The State Bank of Vietnam published a 20-year review of its Payment Department, summarising how policy making, infrastructure modernisation and system oversight have supported the expansion of cashless payments and digital banking, and setting out forward priorities for payments regulation and supervision. The review traces the unit’s evolution from the Payment Board established in 2005 to the Payment Department created in 2008, with an expanded mandate since 22 November 2019 to include state management of digital banking. It highlights policy initiatives covering cashless payments, payment intermediaries and agents, interoperability and standards such as chip cards and QR payments, as well as the fintech sandbox and the Mobile Money pilot. Reported market growth metrics include cashless transactions up around 500 times by volume and more than 60 times by value since 2005, with mobile transactions up about 280 times by volume and 600 times by value since 2015, and QR payments up more than 700 times by volume and more than 400 times by value since becoming widespread from 2018. On infrastructure, the interbank electronic payment system (IBPS) is described as having grown 36 times by volume and 148 times by value versus 2005, alongside the development of Napas’ switching and electronic clearing system. On security and fraud risk, it references the 2025 launch of the State Bank of Vietnam’s information system supporting management, supervision and prevention of fraud risks in payments (SIMO); as of 11 December 2025, 122 of 147 entities had successfully reported to SIMO, covering 592,000 suspicious account or e-wallet records, with 2.13 million customer warnings and more than 670,000 transactions paused or cancelled, linked to over VND 2.57 trillion. Looking ahead, the department’s priorities are framed around strengthening a unified legal framework for digital banking and payments including emerging topics such as a central bank digital currency, further modernising resilient real-time payment infrastructure and cross-sector links to public services, upgrading risk-based oversight using technologies such as AI and Big Data to prevent fraud, and expanding digital payment access in rural and underserved areas.
State Bank of Vietnam 2025-12-12
State Bank of Vietnam reports SIMO anti-fraud monitoring results and sets next-phase priorities for digital payments oversight
The State Bank of Vietnam's 20-year review of its Payment Department highlights growth in cashless transactions and infrastructure advancements. Future priorities include enhancing the legal framework for digital banking, modernizing payment infrastructure, and expanding digital payment access in underserved areas. It also emphasizes using AI and Big Data for fraud prevention and exploring a central bank digital currency.