90% of Vietnamese consumers are interested in virtual banking services

On September 5, Visa, an electronic payment technology company, released a research report on consumer payment attitudes, showing that Vietnamese consumers are increasingly aware of and actively embracing digital banking and digital retail in the post-pandemic era. The research also revealed promising and innovative digital trends in the future.

Accordingly, consumers have a very high level of interest in digital trends including virtual banking, open banking, augmented reality (AR), smart payments, cryptocurrencies, etc.

The Rise of Digital Banking

Digital banking is one of the hottest trends. According to Visa research, 90% of Vietnamese consumers are interested in virtual banking services, showing a strong demand for alternatives to traditional in-person banking services.

Additionally, at least 7 out of 10 consumers in Vietnam are aware of the concept of open banking. Open banking is designed to provide customers with a more convenient experience by allowing consumers and businesses to enable third-party applications to access financial data instantly and securely. Additionally, the “Gen X” and “Gen Z” segments are the most aware of open banking and are willing to share their contact and personal information.

Ms. Dang Tuyet Dung, Country Manager of Visa Vietnam and Laos said: “Vietnamese consumers will continue to embrace digital retail methods and platforms because of the convenience and intelligence that these forms bring. Based on the analysis from the research ofVisaon consumer payment attitudes, our businesses and partners can identify and seize opportunities at key moments, ensuring that their services are relevant to the changing needs of consumers in the future.”

The Shift to Digital Retail

After the pandemic, besides digital banking, digital retail also marked particularly strong growth. Trends in this field are predicted to remain popular with Vietnamese consumers in the future.

These trends include augmented reality (AR), which allows consumers to try on, personalize, or visualize products through their personal phone cameras during an online shopping experience. Four out of five Vietnamese consumers are aware of the concept of using AR for retail shopping, and three out of 10 have used it. The Gen Z and Gen X segments have the highest AR usage rates. Although AR usage is not widespread, consumers see it as an increasingly important feature, especially when deciding whether to buy an expensive product.

Another digital retail trend that is gaining traction, according to Visa, is smart payments, which allow consumers to scan items as they pick them up and create a digital shopping cart to pay without scanning the goods at the end of their shopping trip. Nearly half of Vietnamese consumers, mainly Gen Z, have tried smart payments. Factors that attract the majority of consumers' interest in this payment include speed and convenience, novelty, and the ability to balance the budget by being able to see the total bill before paying.

The study also found that in the future, Vietnamese consumers expect nearly 8 in 10 orders to be delivered to their homes. In Southeast Asia, an average of 4 in 5 consumers in the region (82%) said they would continue to shop online, with the highest rates in Indonesia (92%) and Vietnam (89%).

It can be said that shopping has not stopped at the direct buying and selling experience but is expanding to new forms, digitalization and bringing more convenience.

Prepare for future digital trends

Visa experts said that Vietnamese consumers are also very interested in some digital trends that are predicted to be popular in the future. For example, about 70% of Vietnamese consumers participating in the study are interested in emerging digital trends such as cryptocurrencies, NFTs (a type of encrypted token on the blockchain, representing a unique asset) and virtual universes (Metaverse). Music, videos and paintings are the most popular forms of NFTs traded. About 7 in 10 Vietnamese consumers want to know more about Metaverse or how to experience this new form.

“As the world’s leading digital payments technology company, Visa will continue to support platforms across the payments ecosystem in the future. One of the efforts to realize this commitment is the Visa Creator Program, launched in March 2022 to help digital filmmakers, artists, musicians, and fashion designers accelerate their businesses through NFTs. In January 2023, we announced the first five creators in this project, who come from around the world and will demonstrate how Visa can help creators embrace advanced digital technologies,” Ms. Dang Tuyet Dung added.