HCMC – Visa, the world’s leader in digital payments, on August 3 announced that its contactless transactions in Vietnam grew more than 500% year on year in the first six months of 2020, with the total value of transactions increasing more than 600%.
Contactless payments, where consumers simply tap their card or phone against the POS terminal to pay, have become more popular as consumers and merchants look for a fast, convenient and safe way to pay.
These benefits are more apparent than ever as the Covid-19 pandemic has created unprecedented challenges and merchants are looking for ways to serve their customers safely.
Findings from the recent Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes study showed that 37% of Vietnamese consumers are now using contactless card payments, while 42% are currently using mobile contactless payments. Of those that use contactless card payments, 85% shared that they use them often—at least once a week.
With contactless payments, consumers can tap to pay at checkout counters anywhere they see the contactless symbol without handing their cards to the cashier staff.
Contactless payments are secured with dynamic EMV® Chip technology. The cards have a tiny antenna, which can be read by POS terminals when they are 4cm away or less from the terminal.
During the payment process, the card never needs to leave the cardholder’s hand, and POS terminals can typically read a contactless card or device in less than half a second. Shoppers can even pay with their mobile phones, using PINs, passwords or biometrics for extra security.
“At Visa, we’re incredibly excited to be working with our partners in Vietnam to help bring this new payment technology to more consumers and businesses across the country,” said Dang Tuyet Dung, Visa country manager for Vietnam and Laos.
By Le Hoang
