Billionaire Jack Ma: Cash payments are an opportunity for corruption

"If you keep cash in your wallet, it will create opportunities for fraud, corruption, pickpocketing... If you don't use wallets, pickpockets will be unemployed," said billionaire Jack Ma.

The above comment was made by billionaire Jack Ma - Chairman of Alibaba Group at the VEPF 2017 Electronic Payment Forum on November 6.

Billionaire Jack Ma believes that nowadays, businesses are very concerned about security, because this is their survival factor. However, in Vietnam, this billionaire sees many security issues because the rate of cash use in Vietnam is still too high.

Billionaire Jack Ma at the VEPF Electronic Payment Forum 2017 on November 6

"If you keep cash in your wallet, it will create opportunities for fraud, corruption, pickpocketing... If you don't use wallets, pickpockets will be unemployed," said billionaire Jack Ma.

Instead of using cash, he believes that using a mobile phone with anthropometric technology will be safer and easier to track down fraudulent behavior (if any) because all transaction data is "recorded".

Sharing his experience on how to increase users' trust in electronic payments, billionaire Jack Ma said: "Alibaba promises that if you lose money, I will compensate you. If you lose 1 USD, I will compensate you 1 USD, if you lose 1 million USD, I will compensate you 1 million USD. If it is electronic payment, it is 1 USD, but if it is COD, it is 50 USD. In Vietnam, we think everything is very positive and promising, so we need to encourage businesses to do it."

Sharing the same view with billionaire Jack Ma, Mr. Eric Jing - CEO of Ant Financial Services said that security is the most important factor in building and developing systems and services, even when the service has developed to a higher level, security and safety are still the top factors. In the new context with the emergence of artificial intelligence, it is also necessary to immediately apply it to the service development platform so that consumers can benefit.

According to Mr. Eric, a supportive policy environment from the management agency is essential. Currently, 50% of the population in Vietnam uses smartphones, and this factor needs to be exploited to help inspire creativity and entrepreneurship among entrepreneurs.

"Opportunities are coming and are equal for everyone. We need to take advantage of and use technology to make customers feel comfortable and confident with the service," CEO of Ant Financial Services emphasized.

Every year, e-commerce in Vietnam often achieves a growth rate of 25-35%, this growth rate is equivalent to the region.

In 2016, Vietnam's e-commerce reached 5 billion USD, and now the legal and infrastructure are gradually completed. In the coming time, Vietnam's e-commerce is expected to account for 30% of the world. In the context of global integration, Vietnam's e-commerce is also developing with world technology such as 4.0 technology.

Sharing about multi-sector commercial payments such as logistics and customs, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Cao Quoc Hung said that cash payments in Vietnam are still very large. Therefore, it is necessary to continue to resolve the backlog when up to 89% of payments are made in cash, and only 18% are made through intermediaries. The reason why mobile payments are still low is related to trust and many other factors.

"At the Forum, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue said: Mobile payment has brought convenient access to financial services at affordable costs to hundreds of millions of low-income people. The emergence of mobile payment has helped low-income communities participate and have the opportunity to directly benefit from the achievements of the 4.0 Industrial Revolution.

Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue speaks at the Forum.

In Vietnam, a series of enterprises in the fields of telecommunications, banking, and fintech startups have also begun providing services to remote areas, industrial zones, and reaching a large number of ordinary workers who have little access to traditional financial services.

"I believe that mobile payments will quickly explode and become popular in Vietnam as we did with mobile phones more than 10 years ago," he said.

This is also an important goal of the Government, wishing to explode and popularize mobile payments, contributing to bringing the proportion of cash in total payment methods to less than 10% by 2020.

The Deputy Prime Minister said that Vietnam currently has 140 mobile subscribers per 100 people, nearly 60 million 3G and 4G subscribers with 99% of districts nationwide covered by 4G. The number of smartphone broadband subscribers is expected to continue to increase to 80 million by 2020. This is an ideal condition to promote mobile payments, as well as other financial and e-commerce services to all regions, bringing benefits to businesses and all population groups in Vietnam, radically changing the current habit of using cash.

The Deputy Prime Minister said that the Government has had many policies and projects to promote non-cash payments in general and mobile payments in particular. The Government is committed to facilitating and promoting the trend of mobile payments in Vietnam.

The Government leader requested the State Bank and relevant ministries and sectors to coordinate more closely to resolve difficulties and problems that are arising and will arise. The business community also needs to cooperate with each other and with the Government to solve challenges together.

According to Kienthuc.net.vn