Fintech in Vietnam and Its Regulatory Approach

In the ‘4th Industrial Revolution,’ the upsurged trend of financial services of non-banking institutions and the intersection of financial services and technology have shaped fintech companies. Such businesses have advantages in technology, deliver financial solutions with modern technologies, and provide customers with a highly accessible and streamlined path to fulfill their financial needs. Vietnam has been considered as a potentially lucrative market for fintech as it has a young and ‘tech-savvy’ population, high mobile phone and internet penetration rates, and relatively low levels of financial inclusion. Although its fintech market is still fledgling, more than 150 companies have joined with increasing transaction volumes and high growth rates. They have provided customers with financial and banking services such as digital payment, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer lending, remittance, blockchain, personal finance management, and information comparison with modern technologies, lower costs, and more straightforward procedures. Also, the country has been making an effort to spur the development of fintech companies by setting up a fintech steering committee, preparing the national financial inclusion strategy, and cautiously seeking the best approach to regulate fintech. This chapter examines the use of fintech to facilitate socio-economic development in Vietnam and considers the appropriate regulatory framework to achieve such a goal.