HÀ NỘI —  As the expansion of the traditional network of branches and transaction offices requires high costs, banks are expanding the payment agent model to get closer to customers, with the project fast becoming a race between banks to capture larger shares of the market. 

VPBank has announced its cooperation with the Mobile World Investment Corporation (MWG) to deploy a payment agent model in Việt Nam. With this cooperation, customers can access financial services such as depositing, withdrawing and transferring money; opening payment accounts or opening online credit cards through a network of more than 3,000 retail points of MWG and its subsidiary Điện Máy Xanh nationwide.

The payment agent model of VPBank and MWG is deployed according to Circular No. 07/2024/TT-NHNN on regulating payment agent activities. Within the legal framework specified by the management agency, the payment agent model - a part of the agent banking model - has been rekindled and is predicted to become a race of banks in the new development stage.

After the cooperation with MWG, VPBank has continued to expand its payment agent model by adding 127 payment agents at the Hoàng Hà Mobile store system nationwide.

In addition to VPBank, MB has also officially announced its cooperation with Viettel Store to deploy transaction points at nearly 400 supermarkets nationwide since the end of May 2025. The scope of cooperation between Viettel Store and MB includes services such as fast depositing and transferring money, updating ID and biometric authentication, opening accounts with selected numbers and other financial services.

Another large joint stock commercial bank, Techcombank, is also not out of this game, however, its reach is somewhat more cautious and on a smaller scale than MB or VPBank.

Specifically, Techcombank has deployed an agent model in cooperation with WinCommerce, but only focusing on WinMart/WinMart+/WiN points of sale in three provinces and cities of Bắc Ninh, Bắc Giang and Cần Thơ. However, with a network of nearly 4,000 supermarkets and stores in the WinCommerce system, the expansion of Techcombank’s payment agent model here is only a matter of time.

According to experts, one of the core economic drivers behind the trend of payment agents is the cost advantage over traditional branch network expansion. The cost of establishing and operating a payment agent is much lower than that of a conventional bank branch.

This significant cost advantage allows banks to expand the market coverage effectively, especially in areas with low service and transaction numbers, where opening traditional branches is not yet economically feasible. This is a problem that banks need to consider, especially in the context of regulations on restricting the number of transaction branches and offices in the banking system based on the capital size of credit institutions.

Besides, the State Bank of Vietnam is also providing many incentives for banks to increase their presence in rural areas.

In addition, payment agents also help reduce the load on existing branches, which indirectly improves the productivity and operational efficiency of the entire traditional network in meeting the basic needs of users. This is especially important when the number of customers of many large banks has exceeded the 10 million mark.

In fact, the payment agent model not only benefits banks and customers but also brings positive impacts to banks' partners such as MWG, WinCommerce and Viettel Store by indirectly providing additional financial services to help diversify the products and services that these retailers provide. When users have more reasons to visit the stores, the retail chains will have more opportunities to introduce their own products and services, and cross-sell.

However, experts note, though the benefits of payment agent activities are obvious, this model also has many risks and challenges related to professional ethics and service quality control due to its scattered nature, which needs to be strictly managed. — VNS/BIZHUB