Deputy PM: Vietnam supports cashless payments

The Vietnamese Government will continue to support and solidify legal regulations on cashless payment systems, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue told Anthony Tan, CEO and co-founder of Grab – a ride-hailing platform in Southeast Asia which has been popular in Vietnam over the past five years. 

During a reception in Hanoi on October 2, the Deputy PM said that cashless payment reform is another step towards e-government, and as such the Government will pay close attention to the issue, especially for online public services payments. 

He said there are 78 credit organisations supplying cashless payment services and 28 others offering other mediums of payment such as e-wallet and electronic payment portals in Vietnam. 

Apart from facilitating payment, he said Vietnam’s legal regulations must ensure financial safety and prevent money laundering. 

The host asked Grab to send applications to Vietnam’s agencies to launch cashless payment services and consider expanding into logistics in the country. 

Tan, for his part, expressed his wishes that Vietnam would allow the opening of e-wallets without connecting to bank accounts. He suggested that e-wallets could be registered at convenience stores and the e-KYC (Know Your Customer) process would be enabled to reduce turnaround time and paperwork. 

He said Grab wants to assist Vietnam in building and launching online payments for public services under the e-government project.

At the World Economic Forum on ASEAN 2018 held in mid-September in Hanoi, Grab also offered other suggestions on developing cashless payment to the Vietnamese Government.

Source: Vietnam Plus