On July 4, the 52nd Entrepreneur Coffee Programme organised by the Hochiminh City Business Association (HUBA) would take place under theme ‘Source of capital and modern payment.’
Positive results
According to the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), over the past time, despite being affected by the Covid-19 epidemic, the non-cash payment activity had continued to thrive with many new and modern banking products and utilities applied. The number and value of payment grew sharply.
Pham Tien Dung, director of the SBV Payment Department, said that to help businesses reduce damage due to the Covid-19 epidemic, SBV had issued a circular on cutting 50 percent of transaction fees via inter-electronic payment system (applicable from April 1 to December 31, 2020).
SBV had also twice directed the Vietnam National Payment Joint Stock Company (Napas) and credit institutions to exempt and reduce payment service fees. Up to then, 100 percent of banks had confirmed to carry out the fee exemption and reduction policy for customers. The estimated total payment service fee that banks had exempted, reduced for customers, by the end of 2020, was about 1.004 trillion.
According to Hochiminh City Electricity Corporation (EVNHCMC), the current percentage of customers paying electricity without cash was over 98%. The diversification of electricity collection forms had the advantage of being quick, saving time, travelling costs of customers, and flexible payment time. Bui Trung Kien, deputy general director of EVNHCMC, said that the electricity bill collection was being carried out through 23 banks and 10 collecting partners in the city with the rate of non-cash use up to 98.36 percent of customers, equivalent to 98.31 percent of the money value. In particular, the proportion of customers paying via websites, e-wallets, etc. had increased over the past few years, in line with the general trend of e-commerce and payment of electricity bills.
According to experts, the benefits of non-cash payments for both individual customers and businesses in the technology boom trend were enormous. For example, the Vietnam Agricultural Products Support Programme was implemented by MoMo e-wallet and Saigon Co.op after 20 days just ended with more than 75 tonnes of Luc Ngan litchi; 2,855 kilogram of ST Xuan Hong rice was sold to consumers and called for donations of more than 86 million dong to support school fees for children of disadvantaged farmers. The results not only helped solve the short-term problem of the output for agricultural products in the context of the Covid-19 epidemic but also opened a new direction for future agrarian consumption.
Businesses still felt reserved
Although commercial banks were continuously implementing promotions, incentives, offering many new banking products and services applying technology, leaders of some commercial banks said that most businesses related to banks were only interested in deposits or loans. They were not interested in using new payment channels to manage cash flow, reduce capital costs.
Talking to reporters Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper, leaders of many businesses pointed out that the biggest obstacle lied not in technology and application of service providers but enterprises’ psychology. Do Phuoc Tong, Chair of Member Council of Duy Khanh Mechanical Company, frankly shared that there had been a few things to consider carefully before using online payment services, especially important cash flow control issues. Because when paying online to use digital signatures, sharing digital signatures with related individuals and departments was quite sensitive and potentially risky compared to live signatures, Tong wondered.
The general manager of a food company in Hochiminh City also said that he had repeatedly rejected the proposal of the finance director about using online payment services because he did not feel secure. He was also the director of a subsidiary company in the province because he could not directly sign the papers of the subsidiary. Thus, he authorised the head of the finance department to sign and control by asking banks to report any account fluctuations in/out to his phone number. Similarly, even at the corporation, large expenses must be consulted and submitted to the general director for approval. Although knowing electronic payment had several advantages, but financial problems must be cautious, rather than a bit slow but safe, the general manager explained.
Pham Ngoc Hung, vice Chair of HUBA, said that most small and medium-sized enterprises only cared about loan approval and disbursement procedures of banks and how to manage cash flow and traditional transactions. Accountants also wanted to go to the bank to have clear transaction invoices, at least signed by the transaction staff for peace of mind.
