Promoting cashless payments during Tet holiday.

The period leading up to the Lunar New Year is typically a peak season for businesses as well as for consumer spending and shopping. Commercial banks have launched numerous promotional programs and financial solutions to encourage cashless payments, providing convenience and security for customers.

No need to worry about cash during Tet.

To encourage cashless payments this Tet holiday, when using VPBank 's NEO application to transfer money, make payments via QR code (quick response code), pay bills, pay utilities, deposit savings online, spend with credit cards, etc., customers will be able to participate in the game "Journey of Reunion Opening the Tet Holiday" for a chance to win gifts with a total value of over 20 billion VND.

Scanning QR codes to pay for purchases is becoming increasingly common. Photo: HOANG HUNG

Similarly, to encourage customers to use their payment accounts during Tet (Lunar New Year), when using Sacombank 's Sacompay app to scan QR codes for payments, they will be eligible to participate in the "Transaction - Amazing Gifts" program with gifts up to 352 SJC gold bars and many cashback offers.

Furthermore, to enhance the customer experience, this year, many commercial banks' apps, such as MSB, VPBank, and TPBank , have added a lucky money feature, offering the chance to win prizes worth hundreds of millions of VND. Accordingly, with just a mobile phone connected to the internet, people can send wishes and lucky money to their loved ones. Mr. Quang Khoa (Ho Chi Minh City) said that this year he decided to give lucky money online, thus avoiding the hassle of exchanging new banknotes for small denominations during the Tet holiday. “Currently, payments through banking apps and e-wallets are increasingly convenient, safe, and save time and money, so this Tet I don't need to worry about withdrawing cash for expenses like before,” Mr. Khoa said.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Lenh, Deputy Director of the State Bank of Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City branch, said that modern cashless payment products bring convenience and save costs and time for both sellers and buyers. The diverse payment products offered by banks and payment intermediaries also contribute to boosting sales and revenue for businesses, especially during peak shopping seasons such as holidays and Tet (Lunar New Year).

Even shopping at the market requires swiping a card or scanning a QR code.

Recognizing the increased demand for financial transactions during the Lunar New Year holiday, not only at large shopping malls and supermarkets, but also commercial banks are offering many preferential programs and designing solution packages for business owners and small traders in traditional markets.

From now until the end of March 2024, shop owners, business owners, and small traders who open new payment accounts at MSB and set up QR codes to receive payments will be eligible to participate in a program offering gifts up to VND 900,000; they will also receive cash back for each QR code payment transaction of VND 50,000 or more… In addition, MSB also offers the M-Pro solution, which not only offers free transactions but also cashback of up to VND 3.6 million/year for cashless payments. The bank has also designed a feature to share balance changes and transaction history with others on the MSB mBank e-banking application specifically for shop owners. With this feature, shop owners can easily monitor revenue remotely while maintaining account balance security.

Electronic payments are becoming widespread (photo taken on the afternoon of February 3rd at a cafe on Tran Hung Dao Street, District 5, Ho Chi Minh City). Photo: HOANG HUNG

Currently, Nam A Bank is also promoting the Market 4.0 model – a cashless market – to small traders and business owners in night markets, tourist markets, flower markets, and food markets in Ho Chi Minh City. Accordingly, small traders only need to use the Open Banking application and register to open a Nam A Bank account to conduct buying, selling, and payment transactions conveniently, quickly, and securely. In addition, Open Banking also has a free point-of-sale management feature to help small traders manage revenue effectively. Many small traders in the food street on Ha Ton Quyen Street (District 11, Ho Chi Minh City) said that young customers currently prefer card payments or bank transfers. After opening an Open Banking account with Nam A Bank and receiving a QR code to display in front of their store, not only is it more convenient for customers to pay, but the traders themselves also find it much safer and more convenient than cash payments because there is no need to count money and they don't have to worry about handling large amounts of cash, which is quite dangerous.

According to Nam A Bank's leadership, actively implementing QR code payment methods for small traders and business households contributes to creating a safe and modern payment environment, promoting digital transformation in traditional business operations. This, in turn, helps business households and small traders increase their competitiveness and improve customer service quality.

In reality, banks' efforts to promote modern payment services aimed at convenience, security, and enhanced customer experience have reduced the pressure of cash withdrawals at ATMs, especially during holidays and festivals. Non-cash payment methods, including QR code payments, are gradually becoming commonplace in urban areas, and the long queues at ATMs seen in the past are no longer a reality.

According to statistics from the Vietnam National Payment Corporation (NAPAS), ATM cash withdrawal services through the NAPAS system continue to decline over the years. In particular, 2023 saw a sharper decrease in the number of ATM cash withdrawal transactions compared to previous years, accounting for only 3.6% of the total transactions across the entire system. Meanwhile, the NAPAS system processed an average of over 20 million transactions per day, representing a 52% increase in the number of transactions and a 12% increase in the value of transactions compared to 2022.

HANH NHUNG

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/day-manh-thanh-toan-khong-tien-mat-dip-tet-post725788.html