HCM City (VNS/VNA) - Contactless payment is becoming trendy in Vietnam thanks to thegrowth of technology and the country’s young population.

To make contactless payment, a card or smartphone is simply waved in thevicinity of a terminal equipped with the technology.

A spokesperson for Visa Vietnam told Vietnam News that consumers around theworld see value in the speed and convenience of tapping to pay.

“More cities around the world are enabling contactless technology to deliver animproved experience for riders, helping save valuable time by eliminating theneed to buy or reload a fare card.”

In a survey by Visa, nearly half of UK commuters cited the introduction ofcontactless payments as the single most significant improvement to theiroverall public transport experience. Meanwhile, Poland is on its way to beingthe first country in the world to have 100 percent of its checkout terminalswith tap to pay capability, currently at 99.9 percent.

In the US, 78 out the top 100 Visa merchants already have the infrastructurefor contactless payment. The company expects to issue more than 100 millionmore contactless cards in the US this year.

Contactless payment is also very popular in markets like Canada, Singapore,Malaysia, Russia, parts of Latin America, and the Caribbean, Visa said.

In Vietnam too, it is becoming more and more popular.

At a shop in Vivo City mall in HCM City’s District 7, an employee said thatcontactless payment is becoming increasingly common at her store.

“You see, other digital payment like credit cards need three or four steps. Butcontactless payment [involves] just one tap and no signing.”

The popularity of contactless payment has surged in the last two years or sowith the entry of players like Vietcombank, Sacombank and Techcombank.

Another survey by Visa in Vietnam last year found 85 percent of consumerssaying they know about contactless payment and 32 percent using it.

Seeing the potential, many retailers and companies have embraced the newtechnology, and it is now widely used in cafes, restaurants, supermarkets,convenience stores and amusement places like Starbucks, Saigon Co-op,Lotte Mart, eMart, Aeon, Citimart, CGV and BHD cinemas, The Coffee House, andKFC.

Visa said this is a positive signal for its development and predicted a boom sinceit is popular with young people.

“Vietnamese are aware of the safety and convenience of contactless payment.Furthermore, contactless payment helps businesses save time and improveefficiency,” said Dang Tuyet Dung, country manager of Visa Vietnam and Laos.

Experts said developing this payment method requires close cooperation betweenthe Government, banks and companies./.