The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) is proposing to develop a decree regulating the use of telecommunications accounts to pay for goods and services in Việt Nam, in order to promote non-cash payment in the country, especially in isolated areas.

According to the SBV, currently, the use of a telecommunications account to pay for small-value goods and services in the country, called Mobile-Money service, is being implemented in a pilot programme under Decision No. 316/QĐ-TTg. Therefore, it is necessary to develop the decree to create an official legal corridor for service providers to be implemented.

The SBV believes the development of Mobile-Money service, which can take advantage of the country’s infrastructure, data, telecommunications networks, will contribute to promoting non-cash payments, reducing social costs, bringing convenience to users, and increasing access to and use of financial services, especially in rural, mountainous, remote, border and island areas of Việt Nam.

In addition, the development of the decree can help enhance the role of State management in the provision of Mobile-Money service as it will detail violations, business conditions, regulations on responsibilities and obligations of related parties.

An official legal framework for Mobile-Money services will also contribute to establishing and creating a healthy business environment, ensuring fair and equal competition among service providers, the SBV said.

After nearly three years implementing the pilot Mobile-Money services programme according to Decision No. 316/QĐ-TTg, enterprises have made efforts to develop services and achieved positive results. The service has so far contributed to developing non-cash payment activities, increasing access to and use of financial services, especially in rural and remote areas of the country.

By the end of September 2024, the total number of customers registering and using Mobile-Money services was more than 9.87 million, of which Viettel accounted for 73 per cent, VNPT-Media accounted for 21 per cent and MobiFone accounted for 6 per cent. Of the total, the number of customers in rural, mountainous, remote, border and island areas was nearly 7.1 million customers, making up 71.73 per cent.

The total number of active Mobile-Money accounts by the end of September 2024 was more than 6.56 million accounts, accounting for about 66.46 per cent of the total number of registered accounts. — VNS