HANOI, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnamese consumers have been fast embracing cards, the Internet and apps for financial transactions which are averaged at 40 billion U.S. dollars a day, Vietnam News Agency reported on Monday.
The State Bank of Vietnam has set a goal of making cashless payment half of all transactions by 2025, said Pham Anh Tuan, head of the central bank's Payment Department.
More Vietnamese consumers have shifted from cash towards new means of contactless payment as more than 75 percent of adults across the country have a bank account, according to the central bank.
The number of interbank electronic payment transactions rose 52.8 percent in the first four months from a year ago, and payments via QR code posted the largest growth of more than 161 percent in volume and 36 percent in value, said the central bank.
Meanwhile, cash withdrawals from ATMs extended declines over the same period, falling by 3.5 percent in quantity and 5.5 percent in value, the central bank added.
About 77 percent of Vietnamese consumers would comfortably get by for three straight days without ever using cash, a survey by international payment card provider Visa revealed.
Vietnam's central bank said it would will prioritize the development of a more comprehensive, accessible, and secure payment infrastructure across the country to make digital payment a preferred mode of transactions.
The central bank is also drafting a new decree to create a legal framework to promote non-cash payments, Tuan said.
The Vietnamese government is set to double the value of cashless settlements to the level equal to 25 times the country's gross domestic product by 2025 and half of e-commerce transactions will be cash-free. ■
