The Saigon Union of Trading Cooperatives (Saigon Co.op) aims to become the first local retailer to apply digital payment technology through its collaboration with e-wallet service provider MoMo.
The two sides signed a strategic cooperation agreement on bolstering digitalisation at Saigon Co.op’s supermarket and store chain at a ceremony held on December 17 in HCM City, targeting trillions of dong in e-transactions.
According to Nguyen Anh Duc, a board member and vice general director at Saigon Co.op, modern payment activities will drive up the rate of cashless transactions through Saigon Co.op facilities, from below 5 percent to 30%, in the next five years. Aside from the MoMo e-wallet, customers can use bank cards for payments.
The country’s leading retailer and the e-wallet operator signed the deal after a successful trial of payment activities on the MoMo app at Saigon Co.op outlets starting in 2018, recording a soaring number of MoMo users this year.
Speaking to the Saigon Times, the Saigon Co.op representative stated that non-cash payments have brought two major advantages to the retail sector: Supermarket operators can save on costs related to handling cash and thousands of hours can be saved by customers who no longer have to queue thanks to faster payment methods.
Despite being listed among local retailers who have invested heavily in technology, Saigon Co.op’s technology investment is still much lower than that of foreign retailers. Accordingly, the retailer will focus more attention on technology investment, said Duc.
Addressing the signing event, Pham Thanh Duc, general director of MoMo, claimed that the e-wallet operator, with over 13 million users, is keen to collaborate with retailers, targeting frequent, small-scale e-transactions.
In 2020, the two sides will jointly launch many technology-based services and applications such as vouchers, prepaid cards, solutions for ecommerce booths and money transfer services.
Saigon Co.op currently operates over 800 supermarkets and shopping malls across the country, with over one million shoppers per day. Meanwhile, MoMo has a network of 13 million users and some 100,000 points of sale, in addition to roughly 12,000 service provider-partners.
