Operator: Mobile Money is still “land” but “barren”

Data from the State Bank shows that, in the first months of deploying Mobile Money service, the Covid-19 epidemic situation still has many complicated and prolonged developments; In many areas and localities, people and service-providing organizations still have to practice social distancing; However, the number of customers registering to use the service is still positive, especially in rural, remote and isolated areas (reaching a rate of more than 60% of customers using the service as of March 31, 2020. 2022).

Besides the achievements, the telecommunications businesses deploying the service also face some difficulties because the Mobile Money service is a new service. to propagate and promote the benefits of the service in order to attract and create habits for customers.

There is still room, but the “land” of Mobile Money is barren and fertile, and the bank has plowed it all

Talking about the difficulties in Mobile Money development, at the seminar “Promoting Mobile Money development in Vietnam” organized by Lao Dong Newspaper in collaboration with the Payment Department (SBV) and the Telecommunications Department of the Ministry of Information. and Organizational Communications, Ms. Pham Minh Tu, Deputy Director of MobiFone Digital Service Center, said that digital transformation banks are very strong, this will compete strongly with Mobile Money.

“We also know that Mobile Money implementation in Vietnam is about 20 years slower than the world, the golden time for Mobile Money deployment has passed. 20 years ago, the number of bank users was very small and the advantages were very low. At this time, when the technology background is developing strongly, in which banks develop digital banking, does Mobile Money still have a chance?” , Mrs. Tu asked.

Ms. Tu also pointed out many difficulties in the implementation of Mobile Money in Vietnam such as the usage limit of Mobile Money is just under 10 million VND, much lower than e-wallets. Meanwhile, Mobile Money costs money and resources.

“The space of Mobile Money is not gone, but these are barren and rocky lands. While the fertile land banks have plowed all over. Those are the difficulties that Mobile-Money deployers face. need to face”, Deputy Director of MobiFone Digital Service Center emphasized.

Management wants to be tight but use must be simple

As one of the Mobile Money pilot units, Mr. Nguyen Van Tan – Deputy General Director of VNPT VinaPhone Telecommunication Services Corporation pointed out that Mobile Money focuses on micro payments (small payments), ie customers. Customers in remote areas have little access to banking services.

The question is how to make it easier for people to use?

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Tan, it needs to be very simple because for people using the service, it only takes one or two simple buttons. However, the contradiction lies in the fact that management wants to be strict and users want to be simple. Therefore, Mr. Tan said. It is necessary to find a suitable falling point between these two approaches.

“Through practical implementation, we realized the problem of customer authentication. How to make customers register simple, I think it is necessary to use the national population database. Because there is information on it. complete and almost absolute accuracy in terms of full name, date of birth, address… If the network operator can access this source, customers do not need many complicated steps but can use Mobile Money immediately, as long as The phone number matches the registration information.

I believe that if this is achieved, more than 120 million subscribers of all network operators in Vietnam can simultaneously open and use Mobile money tomorrow, “said Mr. Tuan.

In addition, according to current regulations, subscribers must have an “age” of at least 3 months to use Mobile Money, which he thinks is unreasonable. Because when you have accurate, correct information and phone numbers, why do you need to wait for such a long time.

“Is it too difficult to be safe!”, this person asked.

The second biggest problem is that the convenience of depositing, transferring, withdrawing and paying for daily services is still difficult.

Regarding the limit of VND 10 million, Mr. Tan said that during the trial period, VNPT completely agreed with the limit of VND 10 million related to money withdrawal and transfer activities. However, now that the 2-year trial period has expired, this enterprise proposes to withdraw and expand the upper limit.

“It’s called a micro payment, but in the case of a higher transaction level, it can be authorized and authenticated to a certain extent,” Tan said.

In terms of security, according to this Deputy General Director, the current network operators are still just “a novice” compared to banks in this regard. The issues of risk prevention and attack, network operators must pay attention. In terms of the scope of State management, it sets out standards for security and safety with this system.

Mr. Tan said that if there is a system of national security standards, it will be the basis for network operators to use as a standard to organize deployment and investment in the system.

An issue that is also noted by network operators is the change in people’s behavior of spending and using money. Mr. Truong Quang Viet, Deputy General Director of Viettel Digital Services Corporation, asked the question: “How can people have enough awareness and trust to use Mobile Money, gradually switching from using paper money to online banking? living cashless, comprehensively changing habits and directly benefiting from the digital economy…

Mobile Money will have an acceleration in the number of customers using the service, accompanied by growth in transaction sales, expansion of the network of business points, payment acceptors, synergies, add-ons, and other services. existing banking services, creating a dynamic and inclusive payment ecosystem to serve the people”.

Boxes: