Vietnam to have 50M digital wallets this year

It was 36 million as of last year, it said in a report.

The number of e-wallets has grown at a fast clip in recent years.

Since 2018 the number and value of transactions done through e-wallets have jumped by 80.4% and 83.5% a year.

Digital payments are becoming increasingly popular as smartphone usage grows, FiinGroup pointed out.

The number of smartphone users was estimated at 72.5 million in 2022, and is forecast to hit 82.2 million by 2025.

According to the State Bank of Vietnam, in the first 11 months of 2023, transactions made through mobile phones totaled nearly 7.13 billion in number and over VND49.4 quadrillion (US$2 billion) in value.

In 2022 Vietnam ranked third in Southeast Asia in terms of the number of e-wallets, behind only Indonesia and the Philippines, according to German statistics database Statista.

Statista expected the number of e-wallets in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam to rise to 215.7 million, 69.8 million, and 67.6 million by 2026.

The three countries also topped in terms of e-wallet usage rate, a Visa survey found.

In Vietnam, Momo, Shopee Pay and VNPay account for most e-wallet users.

They all have different strategies for future growth.

Momo aims to become an all-in-one app by diversifying its partnerships and services through mergers and acquisitions and investments in startups and other companies.

ShopeePay hopes to capitalize on its e-commerce platform Shopee’s popularity and VNPay is focused on expanding its network of partners to become the most popular payment option for retailers.