Mobile banking poised to take off in Vietnam’s rural areas

Vietnam’s rural population is still struggling with access to basic financial services. With the high mobile penetration rate, can mobile phones be a platform to address their needs? Yap Far Loon, Business Development Director, Telecommunications at Spire Research and Consulting, shared his insights on the untapped potential for mobile financial services to serve Vietnam’s rural population in The Saigon Times Daily.

According to a Spire report, an astounding 60 million people in Vietnam do not have access to basic financial services. Only 22% of the population – predominantly those residing in urban areas – have access to financial services.

Why are the rural areas being left out? Yap opined that high costs are the main reason. For instance, the cost of installation, maintenance, operation and location rental for Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) alone exceeds VND300 million annually. Moreover, as rural transaction volumes are low, economies of scale are limited, making it even more expensive for the financial service provider.

But Vietnam’s high mobile penetration rate has created the possibility of another platform – mobile devices – for accessing financial services. According to the Ministry of Information and Communications Statistics for December 2013, Vietnam has approximately 150 million telephone subscribers – of which 93% of them are mobile phone users. This implies a mobile penetration rate of over 100%. The 3G network in the country covers up to 20 million subscribers.

Hence, it is high time for service providers to tap into this market. In May 2014, online mobile service company mService joined hands with Vietcombank and VinaPhone to launch a mobile money transaction service known as MoMo. The account number for this service is the same as the customer’s mobile phone number, making the application user-friendly.

If initiatives like this succeed, we can expect mobile e-banking, e-payments and e-commerce to take off among Vietnam’s huge rural population. But to make that happen requires a high level of co-operation amongst financial institutions, mobile network operators and mobile payment processors.

https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/media/mobile-banking-poised-to-take-off-in-vietnams-rural-areas/

Comments

Spire sponsors INBC Salmon Evening to explore business opportunities in aqua farming

Indonesia is the world’s third largest aquaculture producer. What business prospects lie in Indonesia’s aqua farming industry? Spire Research and Consulting was honored to be a sponsor and speaker at the Indonesia Norway Business Council (INBC) Salmon Evening in Jakarta – an event aimed at exploring trends and potential business opportunities in Indonesia’s aqua farming industry. At the event, Franklin Crum, Manager, Client Service of Spire Research and Consulting, spoke about aqua farming and the untapped opportunities in this industry. He remarked that Indonesia, being the third largest aquaculture producer worldwide (trailing closely behind China and India), saw an average annual increase of 30.9% in aquaculture production volume from 2009 to 2012. Crum commented that opportunities in aqua farming are abundant. There is an increasing demand for high-value fish species such as snapper, grouper, pompano and barramundi as well as rising supply of fingerlings (young fish) for ...

FIFA World Cup 2018 holds lessons for successful team building

The FIFA World Cup 2018 is widely seen as one of the best World Cups in recent memory, with many surprises and goals aplenty. One talking point was the role of teamwork as opposed to just superstar talent. What lessons can businesses learn from the beautiful game? Leon Perera, CEO of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his thoughts in The Business Times – Views from the Top section on 23 July 2018. As World Cup fever draws to an end, the game lived up to its hype with breath-taking goals and outstanding performances. Perera highlighted the role of 'team effort' over mere individual talent, which was evident in the early failure of teams with world-class superstars like Argentina and Portugal. Perera also pointed out the importance of investing in new talent pipeline development, which paid rich dividends for France, the winning team and also one of the youngest teams in the World Cup. The game also highlighted the role of risk-taking. A relentless approach t...

Spirethoughts: Saving India’s farmers

Rural farming in India could benefit immensely from solar energy, as farmers can use water pumps that are powered by solar panels to irrigate farms; balancing out the electricity provided for urban dwellers in the process. This is crucial as approximately 18 million of the country’s 25 million water pump sets are linked to the national electric grid. To address the nation’s power shortage, a joint-venture will be formed between six state-owned companies in Mumbai, including Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd and Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd, to build a 4-gigawatt solar photovoltaic farm by the end of 2016. The price would be INR10 cheaper than the lowest power bid in India. Once the government grant has been received, this would change the way clean energy is generated; providing light through solar energy to 70 percent of the population residing in the urban areas. Is solar energy becoming a transformative resource for rural farmers? http://www.spireresearch.com/ne...

The Philippines - Asia's next economic powerhouse

The Philippines is emerging as one of Asia’s most dynamic economies, with a forecasted growth rate of 6.9 per cent in 2018 driven by investment and private consumption. The economy recorded growth of over 6 per cent in 2017, for the sixth straight year, thanks to buoyant government spending, exports and a recovery in the agricultural sector. Will this Southeast Asian tiger be able to maintain its momentum? A growing economy While advanced economies like the United States, Europe and Japan are growing at slow rate, a number of emerging economies like the Philippines continue to surge ahead. With annual growth expected to reach 6.9 per cent by 2018, the Philippines now ranks as the 10th fastest growing economy globally. Owing to strong domestic demand and government projects, the country’s economy is on the rise. The government’s expansionary fiscal policy has aided capital formation and credit growth, whereas low inflation has strengthened private consumption. Path...

Will Indonesia’s new government be favorable for economic growth?

What will be the impact of Indonesia’s recent Presidential and legislative elections on its growing economy? Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his insights in Business Times – Singapore. Mr. Joko’s likely victory in the Presidential elections of Indonesia would mean improved competitiveness through continued economic reforms. He would probably continue working on attracting direct foreign investment, build infrastructure, continue civil service reform, promote special economic zones and for locally sourced commodities to nurture value added processing. Mr. Joko’s second term would also be beneficial for Indonesia’s ICT startup sector. However the pace of the economic reforms may be slow, owing to the signs that the new legislature may possibly enhance the weight of social conservatives in politics. Read more : https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/media/will-indonesias-new-government-be-favorable-for-economic-growth/...

The Knowledge to Decide

Search This Blog