Executive summary
Vietnam has moved from cash and cards to bank transfers and QR codes faster than most markets of its income level. The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) reports that cashless payment value reached about 28 times GDP in full-year 2025, that non-cash transaction volume rose 42.2% and QR payment value rose 124.1% year on year, and that individual payment accounts reached 232 million. The cashless payment rate in e-commerce was 66.85% at the end of 2024, the latest figure the SBV has published (it does not say whether the base is orders or value); most of the rest is cash on delivery. This article explains the payment rails, who the main players are, what changed with the biometric rules, and what to plan for as a merchant. The payments market report holds the full statistics table.
Market size and growth
| Indicator (SBV, 2025) | Value |
|---|---|
| Cashless payment value | about 28× GDP |
| Non-cash transactions | +42.2% volume, +22.7% value |
| QR payments | +124.1% value, +50.9% volume |
| Individual payment accounts | 232 million (+13.7%), Dec 2025 |
| Bank cards in circulation | 164 million (+5.3%) |
| Cashless share of e-commerce | 66.85% (end-2024) |
| Licensed payment-service providers | 53, of which 49 e-wallets |
| Cashless value target | 30× GDP by 2030 |
The most recent monthly print, for January–February 2026, shows growth cooling in value while volume stays strong: all cashless transactions rose 40.7% in volume and 13.4% in value, QR rose 20.2% and 12.6%, internet payments rose 73.1% and 28.1%, and mobile phone payments rose 34.4% and 10.5% (SBV data as reported by Vietnam News). Volume growing faster than value suggests more small-ticket payments, which is consistent with QR taking over everyday spending.
Some press headlines quote slightly higher full-year figures, such as 28.5× GDP, 240 million accounts and a 72.4% cashless e-commerce share. We could not confirm these against a primary SBV release, so we use the SBV full-year figures above.
How the rails work
NAPAS. The National Payment Corporation of Vietnam runs the national switch that connects banks and financial institutions. It enables real-time interbank transfers around the clock and interoperability between banks’ ATM and card networks, and it is the operator behind the QR standard.
VietQR. VietQR is the national QR standard, launched in 2021 and built on EMVCo specifications. A merchant displays one QR code and a customer can pay it from any participating bank or wallet app. Codes can be static (a fixed code, with the customer entering the amount) or dynamic (generated for each transaction with the amount and an order reference). For a merchant, the practical benefit is that bank-to-bank QR transfers carry no card-scheme fees. Merchant fees on QR are usually lower than on cards; check your acquirer or the fee comparator for actual rates.
E-wallets. Wallets are stored-value accounts regulated by SBV. By their own counts, MoMo has more than 30 million users (October 2026), Zalopay more than 22 million (August 2026) and Viettel Money nearly 30 million users (April 2025). Each operator counts differently and people hold several wallets, so the figures overlap. ShopeePay and VNPay publish no wallet user count, and Moca closed its wallet in 2024. In Decision Lab’s Q2 2024 survey, 62% of an online panel used MoMo, 43% ZaloPay and 25% ViettelPay. Interoperability through VietQR means a merchant no longer needs a separate code for each wallet.
Cards. Domestic NAPAS cards and international schemes (Visa, Mastercard, JCB, UnionPay, American Express) work through licensed local issuers and acquirers. With 164 million cards in circulation, many are debit cards used mainly for ATM withdrawals and online checkout.
Biometric rules and fraud
SBV Decision 2345/QD-NHNN requires biometric verification (facial recognition or fingerprint matched to a chip-based citizen ID) for single transfers above 10 million VND (about US$400), for cumulative daily transfers above 20 million VND (about US$800), and for the first transaction on a new device. The rule has applied since 1 July 2024. A month later the SBV reported fraud cases down 50% and fraud-linked accounts down 72% against the January–July 2024 average; it has not published a later evaluation. For merchants and fintechs, the practical effect is more verification friction on large payments, so checkout flows for high-value orders should expect a biometric step and avoid designs that break when the bank app opens.
Who pays how
Digital payments are not evenly spread. Adoption is highest among higher-income, younger and urban users, and lowest among rural, lower-income and older consumers. In e-commerce, cashless share is about two-thirds, so cash on delivery (COD) remains meaningful, especially outside the big cities. In physical retail, cash still carries a large part of small purchases, but QR is the fastest-growing alternative. The payments report charts adoption by group using ranges drawn from several sources, not an SBV series, so treat those as indicative.
What it means for merchants and foreign companies
- Accept VietQR first. It is the lowest-cost, most widely used rail and covers both bank apps and wallets.
- Offer a wallet and a card option for online checkout. Compare processing fees with the payment fee comparator.
- Plan for COD in e-commerce if you sell through marketplaces, because about one in three orders is still cash on delivery.
- Check licensing. Foreign payment intermediaries serving Vietnamese users must comply with SBV licensing rules for intermediary payment services (Decree 52/2024/ND-CP and Circular 40/2024/TT-NHNN). See the guide to accepting payments in Vietnam.
- Watch the biometric thresholds if you process large transfers.
Outlook
SBV targets cashless value of 30 times GDP by 2030, a modest step from about 28 times in 2025, which signals that the next phase is deeper use rather than rapid expansion of value. Expect growth to concentrate in QR, mobile and internet channels, and in rural and older users where adoption is lowest.
Limits of the data
SBV full-year 2025 figures and the January–February 2026 print cover different periods and should not be combined. Wallet user counts are operator-reported and overlap. Demographic adoption ranges are compiled estimates. Press headlines sometimes round or cite later figures that we could not verify against a primary release.
Sources
- State Bank of Vietnam: cashless payment data, full-year 2025
- Vietnam News: QR and mobile payments on the rise, SBV data for January–February 2026
- NAPAS: payment switch information
- SBV Decision 2345/QD-NHNN and implementation review
- Ministry of Industry and Trade e-commerce reports
- Payments market report and digital payments statistics