Paying in Vietnam: Government calls for greater promotion of cashless payments

Vietnam is promoting cashless payments. The relevant authorities must therefore implement measures to promote cashless transactions, improve governance and advisory services, and conduct comprehensive communication campaigns. The Ecovis experts explain the details.

According to the Prime Minister’s official circular 124/CD-TTg of 30 July 2025, the Ministry of Finance is responsible for coordinating with other ministries and sectors to tighten inspections and oversight of state budget disbursement. It must also ensure compliance with legal regulations on invoices and payment documentation relating to the sale and purchase of goods and services. Violations, particularly the deliberate use of cash to evade taxes, must be promptly and strictly penalised.

The role of the State Bank in the further development of cashless transactions

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) will work with the relevant agencies to quickly implement solutions to further develop the cashless payment ecosystem. It has also been assigned to conduct a comprehensive review of the implementation of the 2021-2025 cashless payment development scheme and present its results to the Prime Minister before 1 December 2025.

In addition, the SBV must step up inspection, supervision, and anti-money laundering measures within the banking system. The continued development of payment infrastructure and financial technologies is also seen as essential to boosting cashless transactions nationwide.

According to a recent SBV report on cashless payment in Vietnam, the interbank electronic payment system currently processes an average of VND 820 trillion (USD 31.25 billion) daily, handling around 26 million transactions.

The Vietnamese government is promoting cashless payments to make payments easier and prevent tax evasion.

Trung Pham, Partner, ECOVIS AFA VIETNAM, Da Nang City, Vietnam

Cashless transactions are increasing steadily

Vietnam has continuously upgraded its national credit information infrastructure, achieving an impressive 98 percent data update success rate across credit institutions. There are now over 204.5 million payment accounts and 154.1 million active bank cards in the country, with nearly 87 percent of adults holding bank accounts. A recent survey revealed that 59 percent of daily transactions are cashless, rising to 72 percent among those aged 25 to 44.

Vietnam is also advancing cross-border retail payments via QR codes with neighbouring countries such as Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, with plans to expand further across Asia. Previously, in Article 26 of Decree No. 181/2025/ND-CP, effective from 1 July 2025 detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Value Added Tax, the government also stipulated: “Business establishments must have non-cash payment documents for purchased goods and services (including imported goods) of VND 5 million or more, including value added tax”. Under the previous regulation, this threshold was VND 20 million or more, inclusive of value added tax.

This underlines the government’s commitment to non-cash payments in production and business activities, which is expected to help tax authorities manage more effectively, reduce budget losses, and make large-value transactions more transparent.

For further information please contact:

Trung Pham, Partner, ECOVIS AFA VIETNAM, Da Nang City, Vietnam
Email: trung.pham@ecovis.com.vn