Fintech market may hit $18bln by 2024

Vietnam’s fintech market could reach $18 billion by 2024 with a high level of competition, according to the Fintech Industry Rankings 2022 released recently by Reputa.

The local fintech market is currently seeing the second-fastest growth rate in the region, behind Singapore.

Reputa’s rankings show that, in the opening months of 2023, the fintech market witnessed exciting activity. BIDV launched BIDV Smart Kids, the first digital banking service in Vietnam that allows access for children from six years old and up. Grab, meanwhile, cooperated with ZaloPay to jointly promote cashless payments to a new level. And at the end of January, VNPay was the No. 1 most searched and used free app on AppStore.

The rankings reveal the potential for the development of the fintech market given the interest of users. There were more than 1.6 million discussions on social networks last year relating to the field in Vietnam. E-payment was the most discussed industry group, with nearly 1.1 million discussions, more than three times the number on digital banking, which had about 350,000.

The most active discussion group was in the 25-34 age group, accounting for 60 per cent. This is also the generation that uses fintech applications the most. Factors that users care about when using fintech products include the payment experience, the web / app experience, the promotion / traditional program experience, and the customer care experience. Sixty-six per cent of users were interested in promotional activities from KOLs as well as events. Meanwhile, security errors are a factor that users care about in the customer care experience, accounting for 80.85 per cent of discussions.

Notably, the rankings recognize the contributions of e-payment units to the development of Vietnam’s fintech market. Specifically, MoMo is the most popular provider on social networks, followed by Shopee Pay and Viettel Pay.

Vietnam currently has more than 40 e-wallets and the market is considered to be in a boom period. Ninety per cent of market share belongs to three providers: MoMo, Moca, and ZaloPay, with ShopeePay (AirPay), ViettelPay, and VNPT Pay also performing well. These six together account for a total of 99 per cent of the market.

Reputa notes that the chill in the venture capital market in 2022 led to general gloom in the global startup market but fintech remains a bright spot, recording the highest investment growth of the year.