Many years ago, a series of e-wallets were launched into the market, but they could not grow and died young because people did not feel secure enough to use them.
However, the e-wallet service market has revived thanks to an increasingly high popularity of smart mobile devices, advanced connection technologies, perfect legal framework and the establishment of many online shopping websites.
FPT, the largest information technology group in Vietnam, has recently launched FPT E-wallet which supports payment on Sendo.vn for clients and the users of other FPT products and services, such as internet, FShare data service and online ads.
In early March 2016, Vietnam Esports began providing TopPay, a wallet allowing users to make payment for phone cards, game cards, e-learning cards and others on mobile devices.
MobiFone, one of the three largest mobile network operators, has recently introduced Vimo e-wallet as a solution to replace the traditional card, allowing users to remit and withdraw money from banks through messages displayed on mobile phones. Vimo also allows payment for electricity, water, cable TV, games, internet bills and for post-paid mobile subscribers.
Meanwhile, VTC’s VTC Pay, launched last April, allows users to make payment for goods and services, and connect buyers and sellers in online transactions.
Instead of ATM cards, users can use VTC Pay e-wallet to make payment on over 500 e-commerce websites.
mPOS Vietnam has joined the market with mPOS payment service. Smartphone users can connect with mPOS device via the port of headset or Bluetooth to conduct transactions anywhere. The service supports the payment with different cards including ATM, Visa and Mastercard.
A survey conducted by the Vietnam E-commerce and Information Technology Agency (VECITA) found that the B2C (business to customer) e-commerce turnover in 2015 reached $4.07 billion, an increase of 37 percent over the year before, accounting for 2.8 percent of total goods and service turnover.
However, VECITA believes that the e-commerce development in Vietnam remains modest compared with the potential.
Payment in cash is still the major payment method for e-commerce websites. Only 53 percent of websites have a function for making orders online and 17 percent accept online payment.
According to Bui Quang Tien, director of the Payment Department of the State Bank of Vietnam, e-commerce firms need to strengthen application of non-cash payment services in order to increase the electronic payment in online shopping from 5 percent currently.
An analyst commented that if compared with traditional e-wallets which only supported payment for the goods ordered online, the latest-generation e-wallets have been designed in a way to catch up with the development of the mobility and internet, thus allowing to offer more utilities to users.
