Vietnam’s Zalo Pay Brings Payments To Social Media in Vietnam
by Fintech News Singapore August 7, 2017Zalo Pay, a product of ZION, is bringing mobile, contactless payments to Vietnam’s popular social media and messaging platform Zalo.
Launched in 2012, Zalo is a free message and call mobile app used by 70 million people. Zalo entered the Myanmar market in mid-2016 and got 2 million users just after four months. The app is mainly used in countries with large Vietnamese communities such as the US, Korea, Japan, and Singapore.
Introduced in late-2016 after a period of testing, Zalo Pay is a mobile payments app that aims to tap into the new era of mobile-based financial services that merges social media, payments and mobile.
China’s tech giant Tencent, the owner and operator of popular messaging app and social media platform WeChat, is one of the initiators of the social payment trend. WeChat offers in-app payment features, allowing users to pay bills, order goods and services, transfer money to other users, and pay in stores.
HitPay Technologies, a startup based in Singapore that specializes in mobile payments, offers a comparable solution. The HitPay Payment Keyboard, which was launched in June this year, allows users to easily make cash transactions instantly to their contacts or to a mobile phone number. The solution provides financial institutions and payment providers with the ability offer an instant and contextual payments experience to their customers within any communication app.
Similarly, Zalo Pay lets users link a payment card to make peer-to-peer payments, pay via NFC, QR codes, as well as purchase products and services online, mobile topups, and pay their utility bills. Zalo Pay is integrated with Zalo and requires users to log in using their Zalo account.
At Vietnam ICT Comm 2017, VNG Corporation demonstrated a solution that integrated Zalo Pay’s automated payment. The firm invited participants to purchase drinks from vending machines that supported contactless, mobile payments through Zalo Pay.
ZION joins Vietnam Banks Association
ZION is the owner of 123Pay and an affiliate of VNG Corporation (formerly Vinagame), a Vietnamese tech company specializing in digital content and online entertainment, social networking and e-commerce.
In early 2016, online payment platform 123Pay was granted a license to provide intermediary payment services, electronic payments and digital wallet services. 123Pay serves over 200 e-commerce enterprises in Vietnam including Lazada, Galaxy Cinema and Nguyen Kim’s electronics superstore.
In 2016, 123Pay processed over 2,000 billion VND (US$87.9 million) worth of transactions, up 60% compared with 2015’s number of 850 billion VND (US$37.3 million). The online payment platform is integrated with large banks such as Vietcombank, VietinBank, BIDV and Sacombank.
Truong Cam Thanh, Director of ZION, and Nguyen Toan Thang, General Secretary of Vietnam Banks Association, via VNG.com.vn
ZION recently joined the Vietnam Banks Association, a move aimed at advancing fintech innovation in Vietnam, and support the country’s digital payment push triggered in 2016.
Truong Cam Thanh, the director of ZION, said:
“ZION is honored to become a member of the Vietnam Bankers Association. We are committed to fully adhering to the Association’s rules and work with other members towards building a transparent, cashless, financial economy. Currently, ZION is developing two e-wallet products, 123Pay and Zalo Pay, and hopefully these two products will be supported by the end of the year.”
At a ceremony held in July, Nguyen Toan Thang, the general secretary of the Vietnam Banks Association, said:
“Fintech in Vietnam is growing strongly, and foreign investors are very interested and willing to invest in Vietnam’s fintech industry. In the context of the 4.0 technology revolution that is creating new opportunities and challenges, members need to join forces to create the slogan of the Association.”
Vietnam’s VNG Corporation is among the biggest Internet and tech firms in the country and Southeast Asia with more than 2,000 employees and millions of users around the globe.
VNG Corporation is in preparation for its initial public offering (IPO) on the US’s NASDAQ stock market. The proposed IPO would make VNG Corporation, which is backed by Goldman Sachs and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, the first firm from Vietnam to list overseas.
According to the company’s financial report, VNG Corporation earned 3 trillion VND (US$133 million) in net revenue in 2016.
Featured image via Zalo Pay.
