Seamless transactions, accelerating digital economy

On a weekend morning at a small market corner in Tuong Mai Ward (Hanoi), Ms. Hoa, a vegetable vendor who has been selling vegetables for nearly 15 years, is quickly collecting money by phone. Customers only need to scan the QR code in front of the stall, and a few seconds later, she receives a notification that "money has been transferred".

“Now, I receive hundreds of payments a day without having to record anything. At the end of the day, I open my banking app and immediately know the profit,” Ms. Hoa shared. This is not only Ms. Hoa’s story but also reflects a larger trend - people buy faster, pay more smoothly and spend more when transaction friction has almost disappeared.

Customers pay by bank transfer via QR code scanning at Ky Ba market (Tran Lam ward, Hung Yen province). Photo: Thu Hoai/VNA

The sweep changes consumer behavior

QR scanning, which used to only appear in modern stores, has now crept into small alleys, pho shops, grocery stores, and late-night food carts... QR is popular because it is fast and does not require touching the wallet. A cup of coffee for 25,000 VND, a parking ticket for 5,000 VND, a bunch of vegetables for 15,000 VND... are all processed in a few seconds. The increased speed of shopping has made the turnover of goods for many businesses much faster. Habits such as waiting for change, or giving back a few thousand VND, have now completely disappeared.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Le, Deputy Head of the Market Management Department ( Ministry of Industry and Trade ) said that cashless payments help eliminate physical barriers, reduce "friction" in buying and selling, especially in small transactions. Simple payments help consumers spend more, reduce the "fear of paying cash" mentality, and promote consumption in the retail, food, tourism, and personal services industries...

The QR code payment method deployed by the National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (NAPAS) along with the increasingly expanding network of payment acceptance points VIETQRPay for domestic transactions and VIETQRGlobal for cross-border payment transactions is helping transactions become seamless.
According to Mr. Nguyen Duc Le, e-commerce is highly anonymous, especially through social networking platforms, making it difficult to control cash flow without data. Therefore, QR code payments are a solution to help management agencies monitor effectively.

For businesses, digital payments are accurate to the last penny, avoiding loss; reducing printing, transportation, and cash storage costs; and transparent cash flow management. Mr. Le said digital payments also help businesses expand their markets, reach customers outside of traditional locations, and optimize products and services thanks to transaction data. Consumption increases thanks to continuous transactions with little interruption.

Not stopping there, in the context of a strongly developing digital economy , cashless payments, especially via QR, are a key tool to reduce transaction friction, bringing benefits to consumers, businesses and management agencies.

According to Mr. Mai Son, Deputy Director of the Tax Department (Ministry of Finance), when using non-cash payments, small traders reduce manual recording operations, easily track cash flow at the end of the day, thereby creating peace of mind in business and increasing transparency. Mr. Mai Son also emphasized that the application of digital payments must comply with the law and business conditions of each group.

The digital payment system also opens up real-time transaction data, helping management agencies track cash flow, reduce tax losses and detect unusual transactions early. “This is an important factor to protect the input of goods as well as consumers,” Mr. Son said. This data also helps suggest automatic declarations, saving time, costs and limiting errors.

Accelerating the digital economy

It is not difficult to see that digital payments bring great effects to the economy, helping to speed up the circulation of goods, improve social productivity, reduce transaction costs, support economic management, expand the market for small businesses, and create a transparent consumer culture.

According to Mr. Nguyen Duc Le, when three factors including: goods accompanied by invoices, invoices attached to tax obligations and cash flow monitored through banks operate synchronously, management is more transparent and consumers are better protected.

Another advantage is that the cost of QR implementation is almost zero, no need for POS machines or complicated contracts, just print QR codes. Millions of small businesses access digital payments without large investments. With the popularity of mobile banking, nearly 90 million accounts are capable of scanning VietQR, the payment market has become more even than ever.

Statistics for the first 10 months of 2025 from NAPAS show that VietQR transactions increased by 52% in quantity and 85% in value, becoming the "common payment language" of tens of millions of Vietnamese people. QR also helps small and medium enterprises expand domestic and international transactions.

This popularity reflects the effectiveness of the consensus between banks, payment intermediaries and management agencies. According to Mr. Nguyen Quang Minh, General Director of NAPAS, promoting domestic and cross-border payments through VIETQRPay and VIETQRGlobal is a platform to support businesses, protect users and support management agencies.

“VIETQRGlobal is a launching pad for Vietnam’s trade and tourism to strongly integrate with the regional economic flow. When borders are no longer a barrier, users have a convenient experience, and Vietnamese businesses increase their competitive advantage,” Mr. Minh added.

NAPAS and banks and payment intermediaries are continuing to expand the VIETQRPay and VIETQRGlobal networks, cooperating with regional partners to serve tourism and cross-border e-commerce, ensuring safety and sustainability.

With the strong spread of cashless payments, each scan not only completes the transaction but also contributes to the growth and development of the digital economy. This is an important foundation for Vietnam to develop the digital economy in the period 2025-2030.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/tai-chinh-ngan-hang/giao-dich-lien-mach-kinh-te-so-tang-toc-20251204081147867.htm