Schools and stores told to embrace e-payments
Schools, three wholesale markets and Saigon Co.op’s retail stores in HCM City will accept customers’ electronic payments, instead of cash.
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HCM City vice chairman Tran Vinh Tuyen has requested Hitachi Asia Co Ltd in Vietnam to install devices that make electronic payments possible at the canteens of some schools, 100 retail stores of Saigon Co.op and Hoc Mon, Thu Duc and Binh Dien wholesale markets.
In the coming time, commuters can use bank cards to pay for water taxi, water bus and metro services.
Tran Vinh Ky Son, head of IT at Hitachi Asia in Vietnam, proposed using bank cards or mobile phone apps to buy metro or bus tickets or goods at vending machines, and pay parking and toll fees.
Cash-based transactions remain popular in Vietnam, leaving huge negative impact on e-commerce enterprises. In recent years, online shopping websites have mushroomed but shoppers still prefer paying by cash on delivery.
The E-Commerce and Information Technology Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade said electronic payments still make up a small fraction. In 2014, 64% of online shoppers chose to pay by cash.
A small number of buyers used international credit cards such as VISA, MasterCard, JCB and AMEX, debit cards or digital wallets to pay for goods and services.
