Vietnam's government has issued a resolution meant to intensify support for the expansion of non-cash payment methods in the cash-loving country this year.

Promoting digital payment was among the tasks that the Vietnamese government assigned to ministries, departments and localities in Resolution 02/NQ-CP released early this year.

Accordingly, the chairs of provincial and municipal People’s Committees must direct all schools, hospitals and suppliers of electricity, water, sanitation, telecommunications and postal services in urban areas to coordinate with banks and intermediary payment service providers to collect fees and payments for their services using non-cash payment methods, by December 2019.

Priorities should be mobile and points of sale (POS), according to the resolution.

In addition, the government requires the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) to study the feasibility of allowing people to deposit cash into electronic wallets without having bank payment accounts.

People wait to pay hospital fees at Tu Du Hospital in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tuoi Tre

All commercial banks and intermediary payment service providers must also apply QR code standards before the third quarter of this year.

The SBV was already instructed to coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to publicize all types of transactions that are subject to bank payment, as well as to draft amendments to regulations in order to encourage non-cash payments in real estate transactions.

At the same time, the Ministry of Finance has to review and amend financial regulations under its authority by the third quarter of 2019 to create favorable conditions for firms to make cashless payments.

The government’s target is to double the number of electricity users who pay their bills electronically in 2019.

Vietnam has the lowest rate of cashless payment transactions, a modest 4.9 percent compared to 26.1 percent of China, and 59.7 percent in Thailand, according to data released in July 2018 by the World Bank.  

Particularly, most Vietnamese people in rural and remote areas do not have access to modern payment services.

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