Vietnam’s debit card payments market to be worth $65.6b in 2028

The rising number of banked Vietnamese is pushing up adoption, although payment usage remains low.

Vietnam’s debit card payments market is expected to rise at a compound annual growth rate of 13.7% over the next four years and reach $65.6b in 2028.

The rising number of people with bank accounts and cards, as well as the shift towards electronic payments, will push debit card use, according to data and analytics company GlobalData.

Card payment value in Vietnam, meanwhile, is expected to grow by 16.1% to $39.3b in 2024, extending the 18.4% and 46.2% expansions in 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Whilst cash continues to dominate the payment market in Vietnam, local authorities’ efforts to boost non-cash payments and enhance access to banking services is benefitting the card payments market, said Ravi Sharma, lead banking and payments analyst, GlobalData.

“Although debit cards are traditionally used for cash withdrawals, they are gradually being embraced for payments—especially low-value transactions. This has been driven by rising consumer awareness, the introduction of contactless debit cards, and the expansion of the country’s POS network,” GlobalData stated in an October 2024 report.

Vietnam’s banked population is now 58.8% of its total population, up from 34.9% in 2019. Debit cards are generally offered as a complementary product when consumers open a bank account. 

However, whilst adoption is growing, usage of debit cards are still mostly limited to cash withdrawals. The frequency for payments using debit cards is just 4.2 transactions per card in 2024, GlobalData said.

“With the increasing number of digital-only banks, the emergence of payment card technologies, and the development of payment infrastructure, the debit card payment market in Vietnam is set to expand significantly in the coming years,” said Sharma.