Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Mobile money (MM) has not gained much popularity in the countryamong mobile phone users due to several shortcomings.

Nguyen Son Hai,Deputy General Director of VNPT Media Corp., underlined MM’s monthlytransaction limits of 10 million VND (437 USD) as a major downside discouragingclients.

He said thelimits were relatively low, not giving enough elbow room for personalexpenses, including monthly bills and daily outgoings.

Additionally,MM generally performs the same function as an e-wallet, but the former does notlink to a bank account like the latter.

The absence ofsuch a link is an inconvenience to people who make payments frequently via bankaccounts.

Anotherdownside is that money from MM accounts can only be transferred to otheraccounts in the same network, with inter-network transfers unavailable.

Bui Son Nam, DeputyGeneral Director of MobiFone, stressed that MM subscription required a newversion of ID cards.

Unfortunately,many people use old cards to subscribe to mobile phone services.

This meansthese subscribers have to go to network operator business locations toupdate personal information if they opt for MM. Such requirements put offmany mobile phone users.

The deputygeneral director also said that internet banking, QR codes, e-wallets andmany other means of payments have taken up the lion’s market share.

Notably, over70 percent of adults in Vietnam have bank accounts already, making it moredifficult for a newcomer like MM to gain ground in the market.

According tothe Ministry of Information and Communications, Vietnam has just 588,000 MMsubscribers so far, accounting for 0.47 percent of total mobile phone users.

While Viettelintroduced MM in December 2021 with 402,000 subscribers, VNPT had inauguratedit a week earlier with 200,000 subscribers.

Nguyen TruongGiang, General Director of VinaPhone, said MM was a new means of payment,so the service provider was rolling out the system with great care.

He also saidthat MM subscribers currently accounted for just a tiny portion of the totalnumber of VinaPhone subscribers.

However, theroom for growth is ample once MM facilities, notably acceptance points, expandto a certain point.

“We believethat once MM coverage becomes large enough in Q3 this year and subscribers getused to the money, MM market will begin to skyrocket,” said the generaldirector.

MM iscurrently under pilot schemes that service providers must run for twoyears. Results of the schemes will serve as a basis for official regulation ofthe money in Vietnam./.