E-wallet provider responds to media reports of foreign POS cards and QR codes being used in Vietnam.
VIMO & Lotte Duty Free come to payment agreement
VIMO to provide e-payments at SASCO outlets
VIMO.vn E-Wallet makes shopping easier for Chinese tourists
Stories of certain shops in Vietnam using Chinese POS (point-of-sale) payment cards and QR codes have appeared in Vietnamese media over recent times, raising concerns about tax losses in foreign currency transactions involving Chinese tourists. In mid-May, for example, in Ha Long city on the shores of famed Ha Long Bay, authorities discovered that more than 200,000 Renminbi, or VND700 million ($30,730), had been transferred directly through POS machines and not through the banking system or payment intermediaries in Vietnam.
To promote the public discussion and avoid any misunderstandings, e-wallet provider VIMO has released information about the occurrence of such transactions.
According to figures from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, tourists from China totalled nearly 1.8 million in the first four months of 2018 and South Korea nearly 1.2 million, increases of 39.7 per cent and 67.3 per cent year-on-year and accounting for nearly 60 per cent of all inbound tourists.
Travel experts have recognised that tourists from these two key Asian markets are the biggest spenders when travelling. Unfavourable and inconvenient payment methods, however, have seen many keep their money in their pockets or, at times, pay with foreign currency or illegally use foreign POS payments.
Do Cong Dien, general manager of VIMO, said the most frequently used forms of payment in these countries are not cash or bank cards but mobile e-wallets operated by intermediaries, with Alipay and Wechat Pay being the most popular in China and Nonghuyp Bank and Kakao Pay in South Korea.
Cross-Border E- Payments (CBEP) are very popular all over the world, especially in destinations favoured by Chinese and South Korean tourists. Ingenico has cooperated with Alipay to develop CBEP in Europe and, similarly, in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia the acceptance of Alipay and Wechat Pay is also widespread.
VIMO is now the first and only company with cooperative arrangements with both Alipay and WeChat Pay (with no equity capital involved), implementing the acceptance of CBEP through e-wallets for Chinese and South Korean tourists when they travel to Vietnam and make payments at sale units in Vietnam for which VIMO has reported on and sent documentation to the State Bank of Vietnam. Accordingly, when visitors use a foreign e-wallet app to pay, VIMO directs the foreign e-wallet company to deduct the payment amount and credit the Vimo e-wallet of the vendor in Vietnam in dong (VND), in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.
VIMO contributes 30-50 per cent to increases in sales turnover at Vietnamese businesses thanks to its convenient e-payment methods, which also stimulate consumption among foreign visitors as they no longer need to carry so much cash. When the reconciliation period comes around, the overseas e-wallet company transfers the payment amount to VIMO’s payment bank in Vietnam, bringing about significant sources of foreign currency to Vietnam.
http://vneconomictimes.com/article/business/vimo-answers-critics-of-cross-border-e-payments
