Visa partners with Vietnam’s SmartPay to boost digital payment solutions for SMEs/MSMEs
05/17/2023
Partnership will help hasten digital transformation for Vietnam’s retailers and consumers
Visa, a world leader in digital payments, announced today a partnership with SmartPay, a leading Vietnamese fintech company, that will help spread digital payment solutions to Vietnam’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Together, Visa and SmartPay will empower SMEs/MSMEs with essential tools, such as point-of-sales (POS) terminals, that they need to compete in the burgeoning digital payment era.
Attending the partnership signing ceremony were Ms. Jeni Mundy, Visa Global Head of Merchant Sales and Acquiring (MSA), Visa, and Mr. Marek Forysiak, SmartPay’s Chairman. Ms. Mundy’s visit to Vietnam underscores the importance of the fast-growing Southeast Asian market as Visa seeks to strengthen its commitment to widen the adoption of digital payments, enhance the digital economy and connect more clients to expand further cooperation opportunities in the future, and the partnership with SmartPay fits seamlessly with that vision.
“As I connect with our partners here in Vietnam, I’m delighted to see their commitment to expanding payments options, enabling consumers to benefit from a wider range of choices and convenient digital solutions,” Mundy said.
“A lack of infrastructure, especially POS terminals, is becoming a profound challenge for SMEs to keep up with the digital transformation taking place in Vietnam. Demand for POS devices in the second quarter of 2022 was about 1.2 million devices, and SmartPay’s goal in the next three years is to provide 325,000 POS devices, or nearly 30% of the total market share,” Forysiak said. “This partnership is part of the broader effort of Visa and SmartPay to make cashless payments more accessible in Vietnam by expanding the number of merchants equipped with SmartPOS to accept non-cash payments, especially Visa card payments. It will give merchants payment solutions that can boost their competitiveness in the digital era.”
While cash use is still widespread in Vietnam, consumers are increasingly turning to cashless payment options. According to the Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes Study 20221, cash usage has fallen from 2021 while 89% of respondents said they use mobile wallets and 85% use credit and debit cards.
According to the study findings, 79% of consumers expressed dissatisfaction with the limited payment method options available at small retailers, while 74% of respondents emphasized the urgent need for small retailers to embrace a wider array of digital payment methods. These insights into public opinion point to a substantial untapped opportunity for SMEs/MSMEs to effectively broaden their customer base and significantly enhance sales performance.
What is happening in Vietnam is part of a global trend toward the digitalization of payments. Visa’s Global Back to Business study2 released last year showed 73% of small businesses surveyed said accepting new forms of digital payments was fundamental to growth. Furthermore, 59% of small businesses said they already, or plan to, use only digital payments within the next two years, while 41% of consumers said the same.
“Now, small businesses can build on this foundation of digital capabilities to find new growth and thrive,” Ms. Dung Dang, Visa Country Manager for Vietnam and Laos, said. “Payments are not just about completing a sale, but rather, about creating a convenient and secure experience that reflects a company’s brand across platforms and benefits both the business and the consumer.”
Visa has spearheaded a range of impactful initiatives aimed at supporting small businesses to embrace digital payments and attain increased participation in the digital economy. Notably, Visa has already surpassed the halfway mark of its objective to digitize 50 million SMEs across the globe. Amid the profound impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, small businesses fortified their digital capabilities, from contactless transactions to eCommerce, a transformation that facilitated their adaptation and resilience, enabling them to navigate through an unprecedented economic event.
SmartPay has been providing cashless payment solutions such as SmartQR and SmartPOS, business management solutions such as SmartShop, and integrating OPOS sales management software on SmartPOS devices. SmartPay also opens opportunities for merchants to seek business loans, supports them to grow sales with Buy Now, Pay Later plans, and improves the operations process with the SmartBox product, which is a Soundbox that notifies retailers immediately when any Scan-to-Pay transaction is successful. By the end of 2022, SmartPay was actively serving more than 700,000 merchants and a community of more than 40 million users nationwide.
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1 The Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes Study was prepared by CLEAR in Sep-Oct 2022, surveyed amongst 6,550 consumers in Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia. The study conducted online interviews with 1,000 Vietnamese consumers across the country who are working part or full time with a demographic mix that sought to create a representative mix of ages and genders.
2 The Visa Back to Business Study was conducted by Wakefield Research in December 2021 and surveyed 2,250 small business owners with 100 employees of fewer in Brazil, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Singapore, United Arab Emirates and United States. The consumer section surveyed 1,000 adults in the United States and 500 adults in Brazil, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Russia, Singapore and United Arab Emirates.
About Visa
Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement. Learn more at Visa.com.
About SmartPay
Since being founded in May 2019, SmartPay has focused on SMEs & micro merchants, helping them grow by providing innovative, fast, economical, and reliable technologies. By the end of 2022, SmartPay had more than 700,000 merchants (payment acceptance units) and a community of more than 40 million nationwide users.
With the mission of promoting and improving the life quality of small and medium-sized merchants, SmartPay helps them accept all types of payment such as QR code, Tap to Pay, FacePay, card payment, and online payment gateway, helping them do business efficiently regardless of their size. SmartPay designs and develops solutions to provide financial support to more than 4 million small businesses in Vietnam through products such as Buy Now Pay Later, EMI, Business Loan, etc.
Extra information: SMARTNET (the company that owns SmartPay) is a member of VietNam Banks Association according to Decision No. 40/QD-HDHH (October 24, 2019), and received the security certificate international PCI DSS level 1 (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) - a global security standard applied, ensuring the safety of card data when processed and stored at banks or payment enterprises.