Market Trends of Vietnam Mobile Payments Industry
Increased Mobile Penetration Drives the Market in the Country
- Increased utilization of smartphones can switch to m-payments, which make payments easier due to their convenience and quick process. As per GSMA, between 2021 and 2025, 15 million new mobile internet users in Vietnam will come from Vietnam. By 2025, smartphones will account for more than 85% of connections in Vietnam, up from 62 % in recent years.
- Moreover, 73.5 % of Vietnam currently use smartphones. In the previous year, the proposed National Digital Infrastructure Strategy for 2025 states that Vietnam wants to raise the rate to 85%. In recent years, Vietnam had 91.3 million smartphone customers, according to the Department of Telecommunications, a division of the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC). There were two million more smartphone customers, increasing to 93.5 million in the previous year.
- Mobile wallets are expected to push toward cashless payment in Vietnam, a country with a higher unbanking population, and most people pay for goods valued at less than VND100,000 VND (USD 4.41) by cash. Through increased penetration of smartphones, people get acquainted with mobile payments and experience the convenience of using them.
- Further, the increasing mobile penetration has driven the growth of m-commerce in the country. The success of various Vietnamese-origin e-commerce platforms, such as Tiki, Sendo, and The gioididong, demonstrates Vietnam's ability to foster e-commerce. These platforms have grown into big e-commerce powerhouses thanks to investments from Japan, Germany, the United States, South Korea, China, and Singapore. The growth of online shopping has further facilitated the growth of mobile wallets in the country.
- According to General Statistics Office of Vietnam, in 2023, Vietnam produced around 197.3 million mobile phones. Following notable declines due to the COVID-19 pandemic starting in 2019, the country's cell phone production has begun to rebound, indicating a recovery trend. Notably, mobile phones rank as one of Vietnam's top export products.
Understand The Key Trends Shaping This Market
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Retail to Experience Significant Growth
- Recently, a banh mi (Vietnamese sandwich) store on Dang Van Ngu Street in Hanoi drew a lot of young consumers not just because the price of the sandwich was under VND 20,000 (USD 0.8) but also because the young customers were delighted with the shop's new payment mechanism. Such experiences indicate the potential for growth of the mobile payments market in the country.
- Moreover, customers may use the QR code attached directly to the glass cabinet housing the sandwich to purchase without using cash by swiping it. To make payments quicker and more accessible, the business accepts more than ten types of e-wallets.
- Since the pandemic began, there has been a noticeable rise in the usage of e-wallets, payments made through cellphones and QR codes, and a strong demand for instant credit solutions like buy-now-pay-later, particularly among the underbanked and unbanked populations.
- StatCounter reports that as smartphone usage surges in Vietnam, mobile internet has become ubiquitous. Notably, Vietnamese consumers have ramped up their spending on mobile apps. In 2023, their expenditure reached USD 549.9 million.
