A raft of initiatives is ensuring customers are more aware of newer payment habits and options

Visa joined forces with a number of retailers to reward consumers for using their Visa contactless cards and purchases on e-commerce platforms. In addition, to raise awareness of Cashless Day, Visa has also issued a super deal for a Highlands Coffee drink. The company set up a small pop-up coffee store at Vincom Ba Trieu and Bitexco Financial Tower in Hanoi to sell cups of coffee, available to purchase using Visa contactless cards.

As the world has shifted further to digital across all aspects of commerce, small businesses have had to adapt, from selling online and digitalising their supply chain to utilising vendor payments. Other major participants on Cashless Day included digital retail solution providers Haravan and Sapom, which are gifting three months of free use with each yearly subscription.

Dang Tuyet Dung, Visa country manager of Vietnam and Laos, said, “Change has reached a tipping point in Vietnam, crowding out more traditional forms of shopping, consumption, and especially payment.

Cashless Day is a celebration of this shift towards a swifter and more streamlined shopping experience built around what the consumer needs. Visa is proud to partner with some of the market’s leading brands once again to reinforce and build further the country’s digital economy.”

In Vietnam, cashless payments and e-commerce have reached scale, Dung added. “As a trusted engine of commerce, Visa provides the technology and services that keep the wheels of the digital economy moving. We are delighted to expand our participation in this year’s Cashless Day as we take on a larger role in connecting stakeholders across the world.”

Visa is also looking to promote digital transformation in local businesses through Visa Business Solutions, offering businesses the tools to succeed in modern trade while improving operational efficiency. Enterprises can make significant savings by using their Visa Commercial Cards to purchase digital services, while promotions include a potential 100 per cent cashback on Google Ads or 10 per cent monthly discounts on Facebook and Instagram advertising.

Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are also able to access resources on Visa’s Practical Business Skills platform, offering essential knowledge from startup to managing and growing a business. The website is one of the many educational initiatives Visa is driving to deliver inclusive, sustainable, and equitable growth around the world.

To accelerate the digital growth of small businesses in Asia-Pacific, Visa has also announced the launch of the Acceptance Fast Track Programme. SMEs in Vietnam will be able to begin accepting digital payments in a matter of minutes thanks to new Visa solutions, onboarding processes, and one of the first programme participants, NextPay, a leading Vietnamese payment facilitator.

Visa published its latest Consumer Payment Attitudes study last month, which showed an emphatic shift in payment habits. The latest edition of the study was conducted from August to September 2021 and involved 6,520 consumers aged 18-65 in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Cambodia.

According to the data, 65 per cent of Vietnamese are carrying less cash in their wallets and one-third said they would stop using cash after the pandemic. This was paralleled by significant gains in cashless payments. Almost 76 per cent of consumers now use mobile wallets and even more (82 per cent) use cards.

Even offline, consumers have come to expect digital payments at physical stores and are showing a clear preference for vendors who can accommodate them.