Hanoi (VNA) - A lack of cooperationbetween banks, service providers and customers is the major issue preventingthe widespread use of cashless payments in Vietnam, Nguyen Dinh Thang,Chairman of LienVietPostBank’s Board of Directors, said at the BankingVietnam 2019 event in Hanoi on May 30.

If banks want their customers to payelectric bills on their systems, they should work with the power sector todevelop a customer database and then offer the online payment service tousers, he said.

The money spent on bills will be deductedfrom users’ e-wallets and bank cards, then transferred into power firms’accounts.

The Government has tried to reduce the useof cash across economic sectors. The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) should workwith commercial banks to develop a 24-hour transfer system so billscan be paid even in the middle of the night, Thang said.

The Vietnamese banking-financial system has madesignificant development in recent years, allowing customers to gain more accessto financial-banking services.

Major audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)last year classified Vietnam as the top growing market in terms of mobilepayment.

According to the SBV, the value of mobile andinternet payment transactions last year were up 19.5 percent and 169.5 percentyear on year, respectively.

Many banks and financial institutions in Vietnamhave used digital solutions to cut costs, increase processing speeds andstrengthen security for their clients, said Nghiem Thanh Son, Deputy Directorof the SBV’s Payment Department.

QR codes are one of those tools. Others arebiometrics, contactless payment and tokenisation. There are 16 banksoffering QR code payment at a total of 30,000 stores and shops across thecountry.

However, the development of the cashless paymentsegment has remained limited as the infrastructure is only well-developed inthe urban areas, Son said. Disadvantaged localities have been left behind.

A majority of people still want to pay for goodsand services in cash because they fear potential risks of cashless paymentservices, he said.

SBV Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh said thebanking system must move forward with digitalisation and centralise customersonline because virtual interaction has become more favourable to most customersthan face-to-face meetings.

Banks and financial institutions are urged toacquire Industry 4.0 technologies to provide additional high-tech bankingservices, she said.

A smart customer database must be explored sobanks can deepen their understanding of customers and offer more customised,reasonably priced, convenient and secured products and services, Anh added.-VNA