HCM CITY: Increased use of electronic payment products added US$880 million to Việt Nam’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 2011 to 2015, according to a new report released by Moody’s Analytics.
The report entitled “The Impact of Electronic Payments on Economic Growth” said that more products including credit, debit and prepaid cards were increasingly being used, helping to create an average 75,000 jobs annually during the five-year period. Conducted in 70 countries over four years, the report looked at how electronic payments affected economies.
Globally, it said that increased usage of electronic payments created on average 2.6 million new jobs per year and added $298 billion to GDP, while raising household consumption of goods and service by an average of 0.18 per cent per year.
Of the countries in ASEAN featured in Moody’s report, Việt Nam experienced the second highest rate of GDP growth due to increased use of electronic payments. Singapore was third and Thailand first. The research report found that the electronification of payments benefited governments and contributed to a more stable and open business environment.
“Electronic payments help minimise what is commonly referred to as the grey economy — economic activity that is often cash-based and goes unreported. As a result, electronic payments provided a higher potential tax revenue base for governments, while also bringing the added benefits of lower cash handling costs, guaranteed payments to merchants and greater financial inclusion for consumers,” the report said. Electronic payments are developing strongly in the country, including big card providers such as MasterCard and Visa.
For Visa, the total number of transactions grew by 34 per cent last year. The company’s point of sale (POS) transactions, meanwhile, rose by 38 per cent. Online shopping using VISA cards also experienced significant growth at 47 per cent. More than 45 million people in Việt Nam are currently connected to the internet.
