The data, compiled for a year until December 1, 2019, also showed the number of transactions rising 54 percent during this period, according to a recent release from payment company Visa.

A Visa survey also showed that 37 percent of Vietnamese respondents were using contactless payment technology that allows users to simply tap their card on the terminal to make a payment.

Four out of ten users of this technology made payments with smartphones, and most of them used the technology at least once a week.

The survey, which polled over 1,000 people, found 74 percent of respondents expecting their cashless transactions to increase in the next 12 months.  

Market observers have said that the potential for cashless payment in Vietnam is huge due to a growing middle class and rapidly improving telecom infrastructure. The government wants to make 30 percent of all transactions cashless by the end of this year.

But the reliance on cash remains overwhelming, with 80 percent of Vietnamese preferring to use cash for daily transactions, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.