Da Nang, the region’s major economic driver, is making headway in raising awareness on the benefits of cashless transactions as well as in building financial and technical infrastructure for the future development of a cashless society.

The city has set a target to bring the amount of cash-based transactions to less than 10% and reach 30 million credit and debit card transactions in 2020. — Photo thebank.vn

The city has implemented a project to help distribute information on cashless transactions to local businesses and people. The city’s branch of the State Bank and other credit institutes have taken measures to help customers understand that their rights will be protected and their privacy and conveniences are top priorities.

Credit institutes have been reviewing the city’s POS (point-of-sale) and mPOS network to recall rarely-used POS machines, installing modern ATM machines with a wide range of functions to provide customers with more services as well as online support.

Deputy Chairman of the city’s People Committee Tran Van Mien said the project aims to change residents’ mindset and perception on cashless transactions, widen the city’s electronic-payment network coverage and cater to the needs of local residents and international visitors.

Despite the rising popularity of cashless payments, especially among youngsters and high-income earners, the city still faces difficulties in getting through to small-time vendors, local markets and restaurants, who prefer cash-based transactions. In addition, there is a lack of financial services designed to support such small businesses.

The city has set a target to bring the amount of cash-based transactions to less than 10% and to reach 30 million credit and debit card transaction in 2020. It also plans to upgrade its electronic payment network and develop numerous forms of cashless products.

Financial experts said cashless payments could help propel economic development. US-based Boston Consulting Group said a simplified process of sending and receiving payments can spur growth and boost financial inclusion with economies that are quick to adapt and switch to digital tend to be doing better.

While the outlook of cashless payment development in Viet Nam remains positive with the implementation of modern infrastructure and technology as well as the support of the Government, the country is still lagging behind. A CEO of a major e-commerce website in Viet Nam said the Vietnamese customer-preferred mode of payment was still cash with 65% of buyers prefer Cash on Delivery payment, 8 times the world’s average.

(Source: VNS)