E-wallet or digital wallet refers to an electronic device that allows an individual to make electronic transactions. This can include purchasing items online with a computer or using a smartphone to purchase something at a store in a quick and convenient manner. As such, with the e-wallet, user can now make transactions anywhere and any when, which can help them to reduce expense and save time in compared with other kinds of transactions. In particular, in remote areas, where banks are not available, with e-wallet users can still purchase goods online comfortably.
More and more e-wallets are available in Vietnam.
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At present, in addition the cooperation between commercial banks and e-wallets, some banks have developed their own e-wallet. With this being said, representative of LienViet Post Bank said, Vi Viet is a online transaction portal, as this kind of online payment will help customers paying for bills and purchasing online without having to have cash. After one year of operation till the end of April 2017, Vi Viet has nearly 1.2 million users with 5,000 locations accepting online payment across the country. As such, it is expected that by the end of 2017, Vi Viet will have around 2.5 million users with 10,000 locations accepting this e-wallet.
According to expert, e-wallet will continue to boom in the future. With advantages of more than 50 million people using internet and the growing trend of using smart phones, e-wallet is proving to be a new trend with huge potential for development in Vietnam. Therefore, if banks do not take this chance and invest heavily in new technologies, the online payment market will be dominated by e-wallets or Fintech.
CEO of MOCA, an online payment application on smart phone Tran Thanh Nam said, the next generation of mobile payment is more secure than traditional online payment with plastic cards or e-wallet. In Vietnam, when the economy is on the rise, and components in the ecosystem of online transaction are formed such as banks and Fintech, mobile payment will no doubt continue its growing trend.
A leader of MOMO e-wallet said, right in the beginning MOMO has focused on expanding the transaction service for basic public services such as to pay for bills of water, electricity, internet. However, for this kind of service to be fully developed, MoMO has set up 5,000 branches in Vietnam to support all kind of transaction services.
Despite its growing trend, the market for e-wallet is considered to have large room for development. As the habit of using cash and other issues with regard to security have prevented people from using e-wallet. As such, for this kind of service to grow, there should be more of the cooperation between banks and transaction service providers.
