7th December 2018

Asia

Vietnam Wants to Reclaim a Top Spot in Fintech — Know the Facts

In the mid-1980s, no one believed in the promising workforce of Vietnam, now that has changed.

Like many other countries in Southeast Asia, Vietnam has been experiencing an extraordinary growth within its fintech sector, countless startups and medium-size companies see a business-friendly environment that allows them to develop different business models, structures and steps to meet an increasing demand for these services.

Vietnam has a diversified economy in which natural resources and tourism play a big part in their recent economic boom. Since the turn of the 21st century, the nation wanted to take part of the global economy, and according to a recent forecast, its 5.1 percent GDP growth may be the fastest of the world’s economies.

Turning Point

Mobile banking services are 144 percent more indispensable since 2013, and almost all the banks that have a big stake in the national economy had invested heavily in digital tools; big priority in most of their future plans, as 42 percent of them see internet banking with unlimited potential.

The numbers are enormous, so big that thousands of investors travel directly from Europe to Ho Chi Minh City in order to witness a mobile payment market that will reach a US$70,9 billion valuation by the next decade, an outstanding achievement that speaks volumes about the need of a more connected world, quick transactions, and affordability within the e-commerce sector.

“The Vietnamese government is keen to facilitate fintech innovation as part of their efforts to improve financial inclusion and to turn the economy into a cashless one by 2025.” An extract from a recent report made by rating agency Moody’s.

Famous names like Payoo, Mobivi, MoMo, 123Pay and NganLuong play an important role in the development of these technologies, providing access to loans, digital wallets and other financial tools to more than five million users inside and outside urban areas of Vietnam.

Point-of-sale purchases and transactions have increased considerably making the retail sector nearly cashless, and several companies achieved a considerable milestone by providing their services up to two million people in a short period of time since opening. All of this is thanks to the repercussion of merging technologies like high-speed connectivity, smartphone access, digital payment tools and biometric innovations, four of the many advancements that have benefited banks and fintech startups enormously.