Vietnam plans to reduce half of cash use by 2020

HANOI, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) — Vietnamese government has recently approved an e-commerce development plan for the 2016-2020 period, which targets that some 50 percent of consumers in big cities will turn from cash to other forms of payment.

The government also expects all public services and all bidding to be online, with the contract implementation process published in the national bidding website, local VietnamNet online newspaper reported Tuesday.

Chiefs of several banks said the target of getting 50 percent of residents in large cities to use non-cash payment methods could be achieved soon since online banking services like mobile banking are booming.

The plan targets that some 30 percent of Vietnamese population will shop online and spend 350 U.S. dollars each person annually by 2020. Meanwhile, business-to-customer e-commerce turnover is set to increase 20 percent to hit 10 billion U.S. dollars by 2020, accounting for five percent of the country’s total retail and services turnover, said the plan.

Besides, all supermarkets, shopping malls and convenience stores will accept credit cards while around 70 percent of telecom, electricity and water service providers will accept online payments from customers.

According to the e-Commerce and Information Technology Department under Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade, as of 2015, some 48 million Vietnamese people used the internet and around 35 million had smart phones.

In addition, growth in the card market also represents a growing non-cash payment trend.

According to statistics from the Vietnam Banking Card Association, about 82 million cards had been issued by the end of 2015 in Vietnam, 90 percent of which were ATM cards.