The pilot program on providing the Mobile Money service is expected to increase non-cash transactions, especially in remote areas. To improve users' experience, fintechs should work with network operators, experts say.

With Mobile Money, people in mountainous areas or islands can remit money and make payments for goods and services through SMS on their mobile phones.

Mobile Money on a trial basis will create a precedent for applying the sandbox mechanism to other services and new professions to appear in digital society.

Many listed banks witnessed weak performance of fee income growth in the first six months of the year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Non-cash payment activities have developed strongly in recent years with many payment services such as digital banks and e-wallets.

Non-cash payments continue to boom in Vietnam this year as the country has seen a surge in banking transactions and mobile payments in the first four months of the year, according to an official from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV).

‘Bleeding money’ is the strategy that all the three biggest players – MoMo, Moca and ZaloPay – have been using to gain part of e-wallet market share.

Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung says that Covid-19 has brought great challenges, but that challenges are often associated with opportunities.

More people are avoiding the use of bank notes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many eateries have stopped serving offline and shifted to selling online during the Covid-19 pandemic.

If Tiki and Sendo successfully carry out the merger, the Vietnamese e-commerce market will be the playing field for three major players. Two of them, Lazada and Shopee, are foreign invested.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) plans to set no limit on foreign ownership in fintechs.

Supermarkets all report that the number of clients buying goods online and via phones has increased sharply by 4-5 times amid the coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis.

Telecommunications firms are turning towards developing their own digital content, the Vietnam Telecommunications Authority (VNTA) under the Ministry of Information and Communications has said.

A deputy governor of the State Bank of Vietnam has advised residents to limit the use of cash for payments and make more online transactions instead to prevent the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus, the local media reported.

MoMo speeded up, Moca made a high jump with the support of the holding company, and VinID Pay extended beyond Vingroup ecosystem.

The government decree on non-cash payment, once promulgated, will pave the way for mobile money to develop in Vietnam.

As of present, just 40% of citizens in Vietnam have bank accounts. However, 90% of daily transactions are conducted in cash, while the rate goes up to 99% for transaction worth under VND100,000 (US$4.34).

E-wallet firm MoMo launched a cashback programme on November 3 with value of up to 100,000 VND (4.30 USD) per transaction and for four transactions daily at most.