Currently, there were 78 organisations providing Internet payment services and 47 mobile phone payment services providers. The number of payment transactions on the Internet then reached more than 100 million per quarter, which on mobile phones was up to 200 million transactions per quarter.
The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) had just granted a license to provide intermediary payment services to the 9PAY Joint Stock Company. Under the license of SBV, 9PAY was allowed to provide the following information exchange services: Electronic payment gateway service; Support services for representing collection and payment; Electronic wallet service. This license would have been valid for 10 years since August 2020.
In July 2020, SBV also granted licenses to some non-banking units to operate in the provision of information services, including FPT Telecom Joint Stock Company (FPT TELECOM); AIRPAY Joint Stock Company (AIRPAY); CONNEXION Vietnam Company Limited (CONNEXION); Financial Information Technology Joint Stock Company No.1 (1FINTECH), and so on. Thus, only from the beginning of the year until then, SBV had allowed nine organisations to provide information services, bringing the total number of units that were not banks participating in the provision of international banking services up to 37. This had been a record since SBV started to license units operating in this field in 2015. That showed the non-cash payment was still a land of great potential and a fiercely competitive market.
Since 2008, when some financial technology companies (Fintech) began to appear in the market, SBV had piloted a license for some units participating in the commercial market in the form of information exchange services. However, until 2012, when the government’s Decree No. 101/2012/ND-CP on the non-cash payment was issued, there were specific regulations on the conditions for providing information services. Accordingly, an organisation that wanted to provide information services must be allowed by SBV and had to meet some conditions, such as a minimum charter capital of 50 billion dong, other conditions in terms of human resources, techniques, operations. By the end of 2015, SBV started to grant official operating licenses to information service providers. However, the non-cash payment had really exploded in recent years, with the participation of more and more Fintech companies.
Currently, there were 78 organisations providing Internet payment services and 47 organisations providing mobile phone payment services. The number of payment transactions on the Internet then reached more than 100 million per quarter, which on mobile phones was up to 200 million transactions per quarter. Out of 37 organisations that were not banks involved in the provision of intermediary payment services, not all units had the ability to launch their own brand of e-wallet. In fact, in the past few years, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic appeared, they were gradually dominating the supply of commercial centers. Because, by e-wallets, customers could pay not only phone services, electricity and water bills, but also other food and entertainment services. These were only small items but overwhelming the number of transactions compared to banks. Not to mention, Fintech companies could also participate as intermediaries for payment of financial loans, installment loans, consumer loans.
Therefore, after a period of scrutinising each other, banks and Fintechs had chosen to link to win-win. Currently on the market there were more than 20 e-wallets, but each wallet was linked to many banks, making the payment of customers greatly convenient. According to the provisions of Circular 23/2019/TT-NHNN dated 22/Nov/2019, the total transaction limit via individual e-wallets of one customer at one e-wallet service provider (including payment transactions for legal goods and services and money transfer transactions from e-wallets to other e-wallets opened by the same e-wallet service provider) reached up to 100 million dong per month.
The development of commercial centers in general and the information service providers in particular was thanks to the inevitable needs of the people and the support of technology. However, it must also be affirmed, from the direction of the government, the fierce involvement of credit institutions in developing the commercial market, through the implementation of the development of the commercial market centre; the scheme to promote the via-bank payment for Public services (taxes, electricity, water, tuition fees, hospital fees and payment for social security programmes), had created the foundation for the commercial centre to develop like these days.
In the future, there would be many new forms of trade centers appearing and certainly the competition in the payment market would be fiercer. Credit institutions that could keep up with the changing trend of technology, have a clear development strategy and capture the changing needs and behavior of consumers, would had a greater chance of winning.
