Vietnam’s Card Payments Market Expected to Hit US$37.6 Billion This Year

The Vietnamese card payments market is expected to grow by 23.8% to reach VND859.2 trillion (US$37.6 billion) in 2022, according to a report by GlobalData.

According to the data and analytics firm, this growth is supported by rising consumer spending and the government’s push for digital payments.

The report found that the value of card payments in Vietnam registered a growth of 13.7% in 2021, raising sharply from a subdued growth of 2.2% in 2020 due to reduced consumer spending amid the pandemic.

A gradual economy recovery and the opening up of businesses led the country’s card payments market to record a double-digit growth in 2021.

With a low banked population, those aged 15 and above holding a bank account, of 34%, Vietnam has traditionally been a cash-based economy.

Ravi Sharma, Lead Banking and Payments Analyst at GlobalData said,

“While cash remains the preferred mode of payments in Vietnam, there has been a rise in card payments in the country supported by government financial inclusion initiatives to increase financial awareness, promote electronic payments, and enhance access to banking services in the country.

The introduction of mobile van branches in remote locations, the rising number of digital-only banks, and the adoption of payment technologies such as EMV and contactless are all supporting an increase in banked population and electronic payments in Vietnam.”

In November 2021, the government approved the cashless payment development project, in order to increase the banked population to 80% by the end of 2025 and register a 20-25% growth rate in cashless payments over the 2021-25 period.

In addition, the Vietnamese government along with central bank and other government bodies has been observing 16th June of every year as ‘Cashless Day’ since 2019 in a bid to promote electronic payments in the country.

During the event, promotions and discounts are offered to customers to encourage non-cash payment methods.

Vietnam is also seeing heavy investments in payments infrastructure to meet the requirements of the non-cash payments.

The number of POS terminals in the country increased from 278,000 in 2019 to nearly 375,000 now.

In addition, there are over 100,000 QR Code accepting points to support electronic payments.