Digital Payment Development Bank: From Public Connection to Comprehensive Ecosystem

(Chinhphu.vn) - In the context of strong digital transformation, the Vietnamese banking industry has identified the key goal of developing a convenient, safe and cost-effective payment ecosystem. Aiming for the goal of convenience, reasonable cost and safety, banks are expanding connections to better serve people and businesses.

Workshop "Cashless payment: Towards convenience, safety and comprehensive connection" - Photo: VGP/HT

The region's remarkable journey to financial inclusion

Speaking at the workshop "Cashless payment: Towards convenience, safety and comprehensive connection" co-organized by Tien Phong Newspaper and the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) on the morning of October 7, Deputy Governor Pham Tien Dung emphasized: The success of the banking industry in the journey of digital transformation, expanding comprehensive finance and innovating payment services in recent times has had the important accompaniment of the media, experts and businesses.

According to Deputy Governor Pham Tien Dung, the past 5 years have been a period of strong breakthroughs for the Vietnamese banking system in the field of digitalizing financial services and expanding financial inclusion. Without the dissemination of information from the media, Vietnam would hardly have achieved the rate of 87% of adults having bank accounts, a figure that shows the outstanding level of financial inclusion in the region. That success comes not only from technology, but also from the trust and companionship of the people.

"The media is the bridge that helps people understand, trust and form the habit of using safe and convenient banking services," the Deputy Governor affirmed.

Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Pham Tien Dung speaks - Photo: VGP/HT

Convenience, cost and security – the three pillars of digital banking

According to Deputy Governor Pham Tien Dung, Vietnam’s payment infrastructure remains fragmented, especially in the public transport sector. Currently, metro passengers have to use different types of cards for each route, causing inconvenience in the experience.

The Deputy Governor analyzed: If the public payment system is integrated, it will be a big step forward in the goal of serving the people. The State Bank has been working with transport agencies for many years to find interconnection solutions, but is still stuck in the technical standards of sponsors. However, with the participation of the Hanoi Urban Railway Corporation and commercial banks, the prospect of connection is expanding.

The banking industry aims to soon allow the use of bank cards, e-wallets or mobile applications to make direct payments when traveling, without going through many intermediaries.

From the story of public transport, the Deputy Governor expanded the issue: every banking service in the digital age must be based on three pillars - convenience, reasonable cost and safety.

"Convenience and benefit are two key words," he said. "It is unacceptable that a train ticket costs 15,000 VND but the transaction fee is 1,000 VND - that goes against the goal of serving the people," the Deputy Governor warned in advance.

Deputy Governor Pham Tien Dung noted: Banks need to bring fast, easy, cheap and absolutely safe experiences to customers, while maintaining social trust in the system.

The representative of the State Bank also highly appreciated banks and fintech companies that have applied Open API, open banking and embedded finance, bringing banking services deeper into life.

"Banks without banks anywhere - the image that the industry is aiming for - means that people use banking services in all activities without realizing it. The highest goal of digital transformation is to serve people and businesses. Any policy, technology or initiative is only meaningful when it brings practical benefits," the Deputy Governor emphasized.

According to the Deputy Governor, the banking industry is facing many new challenges, such as the emergence of digital assets (tokens), stablecoins, artificial intelligence (AI) and modularization of banking services.

Mr. Pham Anh Tuan - Director of Payment Department, State Bank - Photo: VGP/HT

Mr. Pham Anh Tuan - Director of the Payment Department, State Bank added: According to data from the Payment Department, in just the first 8 months of 2025, the indicators of payment and digital transactions have grown strongly. Payments via the interbank system increased by 19% in quantity and 69.1% in value, while financial switching and electronic clearing increased by 17.25% in quantity and 4.5% in value, connecting 68 financial institutions operating continuously all year round.

In particular, non-cash payments have reached a scale 25 times the GDP in 2024, reflecting the spread of digital transformation in economic life. In the first 8 months of the year, the number of transactions increased by 43.53%, the value increased by 24.24%, showing that people and businesses have really shifted to modern payment methods.

At the same time, the payment infrastructure continues to expand: the country currently has nearly 21,000 ATMs and more than 831,000 POS points, but notably, ATM transactions are gradually decreasing (down 16.49% in quantity and 5.67% in value), while transactions via POS and digital channels are increasing sharply. This shows the inevitable trend of a cashless society, where electronic experiences are becoming a popular choice.

The current digital banking ecosystem has covered most operations, with the transaction rate on digital channels of many banks exceeding 95%.

Currently, there are nearly 21,000 ATMs and more than 831,000 POS points nationwide, but transactions at ATMs are decreasing, while transactions via POS and digital channels are increasing rapidly - proving the inevitable trend of a cashless society.

According to Mr. Pham Anh Tuan: Along with service expansion, security and confidentiality are always considered strategic pillars. The investment rate for information security currently accounts for over 16% of the total technology budget of banks, demonstrating the strong determination of the industry.

Service providers all have international security certifications such as ISO 27001, PCI DSS, and comply with regulations of the Ministry of Information and Communications .

Coordination between the State Bank of Vietnam and A05 (Ministry of Public Security) has been strengthened to prevent cybercrime and digital fraud. Along with that, banks have deployed fraud warning systems and money flow tracking using Big Data and AI technology, helping to process faster and more effectively.

"In particular, the system for sharing data on accounts, cards and e-wallets suspected of fraud has handled nearly 600,000 accounts, supported warnings of more than 440,000 suspicious transactions, and helped prevent about VND 1,600 billion at risk of loss...

At this year's conference, speakers including economic experts and representatives of organizations such as NAPAS, Vietcombank, Momo, SHB... brought many perspectives on open banking, embedded finance and smart payment trends.

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Long, Deputy General Director of NAPAS - Photo: VGP/HT

From a business perspective, Mr. Nguyen Hoang Long, Deputy General Director of NAPAS, said that the unit's network has connected 68 banks and financial companies, processing an average of 35-36 million transactions per day, equivalent to 70 million users.

By 2025, NAPAS expects to reach 11-12 billion transactions, reaching 1/3 of Vietnam's population every day. The payment ecosystem includes VCCS cards, NAPAS 247, NAPAS Tap and Pay, VietQR, VietQR Global... covering everything from public transport to public services and VNeID. Notably, people in Ho Chi Minh City can now pay for metro tickets with NAPAS cards, and will soon expand to Hanoi. NAPAS also connects VNeID with the banking system, helping people receive social security money via the app, as in the September 2nd batch. Regarding transaction safety, NAPAS cooperates with the State Bank to deploy the SIMO system, applying Big Data and AI to monitor and warn of fraud, and establish a process to coordinate cash flow tracing between banks.

In the field of international integration, NAPAS has completed cross-border QR payment connections with Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, and plans to open payment channels for Chinese tourists entering Vietnam in 2025, before opening the opposite direction in 2026.

"Looking to the future, NAPAS aims to expand connections with Japan, Korea, and Singapore, thereby bringing Vietnam's payment infrastructure to the region and serving international tourists" - Deputy General Director of NAPAS shared.

Huy Thang

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/ngan-hang-phat-trien-thanh-toan-so-tu-ket-noi-cong-cong-den-he-sinh-thai-toan-dien-102251007184228301.htm