Cashless transactions worth 23 times GDP in 2023

This is 90% of the 2025 target, Pham Anh Tuan, director general of the central bank’s Payment Department, said at a conference Wednesday on the banking industry’s digital transformation.

With Vietnam’s GDP standing at US$430 billion last year, cashless payments were worth an estimated $9.89 trillion.

The central bank’s data also suggests that Vietnamese are gradually shifting away from cash.

In January the number of ATMs in the country were nearly 2% down from a year ago to 20,986, it said.

Crowding at ATMs during holidays has become less common, it said.

The interbank electronic payment system processed 20-25 million cashless transactions a day last year, it added.

Some 87% of adults have at least one bank account, already higher than the 2025 target of 80%.

Cashless payments grew by more than 50% last year, the central bank said.

Transactions made through mobile phones doubled while those made through websites increased by 50%.

More than 49% of the population made non-cash payments.

Tuan said the infrastructure for digital transformation is always up to date to ensure stable, smooth and safe operations.

More than half of banks have self-service systems that allow customers to carry out banking activities themselves, he said.

Point of sale payment systems are now utilized in all provinces and cities, he said.

Vietnam has established cross-border QR code payment systems with Thailand, Cambodia and, soon, with Laos, he said.

A survey by payment company Visa published in March found that 56% of Vietnamese carried less cash last year than in 2022.

The number of consecutive days Vietnamese did not use cash on average was 11, up nearly four times from 2022.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the conference on digital transformation for the banking sector on May 8, 2024. Photo by VGP

Speaking at the conference, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stressed that digital transformation is a necessity and the economy’s top priority now.

The government expects the banking sector to pioneer digital transformation because it has an impact on all other industries and the public, he added.