Local payments startup GPay receives license to join Vietnam’s crowded fintech market

Local payment startup GPay is the latest fintech player in the country to acquire a ten-year license from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), allowing for the provision of e-wallet and other intermediary payment services. With this issuance, GPay joins an extremely competitive fintech market, where there are 33 players that have been licensed.

Founded in June 2018, GPAY is mobile application that provides quick money transfer services. It has a presence in 42 cities in Vietnam. The company plans to reach 5 million users in the country by 2023 and extend its services to cover a payment gateway, an e-wallet, and digital investing. GPay is part of G-Group, a local tech group behind Vietnam’s social media network Gapo and popular lending platform Tima.

Vietnam’s e-payments market has several deep-pocked companies, such as Momo, which bagged USD 100 million from Warburg Pincus in January last year, and VNPAY, which reportedly received a record amount of USD 300 million in funding from SoftBank and Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC in 2019.

There are also notable players such as Moca, which was acquired by Grab in September 2018, as well as SenPay, a service that is part of e-commerce marketplace Sendo. Ant Financial also reportedly entered the country last summer after acquiring a stake in local payment company eMonkey.

Demand for e-wallet services continues to rise in Vietnam. The COVID-19 pandemic will likely shift people toward adopting non-cash payments. SBV has advised consumers in Vietnam to limit cash usage and utilize digital payments to reduce the risk of infection.