The country’s central bank, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has released the banking sector’s plan to implement the national strategy for developing a digital economy and society by 2025, with a vision to 2030.
This plan aims to effectively implement tasks assigned to the banking sector in the national strategy, approved by the Prime Minister earlier in March. The bank will promote cashless payments toward comprehensive financial universalisation. Focal tasks include overhauling regulations and policies on finance, fees, and charges to remove barriers to digital payment method adoption. The government will also develop payment systems and propose mechanisms and policies on issues related to a national digital currency. Furthermore, SBV will:
- Adapt policies in the banking sector to boost the digital economy and society development
- Devise policies to raise the rate of the sector’s online operations to at least 50%
- Issue and fine-tune the sector’s technical standards to serve the development of a digital economy and society, especially the standards of digital service quality
- Make and implement plans to promote the use of national digital platforms, the application of digital platforms, big data, and enhanced cybersecurity measures.
- Support the development of digital enterprises
- Enhance cooperation with international partners to develop a digital society
Last month, OpenGov Asia reported that nearly 80% of the population in Vietnam are digital consumers. And about 58% of digital consumers use digital banking solutions, e-wallets, and online money transfer applications. So far, this year, 7 out of 10 digital consumers used cryptocurrencies, augmented reality, virtual reality, and NFTs. The country also has the highest rate of VR applications among Southeast Asian countries, with 29%.
Over the past year, the average contribution of e-commerce to total retail has continued to grow at 15%. This figure is higher than the growth rate in India (10%) and China (4%), with an online-to-total retail share of 6%. As per data from a report on digital consumers in Southeast Asia, regional consumers are at a new stage of development, post-pandemic. Consumers prioritise an integrated shopping experience, combining online and in-person services.
After the pandemic, 10% of Vietnamese surveyed moved at least one of their shopping categories from online to direct channels. However, consumers still prefer to choose to shop online for several categories. Furthermore, during the ‘discovery’ phase of their shopping, 84% of Vietnamese shoppers use the Internet to browse and find items. According to the report, this is a period when they use more platforms than ever before, with the dominance of the e-commerce market accounting for 51% of online spending.
Experts predict that by 2025, Vietnam’s e-commerce value will reach US$ 39 billion. The total revenue of Vietnam’s Internet economy is forecast to reach US$ 57 billion by the same year. Vietnam has the second highest percentage of consumers shopping online in the region, after Singapore.
