He made the statement at a press conference held by Tuoi Tre Newspaper in coordination with the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) yesterday afternoon to announce a series of events for Cashless Day 2024 in Ho Chi Minh City.
At the press conference, Mr. Le Anh Dung said that by the end of 2023, Vietnam had over 182 million individual payment accounts and 87.08 percent of adults owned a payment account. There were more than 147 million bank cards in circulation and 32.77 million e-wallets were active in the country.
In comparison of the first four months of 2024 and the same period in 2023, the figures showed that cashless payment indicators have experienced significant growth. Cashless payment transactions increased by 57.11 percent in volume and 39.49 percent in value. Cashless payment on the Internet increased by 47.48 percent in volume and 30.2 percent in value while cashless payment through the mobile phone channel increased by 59.26 percent in volume and 35.91 percent in value. ATM transactions continued to decrease by 14.15 percent in volume and 7.84 percent in value compared to the same period in 2023.
The growth of payment transactions through the Internet and Mobile channels averaged 52 percent and 103.3 percent respectively during the period 2021-2023. Moreover, growth in the number and value of payments through QR codes reached over 170 percent. Regarding account opening through electronic means (eKYC), 40 banks reported that they had officially implemented nearly 35 million eKYC payment accounts in operation.
Upon network security and safety for payment activities, the SBV has regularly issued directives to banks about strengthening the security and safety of payment activities, including requiring credit institutions and payment intermediaries to review internal processes and regulations. The SBV also noted that opening e-wallet payment accounts by eKYC for customers using chip-based citizen ID cards has been given priority with a focus on increasing risk management and performance of 100 percent post-audit on eKYC-opened accounts/e-wallets.
Last but not least, the SBV has coordinated with the Ministry of Public Security to inspect the security of information systems and the opening and use of payment accounts at many credit institutions and payment intermediaries. The SBV also regularly directs commercial banks in the sector to do a good job of communication to raise awareness of information security and prevent fraud and payment fraud for all bank staff and customers.
Le Thuy Sen, Head of the SBV's Communication Department, emphasized the importance of financial education communication because this aims to raise public awareness of banking products and services while limiting risks for consumers using financial products and services and pushing back black credit.
