Visa and NextTech Group on Wednesday signed a three-year partnership to promote the adoption of digital payments among small business owners in Viet Nam’s rapidly growing social commerce sector.

The partnership will see Visa and NextTech-group collaborate on a range of initiatives to expand the network of sellers and buyers on social commerce platforms, including creating a convenient and easy-to-use means of making online payments through Internet links.

Dang Tuyet Dung, Visa Country Manager for Viet Nam and Laos, said: “By simplifying the payment process, our payment-by-link initiative with NextTech Group will provide consumers and merchants with a faster and more convenient way to pay and to be paid on social networks and other online platforms. This three-year partnership is testament to our long-term commitment to supporting eCommerce in Viet Nam.”

By collaborating with NextTech-group, Visa now has another partner with deep roots in e-commerce.

NextTech’s platforms are host to over 120,000 merchants and 6 million users, as well as a wide-range e-commerce enabling ecosystem. This includes NganLuong.vn – an online payment gateway that currently works with almost 40 financial and telecommunications institutions to handle over 100,000 daily transactions, BotBanHang.vn – a chat-bot and social commerce messaging management platform, and PushSale.vn – a mini-ERP platform specially designed for online retailers.

Through this combination, merchants can easily provide buyers with a payment link via Facebook Messenger, SMS or other OTT platforms on any online purchase inquiry. Buyers are then able to complete the payment using their credentials instantly.

Nguyen Hoa Binh, Chairman of NextTech Group, said: “As an e-commerce pioneer and the leading online payment gateway in Viet Nam, we are proud to work with Visa in bringing this new payment initiative to our customers. We expect this three-year partnership to deliver a host of electronic payment-related benefits to both buyers and sellers in eCommerce, one of the fastest expanding pillars of the digital economy.”

In addition to making sure the payment journey is as seamless and convenient as possible, Visa will also work to help manage and make business operations more efficient. This includes a range of support to promote changes to consumer habits and encourage the adoption of digital payments.

E-commerce is currently the fastest growing sector of Viet Nam’s digital economy, increasing 35 per cent year-on-year. There are also over 46.5 million users of eCommerce platforms in the country, a 15.1 per cent increase over 2019.

Responding to this demand, many Vietnamese local merchants have begun to expand their online offerings, with 71 per cent of SMEs saying that they’ve adopted new methods of providing products and services to customers since the onset of the pandemic (including eCommerce, curbside pickup, and home delivery). — VNS