Famous Saigon market gains cashless option

Saigon’s leading tourist attraction, Ben Thanh market, has become Vietnam’s first wet market to accept electronic payments.

Vietnamese bank Sacombank and MasterCard have joined hands to equip small merchants at Ben Thanh market in Ho Chi Minh City with mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) terminals, enabling consumers to pay for their purchases using payment cards for the first time in its 100-year history.

A month after the initial launch of mPOS with Sacombank, around 300 such terminals have been deployed at Ben Thanh market and with insurance companies, providing a key impetus for driving the adoption of electronic payments and accelerating the country’s move towards becoming a cashless society.

Arn Vogels, country manager for Indochina, MasterCard said: “Our collaboration with Sacombank extends the benefits of electronic payments to both merchants and consumers. Merchants who were previously unable to accept card payments now can use their own mobile phones as point-of-sale terminals to process card transactions, embedding them more firmly in the financial system.

“Meanwhile consumers who previously might have only carried cash now have more reasons to be banked and adopting electronic payments. This aligns with MasterCard’s strategy to make everyday payments safer, simpler, and more convenient for everyone, leading the way toward a world beyond cash.”

Mobile devices are rapidly transforming the payments experience, particularly at the point of sale, and not just for consumers but for merchants as well. Merchants, including door-to-door sales people and street vendors that have never accepted card payments are turning to mPOS solutions that help expand their customer base and sales.

MPOS benefits businesses which are inherently mobile in nature (such as insurance agents and food delivery) as well as small businesses, due to the lower cost of acceptance and also because it enables them to offer the convenience and security of electronic payments to their customers.

“The State Bank of Vietnam has set the goal of increasing the number of POS terminals to 250,000 by 2015 and mPOS technology can help achieve this. MasterCard has and will continue to collaborate with banks and the government to deliver on this goal,” added Vogels.

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