Payment methods used by young people in Vietnam revealed

Vietnam's mobile payment market has grown rapidly in recent years, with the younger generation in particular being extremely receptive to digital payments. Below is an analysis of the most common payment methods currently used by young people in Vietnam and their characteristics:

I. Local e-wallets (dominant market)

  1. Momo(Market share over 50%)
  • Features: code payment / QR code collection, phone bill recharge, utilities payment
  • User Profile: 18-35 years old urban white-collar workers and students mainly
  • Update: Strategic partnership with Grab to access 100,000 offline merchants by 2023

  1. ZaloPay
  • Advantage: Leveraging on the 65 million user base of Zalo social platform (Vietnam's version of WeChat).
  • Innovation: "Shake to Pay" mobile phone payment function is popular among young people

II. Bank App Direct Payment

  1. ViettelPay(Developed by military background telecommunication company)
  • Highlights: account opening without a bank card, first coverage in rural areas
  • Data: 2,17% year-on-year growth in trading volume in 2023

  1. VNPAY

III. Cross-border payment platforms (penetration of international players)

  1. GrabPay(Relying on Grab's Super App ecosystem)

    • Scenario: direct debit after taxi/takeaway, support binding local bank
    • Young user growth: Q2 2023 data shows 42% users aged 18-24

  2. AirPay(started as a game top-up)

    • Unique advantage: deep co-operation with popular Vietnamese handheld/online games (e.g. Free Fire, Liên Quân Mobile)
    • Additional services: provide game props instalment, students love it!

Fourth, the new trend of social e-commerce payment

  1. Facebook/Instagram embedded payments

    • Phenomenon: Gen Z buys Netflix goods directly through social platforms, jumps to Momo/VNPAY to complete the transaction
    • Data: 30% of Vietnam's social e-commerce GMV settled via e-wallets in 2023

  2. TikTok Shop Closed Loop Payments

    • TikTok partners with VPBank to launch 'Instant Payment' feature to attract micro and small sellers

V. The persistence of cash payments and practical challenges

Despite the rapid growth of digital payments, cash still accounts for 65% of daily transactions (Central Bank of Vietnam 2023 report) for a number of reasons including:

  • cultural inertia: Traditional scenarios such as food markets, street food, etc. are still dominated by cash (young people keep small amounts of cash on hand to cope)
  • Handling fee sensitivity : Some small merchants refuse to accept e-payments to avoid the 0.5%-2% platform levy

VI. Prediction of future flashpoints

  1. BNPL (buy now pay later) MoMo has piloted "Momo PayLater", targeting college students and young office workers.
  2. Cryptocurrency Trial : Some tech firms try to settle salaries in USDT, but policy risks are high
  3. Biometric Payments : Vietcombank starts rolling out fingerprint/face recognition ATM withdrawals

🔍 Recommendations for companies going offshore::

  • ✅Priority access to Momo+ZaloPay covers 80% young users
  • ❌ Avoid relying only on credit card channels (credit card penetration in Vietnam <10%)
  • 📱Scan to pay at TikTok Shop and other emerging channels