The central bank of Vietnam has officially joined the Regional Payment Connectivity (RPC) initiative to make cross-border payments faster, cheaper as well as more transparent and inclusive.
The RPC initiative, encompassing several modalities including QR-code and fast-payment based cross-border payments, was started by the central banks of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.
The goal of the RPC is to make inter-country payments more seamless, convenient, and affordable, allowing individuals and businesses to conduct transactions across the ASEAN region with ease.
The expansion to include the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) was said to be a priority of the ASEAN 2023 Indonesia Chairmanship.
According to a statement by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the RPC can also be expanded to neighboring economies and other countries beyond ASEAN going forward.
Deputy Governor Pham Thanh Ha, who represented SBV at the signing ceremony said,
“SBV is pleased to be a new signatory of the MOU on Cooperation in Regional Payment Connectivity and looks forward to the close coordination among all the parties to promote faster, cheaper, more transparent and more inclusive cross-border payments.
The MOU shows our solidarity and marks a good starting point for cooperation to strengthen regional economic integration and advance payment connectivity toward making ASEAN a global leader in payments connectivity.”