Vietnam is leaning on digital finance to lift productivity and widen access to credit as it chases high-income status by 2045, with regulators and lenders turning sandboxes and open-banking trials into near-term policy tools rather than distant ambitions.
The two-day Digital Finance Inclusion Conference 2025, hosted by International Finance Corporation (IFC) in partnership with the Vietnam Banking Association and supported by Australia and Switzerland, gathers policymakers, banks and fintechs from across Asia Pacific to map how technology can extend services to underserved households and small firms.
The agenda spans AI-driven credit scoring, alternative data, open banking and digital-ID integration aimed at lowering transaction costs, tightening risk controls and broadening market reach.
Vietnam’s ecosystem has picked up pace under a national financial-inclusion strategy and a new fintech sandbox decree for the banking sector, allowing pilots to run in controlled settings before wider rollout.
According to World Bank Group Global Findex 2025 figures cited by organizers, more than 70% of Vietnamese adults hold an account and about 62% make digital payments, supported by internet coverage reaching around 80% of the population.
The conference is framed as a push to convert those gains into deeper usage among rural and low-income users and to channel more credit to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.
Officials say progress on open finance and cross-border connectivity will be important as Vietnam prepares to launch international financial centers and seeks to anchor more regional treasury and payments activity.
The Mekong market is also tracking regional peers – Singapore, Australia and the Philippines – where national payment rails and data-sharing rules have moved from consultation to implementation.
IFC positions the meeting within its broader private-sector mandate; it committed a record $71.7 billion in fiscal 2025 to companies and financial institutions in developing countries, and is promoting digital finance as a lever for job creation and competitiveness in manufacturing, exports and services.
The policy focus has shifted from experimentation to execution. Vietnam’s challenge is less about uptake than depth: moving users beyond payments to savings, credit and insurance, while safeguarding data and credit quality.
The sandbox and ID rails provide foundations; the test will be whether banks and fintechs can scale SME lending without inflating risk.