Data from the State Bank of Vietnam shows that the number of non-cash transactions has been on a rise in Vietnam during the pandemic.

Li told Reuters in an interview that in “traditional finance” investing in SMEs was rarely worthwhile for global institutions as the due diligence was difficult, risks were high and funding amounts small.

The annual survey on mobile payments showed 98 percent of respondents indicated mobile was their most commonly used payment method, up 5 percentage points from 2019.

However, even though this is a 7.6 percent drop from last year’s $17 billion, Vietnam will remain the ninth biggest remittance beneficiary in the world.

Overseas remittances are expected to fall short of the target this year due to the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdowns around the world.

The aim of the additional financing is to help local businesses with disrupted cash flows sustain operations and maintain jobs.

The collaboration enables UNFCU members to transfer money to mobile wallets in select countries in local currencies.

Hong Kong-based HKT Financial Services, the Fintech division of the HKT Group, has launched another Fintech project, HKT Flexi, a digital or online financing platform that allows users to make payments via the HKT Flexi App.

Oriente will use the money to boost its growth in existing markets and further new developments in places like Vietnam. 

As contactless payments become the norm amid the worldwide pandemic response, China rolled out its digital currency this month in four cities, setting it up to become the world’s first cashless society.