The wallets, which hope to take advantage of Vietnam’s plan to become a cashless economy by 2027, compete fiercely to gain many users to help them to turn a profit, a battle for market share replicated across Southeast Asia.
(Oct 17): Just next to Ho Chi Minh City’s financial district, two dozen street vendors’ stalls display colourful adverts for e-wallets backed by private equity firm Warburg Pincus, ride-hailing firm Grab and Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, among others.
Between them, the stalls - selling everything from crab soup to Vietnamese Banh My sandwiches - accept payment from most of Vietnam’s 28 different e-wallets, which also allow users to make cash transfers through their mobile phones.
