Fintech development is accelerating in Vietnam with companies in the sector attracting US$117 million last year, the maximum funding in Vietnamese startups in 2018. Fintech surpassed e-commerce at US$104 million and other sectors, according to funding data by local accelerator Topica Founder Institute, showcasing the eagerness of investors to take part in Vietnam’s fintech opportunity. Vietnam’s rapidly evolving fintech sector has been largely driven the country’s young, digitally-savvy population, the high mobile phone and Internet penetration rate and the government’s push to curb cash usage and promote digital payments. Vietnam’s decision to become cashless by 2020 was announced in 2017…
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Earlier this month, bankers and fintech experts gathered in Vietnam to discuss the future of banking, the evolving payments landscape, and digitalization in the financial industry. Representatives of Deloitte, Asia Commercial Bank, Saigon Commercial Bank, Oracle, Fintechnews.sg and BankClub took part in two events organized in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam by American multinational computer technology firm Oracle during which they covered topics such as the Vietnam banking landscape, open banking, digital banking and payments innovation. Gaurav Goel, director of Deloitte, presented the numerous emerging forces shaping the future of banking, which include open banking and API standards,…
TADA, launched by a Singapore-based startup MVL, made its presence in Vietnam on Monday. The news comes less than a week after its launch in Cambodia. TADA – which means “let’s ride” in Korean – uses blockchain technology to curb the lack of verifiable information as well as lack of trust in vehicles. This nascent tech is used to store records such as payment transactions, vehicle movements, accidents and keep track of vehicle maintenance for potential car buyers. “With this technology [blockchain], we wish to provide higher value in term of balance between the rider’s fares and the driver’s 0%…
Fintech is gaining popularity around the world including in Vietnam where experts and industry observers predict strong growth, driven by the country’s low banking penetration and young and increasingly affluent population. “Vietnam has strong growth potential for fintech development, and technology startups specializing in financial services are emerging, led by those offering digital payment services,” rating agency Moody’s said in a report released in November 2018. About 80 fintech companies have sprung out in Vietnam in the past years, most of which operating in the digital payments space. These raised just US$3 million in funding in 2017 but strong growth…
Grab, Southeast Asia’s first decacorn valued at more than US$10 billion, began its humble beginnings as a ride-hailing app but has since evolved into one of the region’s “super app,” providing varied services ranging from food delivering, logistics services, and financial services across markets that include Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, and Cambodia. The Singapore-headquartered tech firm, originally from Malaysia, started expanding its offerings in 2015 with the introduction of its motorcycle rides service GrabBike but it’s only in 2016, that it unveiled plans to develop a payments platform, introducing the same year the GrabPay cashless digital wallet service.…
Cashless payments are booming in Vietnam, more than doubling in value over the first three quarters of 2018. In particular, transactions over mobile apps and digital wallets rose by an impressive 126% and 161%, respectively, according to Department of Payments at the State Bank of Vietnam. “Mobile payment is becoming a new trend with the rise of technologies such as QR codes, contact and contactless payments, and the tokenization of card information,” Nghiem Thanh Son, deputy director of the department, said, quoted by VN Express. The first months of 2018 saw the number of users and the value of transactions…
Vietnam has been experiencing a digital wave in its financial and banking industry, with payments through mobile banking services surging by a whopping 144% per year over the past five years, experts said at a conference last week. During the conference on digitalizing the banking industry, held in Hanoi last week, Pham Tien Dung, director of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)’s payment department, cited data from an SBV survey released earlier this year, noting that banks have been heavily investing into digitalizing their services and operations. By the end of April this year, 94% of local banks had invested…
On September 26, 2018, the National Economics University in Hanoi officially held a launch ceremony for the new International Bachelor Program in Financial Technology. Attending the event were Prof. Dr. Tran Tho Dat, principal of the school, Assoc. Prof. Jenho Peter Ou, vice president of School of Management at Asia University, Taiwan, Ms. Alice Chieng, education counselor at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, as well as several program leaders and lecturers of the National Economics University. In his welcoming speech at the opening ceremony, Prof. Dr. Tran Tho Dat congratulated the new students admitted to the bachelor program in…
Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending is becoming increasingly popular in Vietnam with new players entering the market and regulators moving forward with creating a favorable environment. In September, a new company called Megalend Viet Nam Investment and Trading Corporation made its debut in Ho Chi Minh City with a chartered capital of VND 5 billion (US$214, 000). The company operates a a P2P lending platform targeted at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), startup enterprises, especially those in high-tech agriculture and households. “Megalend Viet Nam targets to become one of the largest P2P lending platforms in Vietnam in the next three years,” said…
Vietnamese firms understand the need to adopt cutting-edge technologies including artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain, yet only a few of them are actually using them, according to a report by Navigos Group, an online recruitment company and subsidiary of en-japan Inc. A survey conducted by the firm polled over 1,000 IT professionals about their views of and experience with technologies such as cloud computing, big data, Internet-of-Things, blockchain and AI. The research found that cloud computing, big data, and software for automated conversion, were currently the most used technologies in the list by Vietnamese enterprises, while blockchain and AI were…
Although Vietnam remains a cash-dominant economy, evidences suggest that digital and mobile payments are rapidly growing. According to Harmander Mahal, head of retail banking at Standard Chartered Bank Vietnam, the rise of e-commerce in Vietnam is paving the way for development of digital payments. Mahal said, quoted by Vietnamnet Bridge: “I think e-commerce/card-not-present (CNP) platforms are the biggest engine of growth for electronic payments in Vietnam, driven by very high smartphone and mobile device penetration and one of the highest per-capita time spend on social media in Southeast Asia.” E-commerce is growing on Vietnamese consumers, who happen to be among…
Like the rest of emerging countries in Asia, digital banking penetration in Vietnam is on the rise. According to a survey by IDG Vietnam, 81% of respondents said they used digital banking solutions in 2017 compared to 21% in 2015. Digital banking solutions are appreciated for their convenience and time savings and while the growth is real and strong there is still plenty of opportunities. A survey by McKinsey found that approximately 60% of customer in Vietnam would consider opening an account with a branchless digital-only bank. Most of the banks in Vietnam are already providing Internet banking and digital…
Fintech companies, which leverage technology and digital platforms to provide financial services at lower cost and wider, better access, have a key role to play in Vietnam where only 59% of the population have a formal bank account. A paper by Le Thanh Tam of the National Economics University, Hanoi, and Le Nhat Hanh of the University of Economics, Ho Chi Minh City, released earlier this year argues that fintech has the potential to significantly improve financial inclusion in Vietnam. Huge opportunities With a young population, and high mobile phone and Internet penetration rates, Vietnam is fertile ground for the…
Here comes our selection of must read Fintech News from May. Also check out the Fintech Vietnam Job selection at the end of our newsletter. For Fintech Vietnam daily updates you can follow our Facebook Page, join our Facebook Group and Meetup community or follow us on Twitter. Vietnam Fintech Sector Report: All about Digital and Mobile Payments? Vietnam’s fintech industry is poised for growth as Internet and smartphone penetration rates continue to rise and as the government pursues its push for greater digitalization of the economy, according to a new report by consulting firm Solidiance. (Read more) Huobi Strategizes Market Penetration into Vietnams Growing Blockchain Market…
Vietnam’s fintech industry is poised for growth as Internet and smartphone penetration rates continue to rise and as the government pursues its push for greater digitalization of the economy, according to a new report by consulting firm Solidiance. In 2017, Vietnam’s fintech market reached US$4.4 billion in transaction value but the figure is set to rise to US$7.8 billion by 2020. Vietnam’s Internet penetration rate reached 52% in 2016 while smartphone ownership accounted for 72% in urban areas and 53% in rural areas. This makes Vietnam one of the fastest growing adopters of smartphones in Southeast Asia, the report says.…