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BANKING & FINANCE

chases into a single payment, as well as
ease of use. “While existing consumer
finance players are already offering install-
ment purchases for big ticket items like
consumer durables and two-wheelers, they
are now moving into lower ticket size loans
to tap into consumer demand,” said Mr.
Marco Breu, Partner at McKinsey & Com-
pany. “In Vietnam, alongside several local
tech startups, some regional fintech players
have entered the market through this
approach in the last two years.”
Earlier, in March, Vietnamese BNPL
platform Fundiin wrapped up an undis-
closed investment in its latest funding
round, led by 1982 Ventures and Zone
Startups Ventures. It aims to use the fresh
capital to expand its BNPL services, tar-
geting Gen Z and Millennial shoppers in
Vietnam. Founded in 2019, Fundiin pro-
vides solutions to retailers so that their
customers can buy now, pay later in three
interest-free instalments without involving
credit cards.
Focusing on customers on low and
PHOTO: VIET TUAN
middle incomes, especially young online
shopaholics with concerns over personal
finance, MoMo’s BNPL service has become
a payment intermediary and pushes the
customer experience on its app. The Covid-
19 pandemic and ongoing social distancing
measures have revealed that BNPL is an
urgent need of many on low and unstable
READY CREDIT incomes, who also face the most problems
in accessing financial services in general
and BNPL in particular due to their cir-
Both local and regional providers are hoping to tap into the cumstances. “With a user base of over 25
promising “Buy now, Pay later” segment. million, MoMo e-wallet was chosen by
TPBank to provide BNPL services, to pop-
ularize modern and convenient financial
HONG NHUNG Reports
solutions in Vietnam,” said Mr. Nguyen
Ba Diep, Vice Chairman of MoMo.
Movi also offers BNPL, allowing con-
sumers to buy goods instantly, whether
online or offline, and gradually pay for the
ndonesia’s leading digital credit platform fintech startups and payment firms to item. “In the nine years since its establish-
Kredivo announced on August 27 its grow their BNPL services in the market. ment, Movi has implemented benefit pro-
I market entry into Vietnam via a joint grams at more than 300 factories, reaching
venture with Phoenix Holdings, a pioneer- HEATED-UP COMPETITION approximately 1.7 million workers,” said
ing family investment office based locally The explosive popularity of e-commerce Mr. Bruce Butler, CEO of Movi. “We have
and with a diverse portfolio. Kredivo aims in the region has spurred a rush of venture continually made efforts to improve all
to expand its “Buy now, Pay later” (BNPL) investment into digital financial services, aspects of our products and services and
online lending service in Vietnam, a foray which even before Covid-19 was reshaping delivered technological innovation to ensure
that could help it tap Covid-fueled demand how the world shopped. The pandemic that customers have a great experience
for credit. Vietnam’s largest e-wallet poured accelerant on the already rapidly- with our products and services, including
provider MoMo, meanwhile, partnered growing sectors of online shopping and BNPL for smartphones and electrical goods
with TPBank in August to officially intro- cashless payments, and BNPL services are with zero-per-cent interest rates.”
duce BNPL to users in the country. seen as an increasingly competitive segment
The Covid-19 pandemic has undoubt- within this push into fintech. UNTAPPED POTENTIAL
edly changed consumer behavior, reshaping BNPL allows customers to make pur- A recent report from ResearchAnd-
the retail sector globally. More users in chases and pay them off over time in Markets revealed that the BNPL industry
Vietnam are increasingly adopting digital weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly instalments. in Vietnam posted strong growth over the
and remote channels for their financial These products often come with appealing last year, supported by increased e-com-
service needs, and intend to continue doing features such as 0-per-cent interest rates, merce penetration along with the impact
so after the pandemic. This has triggered instalment plans on bigger ticket items, of the economic slowdown from Covid-
a race among aspiring local and regional the aggregation of small ticket size pur- 19. “BNPL payments in the country are

38 | VIETNAM ECONOMIC TIMES | SEPTEMBER 2021