Deputy Governor: It is impossible to "buy a train ticket for 15,000 VND but the transaction processing fee is 1,000 VND"

Speaking at the Vietnam Card Day 2025 Conference, Deputy Governor of the State Bank Pham Tien Dung said that currently, 87% of adults use bank accounts. In terms of payment services, Vietnam is among the developed countries, especially in terms of automatic payments - not inferior to advanced countries.

However, the Deputy Governor said that no matter how developed banking services, especially payment services, are, if you still have to wear a card around your neck when boarding the train, then you are not fulfilling your responsibility to the people.

Banks need to strengthen cooperation to process and integrate so that existing payment methods can be used in public transport, especially trains and other means.

Phó Thống đốc: Không thể để — Deputy Governor of the State Bank Pham Tien Dung

"Since 2017, China has been using mobile payment to travel on the subway. In Japan, in addition to paying for train tickets, mobile applications can also be used to pay for bus tickets and even purchase some common goods," said the Deputy Governor.

The Deputy Governor said that with a large number of people using trains and public transport, this is a big trend, and the banking industry needs to focus on handling this issue.

"The solutions must ensure 'convenience, benefits, and reasonable costs'. It is impossible to 'buy a train ticket for 15,000 VND while the transaction processing fee is up to 1,000 VND", Deputy Governor Pham Tien Dung emphasized.

Towards cashless train travel

Regarding payment when riding the train, Mr. Khuat Viet Hung - Chairman of the Board of Members of Hanoi Railway One Member Co., Ltd., said that the Cat Linh - Ha Dong urban railway line is entering the testing phase of a new electronic payment system, allowing passengers to use their citizen ID, Visa card or QR code to pass through the ticket gate. This is an important step in the roadmap to modernize Hanoi's public transport, towards the experience of "cashless train travel".

According to Mr. Hung, the current system has become outdated after 4 years of operation, especially Metro line 3.1 still uses a design that is more than 10 years old, passengers have to put cash into the machine and receive coins to swipe through the gate.

To date, the cache system has been completed and is operating stably at all 12 stations on the Cat Linh - Ha Dong line. The new ticket gates are integrated with multi-function readers, which can recognize and process all types of cards - from chip-embedded citizen ID cards to international payment cards. Initial testing shows that the processing speed is very fast: the first ID scan takes only 1 second, the subsequent scans are reduced to 0.2 seconds.

According to Mr. Khuat Viet Hung, after the warranty contract of Metro Line 3.1 ends next December, electronic smart payment technology will be expanded to new routes.

"In the long term, the system is designed to be able to connect between metro and bus routes, and even connect with the national ticket booking platform on the VNeID application of the Ministry of Public Security ," said the Chairman of the Board of Members of Hanoi Railway One Member Co., Ltd.

Need to build security wall

Referring more broadly to the issue of cashless payments, Mr. Pham Anh Tuan - Director of the Payment Department (State Bank) said that the modern payment ecosystem is fundamentally changing people's financial experience. In the first 7 months of 2025, QR code transactions increased by 66.73% in quantity and 159.58% in value over the same period; 87% of adults have bank accounts; many credit institutions recorded over 90% of transactions via digital channels.

Now, people can pay for electricity, water, tuition or hospital fees with just a few taps on their phones. Along with the speed of development, information safety and security must be the top priority. According to Mr. Tuan, the SIMO system - a tool to monitor and warn of fraud risks - has detected and prevented more than 1.5 trillion VND of suspicious transactions in just a few months of operation.

Also talking about security issues, Ms. Phan Thi Thanh Nhan - Director of BIDV Card and Operation Center said that since the first card was issued in 1996, Vietnam now has about 136 million bank cards in circulation. The development journey of cards is closely linked to the advancement of technology - from magnetic cards, chip cards, contactless cards to digital forms on smartphones. In the near future, cards can be even more "invisible" when payment only requires facial, palm or voice recognition.

However, along with convenience comes the increasingly sophisticated risk of high-tech crime. In the age of AI and digital technology, tricks such as skimming, phishing or NFC relay - attacking card transaction data via near field communication technology - continuously appear, requiring banks to proactively respond.

According to Ms. Nhan, only when all parties, from the Government, banks, businesses to consumers, act together, will the "security wall" of the payment ecosystem be truly strong.

Source: https://vtv.vn/pho-thong-doc-khong-the-de-mua-ve-tau-het-15000-dong-ma-phi-xu-ly-giao-dich-mat-1000-dong-100251007152038351.htm