Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Foreign investors havepoured into Vietnam’s e-wallet sector as they see huge growth potential in themarket in the wake of the Government’s plan to reduce cash payments to below 10percent of the total payment transaction by 2020.
The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) licensed 27 non-bankinstitutions to provide intermediary payment services by the end of August, ofwhich 20 offered e-wallets, including well-known names such as MoMo,Bankplus, Vi Viet, VTC Pay, WePay, Vimo, NganLuong and Payoo.
Mostof the institutions have foreign investments, such as the Republic of Korea’sUTC Investment holding a 65 percent stake in VNPT Epay, NTT Data holding 64 percentin Payoo, Hong Kong’s Champion Crest holding 51 percent of Amigo TechnologiesJSC, Thailand’s True Money owing 90 percent of 1Pay and MOL Accessportalholding 50 percent of Ngan Luong.
With the foreign investment capital, most e-wallet providerscurrently offer free or low-cost e-wallets in order to attract users. Thisexplains why the transaction value via e-wallets has increased sharply in therecent time.
Though there is no official report from the SBV about thenumber of Vietnamese e-wallet users, service providers estimate that 10 millionpeople in Vietnam are using e-wallets, which is a modest figure compared withthe great potential of the market.
Customers are also attracted to the payment method becauseit allows them to use mobile applications to quickly pay for goods and servicesin just a few seconds.
Despite the incentive policies of intermediary paymentservice providers, banks have not yet taken advantage of their potentialstrengths in e-payment.
Statistics of the Vietnam Card Association shows that thereare currently 132 million ATM cards issued by banks. However, experts said thatthis number does not indicate that banks have been able to dominate the paymentmarket of more than 90 million people, as the number of customers using ATMcards to pay online is even less than the 10 million that use e-wallets.
Banking expert Nguyen Tri Hieu said that similar to bankcards, the fees for e-wallets include fees for annual maintenance, moneytransfer, withdrawal, online payment, wallet management, transactionconfirmation and balance information, which are similar to banks’.
Nevertheless, while banks charge most of these fees, mostintermediary payment businesses accept losses in the first phase of operationas part of a long-term business strategy, Hieu said, adding that they hadmade thorough calculations to grasp the market.
If payment companies are able to attract more users, theycould earn bigger benefits than the fees they could collect from services.
When the companies have a certain number of customers, theywill then consider charging fees, Hieu said, warning that if banks don’t changetheir strategy, they will lose their share of the home market.-VNS/VNA
The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) licensed 27 non-bankinstitutions to provide intermediary payment services by the end of August, ofwhich 20 offered e-wallets, including well-known names such as MoMo,Bankplus, Vi Viet, VTC Pay, WePay, Vimo, NganLuong and Payoo.
Mostof the institutions have foreign investments, such as the Republic of Korea’sUTC Investment holding a 65 percent stake in VNPT Epay, NTT Data holding 64 percentin Payoo, Hong Kong’s Champion Crest holding 51 percent of Amigo TechnologiesJSC, Thailand’s True Money owing 90 percent of 1Pay and MOL Accessportalholding 50 percent of Ngan Luong.
With the foreign investment capital, most e-wallet providerscurrently offer free or low-cost e-wallets in order to attract users. Thisexplains why the transaction value via e-wallets has increased sharply in therecent time.
Though there is no official report from the SBV about thenumber of Vietnamese e-wallet users, service providers estimate that 10 millionpeople in Vietnam are using e-wallets, which is a modest figure compared withthe great potential of the market.
Customers are also attracted to the payment method becauseit allows them to use mobile applications to quickly pay for goods and servicesin just a few seconds.
Despite the incentive policies of intermediary paymentservice providers, banks have not yet taken advantage of their potentialstrengths in e-payment.
Statistics of the Vietnam Card Association shows that thereare currently 132 million ATM cards issued by banks. However, experts said thatthis number does not indicate that banks have been able to dominate the paymentmarket of more than 90 million people, as the number of customers using ATMcards to pay online is even less than the 10 million that use e-wallets.
Banking expert Nguyen Tri Hieu said that similar to bankcards, the fees for e-wallets include fees for annual maintenance, moneytransfer, withdrawal, online payment, wallet management, transactionconfirmation and balance information, which are similar to banks’.
Nevertheless, while banks charge most of these fees, mostintermediary payment businesses accept losses in the first phase of operationas part of a long-term business strategy, Hieu said, adding that they hadmade thorough calculations to grasp the market.
If payment companies are able to attract more users, theycould earn bigger benefits than the fees they could collect from services.
When the companies have a certain number of customers, theywill then consider charging fees, Hieu said, warning that if banks don’t changetheir strategy, they will lose their share of the home market.-VNS/VNA
VNA
