Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communication has held an international workshop on the ability of mobile money to promote financial inclusion, as part of preparations for potential mobile money trails.
The two-day workshop was designed to provide a comprehensive overview of mobile money, and put forward recommendations for Vietnam’s adoption of the technology.
At the event, Minister of Information and Communication Nguyen Manh Hung said the government is evaluating approving mobile money trials this year, the report states.
Vietnam would become the 91st nation in the world to adopt mobile money services, the minister said. By the end of last year, nearly 900 million people in 90 nations were using mobile money services to conduct transactions worth around $1.3 billion per day.
The minister also noted that mobile money will help promote cashless payment in a market were only around 40% of the population have bank accounts but mobile penetration is well over 100%, and will allow low-income people in remote or hard to reach areas to access paid online services.