The event was attended by Mr. Pham Anh Tuan - Director General of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)’s Payment Department, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Hung - Vice Chairman cum Secretary General of the Vietnam Banking Association (VNBA), representatives of 62 member organizations and the NAPAS Board of Directors.

The ongoing robust digital transformation in the payment sector aligns with the national digital transformation process, guided by the directives of the Government and SBV. In its role as the organizer of financial switching and building the national retail payment infrastructure, NAPAS has been actively contributing to advancing this process.

Opening the conference, Mr. Pham Anh Tuan - Director General of the SBV’s Payment Department shared insights into the roadmap and certain directions of the SBV in constructing and refining legal documents in payment sector in the upcoming period. Mr. Tuan also provides information on some outstanding results of electronic payment activities in the first 9 months of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. Specifically, non-cash payment transactions increased by 49.32% in quantity; transactions via Internet channels increased by 60.30% in quantity and 5.66% in value; through mobile channels surged by 60.82% in quantity and 9.71% in value; and transactions via QR Code rose by 105.33% in quantity and 10.66% in value. The quantity of domestic card payments increased by 15.24% in quantity and their value grew by 21.78%. In addition, by the end of September 2023, the entire market had 85 payment service providers deploying payments via the Internet and 52 organizations deploying mobile payment services.

"To achieve these accomplishments and growth, I would like to acknowledge the contributions of NAPAS and its member organizations in deploying and implementing the policies and directives of the SBV on developing non-cash payments. They have also played a pivotal role in deploying and developing modern, secure and convenient payment products and services to the public" stated Mr. Tuan.

Subsequently, during the conference program, NAPAS and its member organizations collectively reviewed the achievements of 2023, discussed exemplary projects and outlined collaborative plans for the future.

Accordingly, this year, the NAPAS system processed an average of more than 20 million transactions per day, corresponding to a 52% increase in quantity and 12% increase in transaction value. Particularly, the quantity of NAPAS FastFund 24/7 transactions has increased by 62% in quantity and 13% in value, respectively. Notably, the number of transactions via VietQR scanning method has increased 8 times in quantity and 4 times in transaction value compared to 2022. This indicates an increasing preference and frequent usage by users for the NAPAS Fast Fund 247 service in daily spending and payments, focusing on transactions with small values, spanning urban to rural areas, from restaurants to local markets.

On the other hand, ATM withdrawal services via NAPAS system has continued to decline over the years. Particularly, in 2023, the number of ATM cash withdrawal transactions decreased more significantly compared to previous years, accounting for only 3.6% of the total transactions within the entire system. This reflects the positive trend of non-cash payment development.

In addition, NAPAS is also actively working with organization members to promote international payment connection projects. In particular, NAPAS expanded NAPAS card acceptance network with BC Card - Korea, as well as VietQR payment with Thailand and Cambodia. These activities also contribute to advancing digital payment development in commerce, trade promotion, tourism, and so on, between Vietnam and neighboring countries.

Furthermore, NAPAS collaborates proactively with organizational members to foster international payment connectivity initiatives. Specifically, NAPAS has extended its acceptance network for NAPAS cards with BC Card - Korea, and has facilitated VietQR payment integration with Thailand and Cambodia. These endeavors significantly contribute to the advancement of digital payment infrastructure in the realms of commerce, trade promotion, tourism, and other pertinent domains, fostering enhanced connectivity between Vietnam and neighboring nations.

Mr. Nguyen Quang Hung, Chairman of the Board of Directors at NAPAS, asserted that over the preceding year, NAPAS has executed diverse measures aimed at fortifying operational oversight to guarantee the system's processing efficacy and seamless continuity. In 2023, NAPAS persisted in executing policies for fee reduction, launching communication and marketing initiatives to engage in collaborative ventures with banks for market development, and furthering the expansion of the non-cash payment ecosystem within Vietnam.

In the upcoming period, NAPAS commits to providing the best services, meeting the growth needs of organisation members with reasonable costs, and collaborating with various entities to offer safe, modern products and services to the public.

At the conference, NAPAS conducted a ceremony to honor member organizations with outstanding contributions in 2023, in which Vietcombank was awarded the Bank of the year 2023 for their significant contributions to the system and network. MB, Techcombank, and BIDV have been awarded the Outstanding Performance Bank 2023.

Presented herein are images captured during the proceedings of the event: