Cashless payment helps prevent corruption: deputy PM
Cashless payment helps prevent corruption: deputy PM
Cashless payments will help bolster transparency in transactions, thereby facilitating the nation’s fight against corruption, money laundering and economic offenses, said Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue.
Speaking at a workshop titled “Cashless society: Policy and reality in Vietnam,” held by the State Bank of Vietnam, the Ministry of Information and Communications and Tuoi Tre newspaper in HCMC today, June 11, Hue stressed the need to strengthen and deploy plans that support the development of cashless payment systems in Vietnam.
“On the flight here to attend the event, I read articles about parents who must travel a long way to pay school fees for their children, even queuing up to make payments in cash. It is a waste of time and money. Therefore, cashless payments will greatly help people save money and access services conveniently,” Hue was quoted by Nguoi Lao Dong Online website as saying.
Meanwhile, local banks now earn nearly 100% of their revenue from credit activities but ignore noncredit services that may generate high profits.
According to Hue, the nation’s noncash market development has made little progress, though the Government has adopted policies to speed it up. For instance, online tax payment is regarded as a breakthrough, but millions of taxpayers in rural areas cannot access the service.
At present, cashless payments account for only 14% of the total in Vietnam, a modest figure compared with over 80% in South Korea, which has over 3.5 million points of sale (POS) and handles 64.5 million online transactions for 52 million users a day.
According to statistics from the central bank, Vietnam had over 18,700 automated teller machines at the end of April, up 4.2% over the same period last year, and more than 266,700 POS terminals at retail outlets and hotels. The facilities will be expanded at public places such as schools and hospitals in the future.
By end-March, the number of active personal bank accounts had jumped 15.9% year-on-year, helping banks attract idle capital from citizens and create conditions for the expansion of noncash payment services. Besides this, online and mobile payments continued improving.
However, Nguyen Kim Anh, deputy governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, expressed concern over security risks, data leaks and cyberattacks.
Administrative agencies should pay attention to problems while planning or deploying cashless payment plans. Further, service providers must apply advanced technologies to ensure safety and protect consumers, Anh said.
