Why Vietnam's $90B SME Credit Gap Is Fintech's Next Battleground
Vietnam's $90B SME credit gap is shifting fintech competition from consumer payments to business lending. Banks and global fintechs race to capture untapped market as MoMo dominates wallets.
Vietnam's fintech market has reached a structural turning point, with competitive energy shifting from consumer payments to small business financial infrastructure as the consumer wallet segment reaches saturation.
MoMo's Dominance Closes the Consumer Battleground
MoMo, Vietnam's leading mobile wallet, processed 5.5 billion transactions in Q1 2025 and holds approximately 60% of the mobile payments market. The platform achieved profitability in 2024, cementing its position as the dominant consumer payments provider.
The broader consumer payments market reflects this maturity. Non-cash transactions rose 43.4% year-on-year, with QR code payment values surging 128.15%. More than 87% of Vietnamese adults now hold bank payment accounts, and over 95% of transactions at major banks occur through digital channels.
With instant bank transfers now free and mobile banking apps widely available, the competitive advantage for new consumer wallet entrants has narrowed significantly.
Banks Race to Fill the SME Credit Gap
Vietnam has close to one million active enterprises, with SMEs making up approximately 95% of that total. These businesses contribute roughly 50% of national GDP and employ around 40% of the workforce. Yet only 10% of Vietnam's SMEs can access formal bank credit, with the remainder relying on internal capital or informal financing at high cost and risk.
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Established banks are moving quickly into this gap. Techcombank's digital SME lending platform processes loan applications in approximately two minutes with same-day results, and reported 97% year-on-year growth in lending to micro-SMEs and small commercial customers. Total outstanding loans reached approximately VND 640 trillion (~US$25.4 billion).
HDBank's VCF supply chain finance platform connects over 100 anchor enterprises to 1,485 suppliers, 4,202 distributors, and 41,118 retail outlets, with total outstanding financing exceeding VND 40 trillion (~US$1.6 billion). The platform uses anchor enterprise relationships to unlock credit access across entire supplier and distributor networks.
Global Players Acquire Local Infrastructure Access
International fintech companies are entering Vietnam's SME segment by acquiring or partnering with local payment infrastructure providers.
Airwallex acquired Vietnam-based CTIN Pay, while Singapore-based Thunes partnered with Vietnamese fintech FinFan. Both moves target cross-border settlement capabilities for Vietnam's export-oriented SMEs trading with the US and China.
Southeast Asia's B2B payments market was valued at US$44.5 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach US$105.6 billion by 2033, according to industry data. Vietnam's SME fintech opportunity sits within this broader regional expansion.
Regulatory Tailwinds Accelerate SME Lending Growth
Vietnam's credit growth is forecast at 18.1% for full-year 2026, up 1.5 percentage points from prior projections, with corporate customer demand expected to outpace individual demand, according to KPMG's Vietnam 2026 outlook.
Resolution No. 198/2025/QH15 designates SMEs as a priority segment, introducing corporate income tax exemptions for the first three years of operation and eliminating business license fees from January 1, 2026.
SME business user fintech adoption is growing at a 24.38% CAGR, outpacing the overall Vietnam fintech market's 17.3% CAGR through 2032. Vietnam's fintech market is valued at US$19.8 billion in 2025 and projected to reach US$60.4 billion by 2032.
Ho Chi Minh City, anchored by a US$120 billion economy, is the primary hub for SME fintech adoption, with Hanoi serving as the secondary center.
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