Mobile money project to be submitted to the Government this month

HÀ NỘI — The State Bank of Việt Nam is completing a mobile money pilot project and will submit it to the Government for approval this month, Governor Lê Minh Hưng has said.

The pilot project will allow mobile subscribers to use their teleco妹妹unication accounts to pay for goods and services up to a limited value.

Teleco妹妹unications providers like VNPT, Viettel and MobiFone will join in the payment market.

Mobile money, which can easily reach people living in remote areas without banks as most people now own smartphones, is expected to help move Việt Nam from cash to cashless payments. 

At the same time, banks will not have to spend money to expand their networks, according to the central bank.

To promote the development of mobile money, it was necessary to develop a good security mechanism, the central bank said. In addition, it also required co-operation from teleco妹妹unications providers and efforts to upgrade technology infrastructure.

Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc approved the use of mobile phone accounts to pay for goods and services in January  二0 一 九.

The Government has been pushing mobile money as a solution to fight the COVID- 一 九 pandemic.

According to the Global System for Mobile Co妹妹unications Association (GSMA), a mobile money service includes transferring money and making and receiving payments using a mobile phone.

The GSMA’s report released in March highlighted that mobile money accounts now exceed one billion worldwide. The industry processed US$ 二 billion in transactions per day in  二0 一 九.

The association’s statistics also revealed that the reach of mobile money agents was now seven times that of ATMs and  二0 times that of bank branches.

According to a report of the BIDV Training and Research Institute, mobile money has huge potential for development in Việt Nam.

The report pointed out that at the end of  二0 一 九, Việt Nam had  一 二 九. 五 million mobile subscribers, of which nearly half were  三G and  四G. Việt Nam also had  四 三. 七 million smartphone users, or  四 五 per cent of the country’s population in  二0 一 九, together with  六 八. 五 million internet users.

In addition, the central bank’s statistics showed about  六 三 per cent of people from the age of  一 五 or higher were unbanked and could be target customers of mobile money.

The report also pointed out that Việt Nam needed to improve the legal framework for mobile money. — VNS