Up to 70 percent of the operational fintech businesses in Vietnam are startups funded by foreign investors from developed nations, indicating the strong potential for further growth for the local fintech sector, according to the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology at Vietnam National University-HCM City.
The results of a survey by the institute showed that Vietnam has over 154 firms operating in the fintech sector, including 37 active in the payment segment, 27 in the consumer lending segment, and 22 in the blockchain and cryptocurrency and remittance segments.
Speaking at a ceremony held today, October 7, to introduce a series of events at the Vietnam ICT Outlook (VIO) 2019 seminar, Hoang Cong Gia Khanh, director of the institute, said that the fintech sector is closely associated with banking policies and tech applications.
Fintech enterprises, commercial banks and financial organisations are gradually developing the digital banking ecosystem, he added.
The fintech startups in the country have been funded by foreign investors from developed countries such as Japan, the United States, Canada, Australia, Denmark, France and other neighbouring countries, Khanh said.
High foreign investments in the fintech sector have highlighted the trend of fintech firms in Vietnam quickly entering the market, with the sector expected to outstrip the market share of the potential retail segment of traditional banks.
The fintech sector is growing strongly, significantly changing business models to create a number of opportunities for firms to do business. A wide range of fintech services include ewallets, peer-to-peer money transfers, mobile payments, mobile banking, peer-to-peer lending, digital banking and blockchain banking.
Addressing the ceremony, Lam Nguyen Hai Long, chair of the HCM City Computer Association (HCA), said that HCA has collaborated with a foreign partner, Fintech Academy Singapore, to organise the specialised seminar on the fintech sector for the first time.
The VIO 2019 seminar, themed “Shaping the Future of Vietnam Fintech,” which is set to take place in late October, will gather banks, fintech experts and State agencies to share technology trends, the positive influence of fintech on the economy and information related to the fintech sector.
The VIO 2019 seminar is expected to feature 30 booths of banks, fintech firms and information and technology enterprises.
The event will be co-organised by HCA, Fintech Academy Singapore, the Vietnam Banks Association and the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology on October 30 and 31.
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