Visa Vietnam has just released a report that says that Visas contactless transactions in the first half of 2020 grew by more than 500% year-on-year and that the value of these transactions increased more than 600% over the same period.
Contactless payments refer to payment systems that allow consumers to tap their card or smartphone against the POS terminal to make their payment, rather than exchanging cash. Especially during the global Covid-19 pandemic, contactless payment systems have grown in popularity as both consumers and merchants look for a fast, convenient and safe way to make transactions.
Dang Tuyet Dung, Country Manager for Vietnam and Laos for Visa said, “As the Vietnamese economy continues to grow, the demand for faster, smarter methods of payment will increase, and contactless technology is just one of the ways in which we’re working to meet this need.”
According to Visa’s statistic, at the end of June, the number of Visa cards that had recorded at least one contactless transaction within the previous three months grew by nearly 300% when compared to June 2019.
Findings from the recent Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes study showed 37% of Vietnamese consumers are now using contactless card payments, while 42% are currently using mobile contactless payments.
The report notes that 85% of the Vietnamese consumers that use contactless card payments said that they use them at least once a week.
Supurring the use of contactless payments is their wide acceptance by many of Vietnam’s largest restaurant chains and retailers, including BHD, Lotte Mart and The Pizza Company. These companies have conducted multiple promotional campaigns that use contactless payment systems and are creating awareness among consumers of these payment options.
Visa has also provided support to Starbucks Vietnam to drive contactless activation, with Starbucks implementing swivel stands for terminals that give customers control over their transactions, while offering discounts to customers who are paying with Visa contactless. According to visa, more than 50% of Visa transactions at Starbucks Vietnam are now contactless.
Visa has also partnered with Saigon Co-op to offer Visa cardholders using contactless payment technology with various prizes and is developing similar types of awareness and promotion programs with retailers across Vietnam. Based upon Vietnam still experiencing the Govid-19 pandemic, Visa believes that the use of contactless payment systems will continue to grow dynamically throughout this year and next.