Non-cash payments accelerate bank restructuring

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It is undeniable that non-cash payments can help tap idle money, increase investment capital, sharpen central bank’s competence of controlling the flow of money in the national economy and combat corruption and money laundering.

In addition, this method of payments also contributes to restructuring the local banking system and diversifying banking services to meet the growing demands of the finance and banking sectors.

In Việt Nam, the proportion of cash payments dropped sharply from 23.7% in 2001 to 14.2% in 2010.

The country is rated as one of the most dynamic bank card markets in the world with the high growth rate of 18.5% per annum to be expected until 2014, according to a report released by the US Research & Markets in late 2011.

However, cash is still the most popular payment mean in Việt Nam. The habit of using cash, inadequate IT infrastructure and ineffective tax management system are attributed to lower rates of customer access to non-cash payments.

According to the Việt Nam Card Association, the spending turnover of bank cards of different kinds had reached US$32 billion by the end of 2011. However, cash withdrawal still accounted for 80% of transactions performed via banks.

Therefore, the push for non-cash payments will significantly speed up the ongoing process of bank restructuring in Việt Nam.

Earlier, the Vietnamese Government has made significant moves towards promoting the use of non-cash payments.

Under a plan approved last December by the PM, the country targets to slash down the proportion of cash payments to below 11% by the end of 2015 and increase the percentage of the population with bank accounts to 35-40%.

The country is shifting to using electronic payments by providing a variety of secure and convenient services, employing proper payment methods, improve concerned legal framework and policies, improve technical infrastructure, and raise the quality of electronic payment instruments to encourage people to use bank cards in payment.

The plan is forecast to be feasible thanks to recent rapid development of the Internet, e-commerce and online payment services./.

By Kim Loan