Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said the Government had agreed to pilot the use of mobile phone accounts to pay for goods and services.

Speaking at a conference with the Ministry of Information and Communications on Tuesday, the Prime Minister asked units to begin the use of payments via mobile phone.

“The government agrees to the use of telecommunication accounts in order to boost e-payment services, making it not the sole responsibility of banks,” the Prime Minister stressed.

Nguyen Manh Hung, Minister of Information and Communications, said that the telecommunication infrastructure was not only for communications, but had become the infrastructure of the digital economy, digital society and of the fourth industrial revolution.

The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) expected to pilot mobile money services, allowing customers to transfer money and make purchases through mobile phone accounts, which will help e-payment spread to more users and stimulate economic growth.

During a working session between the Prime Minister, MIC and entrprises last September, leaders of telecommunication enterprises asked the Government and the ministry to allow them to participate in e-payment services.

Accordingly, representatives of Viettel, VNPT and Mobifone proposed that the Government should have policies for telecommunication enterprises to participate in e-payment services.

Non-cash payments require the user to have a bank account, but less than 50 per cent of the country’s population has bank accounts. However, most people have mobile phones. — VNS