Vietnamese prefer cash over online transactions
Many Vietnamese people still prefer cash payment over online transaction because of security concerns.
A survey announced at the Towards a Cashless Society conference held in Ho Chi Minh City on January 15 showed that 80% of the asked people said they still pay cash on delivery. Even though more people have started shopping online, not many of them choose online payments.
Deputy Director of EVN HCM City Nguyen Duy Quoc Viet speaks at the conference on January 15
Le Hai Binh, vice chairman at Vietnam E-Commerce Association (VECOM), said 90% of online shoppers paid cash on delivery as many of them still did not trust the online banking system. However, the number of people choose to pay online for utilities such as electricity or customs duties is exceptionally high.
Nguyen Duy Quoc Viet, deputy director of EVN HCM City, said the number of individual customers who pay online was rising annually and over 90% of the companies paid online.
"In order to encourage cashless payments, we should create payment methods that are easy to use. By the end of 2018, we have co-operated with 23 banks and nine partners to let customers pay electricity bills via ATMs, bank transaction rooms or mobile apps," he said.
Pham Tien Dung, director general of Payment Department at the State Bank of Vietnam, said one of the reasons for why so few people paid online was the lack of infrastructure in rural areas. Many experts agreed that Vietnamese people are still worried about the security of the transactions and the recent bank fraud cases didn't help.
The authorities are working to improve the technology, security of banking transactions and payment system to detect unusual signs such as huge transactions, too many failed log-in attempts or suspicious geographical locations.
SBV Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh said the SBV would continue to push for a cashless community by implementing various measures including the QR code and launch new payment methods for rural areas.
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