.

Bich Van, a resident in Ho Chi Minh City’s Phu Nhuan District, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that she changed her habit of using cash to pay for electricity, water, cable TV, and Internet services after downloading the application for mobile banking last year.

The proportion of cash against the whole payment average

Van took pleasure in linking her bank account to the application, taking a few steps and seeing her payment for electricity and water usage finish in several minutes.

“Since then, the e-wallet has automatically reminded me of the date of payment every month,” Van excitedly said.

“The app even compares payments between months,” she added.

General improvement, infrastructure investment

Speaking at a recent conference on retail banking development in Ho Chi Minh City, Nghiem Thanh Son, deputy director of the payment department at the State Bank of Vietnam, said that the proportion of cash against the whole payment average has gradually fallen over the years.

As of September 30, 2018, the number of transactions via ATM had surged 12 percent compared to the end of 2017, while the number of transactions via POS had grown 42 percent.

In the first six months of 2018, payment transactions via the Internet reached 127 million items, with a transaction value of VND8,020 billion (US$344.86 million), up 50 percent in volume and 32 percent in value year-on-year.

In the same period, mobile payment transactions topped 81 million times, valued at VND676 billion ($29.07 million), translating to a growth rate of 144 percent in volume and 32 percent in value.

Contributing to this general transformation, 78 banks have offered Internet payment services and 41 lenders have launched mobile payment services.

In addition, 16 banks have implemented QR (Quick Response) Code payment services, with more than 30,000 points accepting QR Code payment.

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