Payoo noted that the QR payment method was still taking the lead, followed by international card payment and domestic card payment.

The food and beverage (F&B) industry experienced the fastest recovery in the first half of 2024. The F&B industry increased by 38 per cent in volume and 54 per cent in value. International cards have become the dominant payment method in this field, accounting for 65 per cent of the volume, followed by QR codes at 30 per cent and domestic cards at 5 per cent.

Tourism also posted a strong recovery on the back of the rising number of domestic and international tourist arrivals. In the first half of this year, the rate of using international cards issued abroad through the Payoo payment platform increased 2.6-fold in volume and 2.5-fold in value compared to the same period last year, mainly for dining and shopping at shopping centers.

During the April 30 and May 1 holidays, the number of domestic tourists purchasing domestic tours through cashless payment increased 2.5 times compared to last year's period. The tourism industry is expected to gain momentum during the peak summer tourism season.

In addition, the retail industry also posted high growth, especially in gold, silver, gemstones, and jewellery, with an increase of about 2.5-fold volume and 4-fold in value. It is followed by the pharmaceutical industry, tech devices, supermarkets and convenience stores, and payment activities at shopping centres.

Payoo attributes the surge in cashless transactions to the shift of consumers to digital payments. Fraud is also increasing amid the rise of cashless payments via QR codes. A common fraud is pasting the QR code over the store's QR code, so buyers make payments to the wrong accounts. Some create fake images of completed payments, causing difficulties for businesses in the confirmation process.

To fight fraud, merchants can use electronic devices to generate different QR codes automatically for each transaction or display QR codes right on payment terminals for customers to scan codes correctly.