At the end of 2024, the Politburo issued Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW dated December 22, 2024 on breakthroughs in science and technology development, innovation and national digital transformation.
In the spirit of the Resolution, the State Bank and commercial banks have implemented many digital transformation programs, thereby cutting administrative procedures, supporting people and businesses to access financial services faster and more transparently.
In this process, online lending and cross-border payments emerged as an inevitable trend of the digital financial era. Not only bringing convenience to customers, digital credit channels also open up new opportunities for competition and development for the Vietnamese commercial banking system.
Strong infrastructure for cross-border payments
In the trend of globalization, the demand for cross-border financial and commercial transactions is increasing, requiring a modern, safe and convenient payment system. However, in reality, there are still many barriers.
Many people still keep the habit of using cash when going abroad due to concerns about conversion fees, limiting cashless payment acceptance points, lack of information and access to modern services. International payment methods, such as cards, have not been applied to all customer segments. Cash payment is both inconvenient and makes monitoring and management difficult.
Meanwhile, mobile payment methods are becoming more and more popular, from NFC replacing physical cards to QR Codes that take over the routine of customers in Vietnam. Cross-border payments are therefore an urgent need, requiring synchronous infrastructure development and close cooperation with the national switching system.
Mr. Nguyen Hoang Long - Deputy General Director of Vietnam National Payment Joint Stock Company (Napas) emphasized: "National switching infrastructure currently plays a key role in developing the digital payment market, both a domestic pillar and a bridge to the international community".
According to him, this system not only manages and operates a nationwide ATM/POS network, serving hundreds of millions of users, but is also a centralized focal point to help reduce connection costs, simplify management and expand international connectivity capabilities. General standards are set, playing the role of "translation" when connecting across borders, ensuring consistency and limiting risks.
More importantly, all transactions are monitored by the State Bank, ensuring compliance with regulations on anti-money laundering, anti-terrorism finance and foreign exchange management. Thanks to that, the system both enhances safety and security, and creates stability and trust for customers.
The role of commercial banks in expanding digital utilities
To promote the development of cross-border payments, it is necessary to have the support of commercial banks - the force that directly implements products and services and supports businesses and consumers in the integration process.
Ms. Doan Hong Nhung - Member of the Executive Board, Director of Vietcombank Retail - said: "From the side of payment providers, we will conduct a review to build a package of comprehensive payment products and services, including policies and products for payment acceptance units".
According to her, the first phase of implementation requires synchronous support: "We hope to have the support of management agencies and payment service providers, to both ensure stability in the technical system and have preferential policies to help payment acceptors get acquainted with the cross-border QR system. When the system is stable, customers increase and transactions are recorded, expansion and development will take place naturally.
Online lending is a new driving force of the digital financial era
On the platform of transparent data from payments, online lending is emerging as an inevitable trend. This is a credit channel that helps people and businesses access capital faster and more transparently, while opening up new development opportunities for the commercial banking system.
In reality, banks have simultaneously invested in technology, applying artificial intelligence, big data, and biometrics in products and services. Digital banking platforms, e-wallets, QR payments, mobile banking are increasingly popular, supporting tens of millions of transactions per day. Technology is not only used for payment, but is also used in appraisal, risk management and customer behavior analysis, helping to reduce social costs and expand capital channels.
Associate Professor, Dr. Dang Ngoc Duc - Director of the Institute of Financial Technology, Dai Nam University - explained: "Online lending can be understood as the digitalization of the entire appraisal, approval and disbursement process. Specific, large-scale loans still need to be appraised directly, but for small loans and unsecured loans, technology helps banks process documents faster, more transparently and reduce operating costs".
Mr. Duc added that recently, many banks have implemented the automatic approval process in just a few minutes, even disbursing on the same day. The legal framework has also been supplemented, with Circular 06/2023/TT-NHNN regulating electronic lending and Decision 810/QD-NHNN setting a digital target by 2025.
Some domestic models have proven effective in combining static data such as credit history, tax reports with dynamic data from cash flow, invoices and revenue via payment acceptance devices. This approach both improves the accuracy of debt repayment capacity assessment and allows credit expansion to customers without credit history.
Towards a modern financial ecosystem
Despite many positive results, both cross-border payments and online lending face major challenges.
The first is the legality and regulations. Legal differences between countries, especially in anti-money laundering and data protection regulations, are a major barrier to international payments. Meanwhile, with digital credit, although the legal framework has been supplemented, it still needs to be more complete and synchronous to ensure sustainable development.
Second is cybersecurity and customer trust. When the system is connected, the risk of cyber attacks increases. In particular, online lending requires absolute trust in the identity and repayment ability of customers.
Dr. Tran Phuoc Huy analyzed: Online borrowing in Vietnam has developed over time, with the participation of fintechs. However, the participation of commercial banks is still limited. The reason is that when lending, the most important thing is to collect the debt. With online lending, the risk lies in the fact that banks do not know who customers are and do not have the trust of customers".
Mr. Huy emphasized that to effectively implement, it is necessary to build a trusted customer database, thereby banks can feel more secure when disbursing and collecting debts online, while reducing direct contact costs.
Third is technology and trade. For payment, standardizing technical standards such as ISO 20022 and a reasonable fee sharing model are prerequisites to expand international cooperation. With lending, the synchronization of population, tax, and financial databases will determine the ability to develop sustainable digital credit.
It can be seen that cross-border payments and online lending do not exist separately, but complement each other in the same digital banking ecosystem. transparent payments help create a reliable data flow for credit; on the contrary, the development of digital credit will promote the need to expand payment.
With a solid infrastructure foundation, clear policies and customer trust, these two pillars will contribute significantly to promoting trade, consumption and building Vietnam's digital economy.
Workshop on Cross-border Payment and Online Loan in the digital transformation era of banking
In order to clarify the role of cross-border payments and online loans in promoting trade, consumption and developing the digital economy, and at the same time find solutions to remove obstacles in practical implementation, Lao Dong Newspaper in coordination with the State Bank of Vietnam organized the Workshop " cross-border payments and online loans: Digital utilities for business and consumption".
The workshop took place at 2:00 p.m. on September 11, 2025 at the headquarters of Lao Dong Newspaper (No. 6 Pham Van Bach, Cau Giay, Hanoi), with the participation of leaders of the State Bank of Vietnam, representatives of relevant ministries and branches, economic - financial experts, commercial banks, technology enterprises and financial institutions.
At the workshop, speakers and experts will focus on discussing solutions to promote cross-border payments, expand cooperation and international connections; analyze the role of online loans in improving credit and consumer access efficiency; and discuss the completion of legal frameworks, standards and technology infrastructure for fast, safe and transparent payments. In addition, the workshop also shared international experience and implementation practices in Vietnam, thereby proposing mechanisms and policies to support innovation in the digital banking and financial system.
