Mobile Money to be piloted in Vietnam in October

• Sep 28, 2021

The Ministry of Information and Communications will licence the Mobile Money service in early October to promote digital transformation and the digital economy in Vietnam.

Speaking at the Prime Minister’s online conference with the business community and local governments on September 26, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung emphasized that to create the digital environment, electronic payment is considered the foundation. Mobile Money is the best solution to spread the coverage of electronic payments.

“The final procedures are being completed to licence Mobile Money in early October. This is expected to be a strong push to promote digital transformation and the digital economy,” he said.

On March 9, 2021, the Prime Minister approved the pilot implementation of Mobile Money within two years. Nguyen Son Hai, Deputy General Director of VNPT Media, said that it is difficult for people to access electronic payment means via e-wallets or bank accounts. The implementation of Mobile Money will bring great benefits to the economy and people will have more electronic payment tools. This is the foundation to digital citizenship and digital society when the density of mobile phones is universal.

“Piloting Mobile Money is a great effort of the Government as well as related ministries, especially the role of the Ministry of Information and Communications. This is also a sandbox applied to a new, difficult and sensitive service area, but it is a model that can be applied to many new services that will be allowed to pilot by the Government later. Mobile Money is the first sandbox related to many ministries and sectors that will be piloted to meet the needs of society,” said Hai.

Vu Hoang Lien, Chairman of Vietnam Internet Association, said that Mobile Money service will bring many benefits to consumers and society, promoting non-cash payment.

“If it is licensed soon, Mobile Money will be the Government’s first sandbox to create breakthroughs and strong momentum for new technologies and new services,” Lien said.

From the perspective of service providers, Pham Trung Kien, CEO of Viettel Digital, said that when the Government allows the deployment of Mobile Money to pay for services and goods of small denominations, the number of users will be huge because the coverage of mobile networks is much wider than that of banks, even in remote and remote areas, where people do not have a bank account. This will make a boom for cashless payments in Vietnam. That is, overnight, anyone in Vietnam can use their phone to make non-cash payments.

Thai Khang

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/en/sci-tech-environment/mobile-money-to-be-piloted-in-vietnam-in-october-778519.html