Last week, I tried to pay for street coffee with cash, the vendor, a woman who's been selling cà phê sữa đá from a cart for 20 years, looked at my 200,000 VND note like I'd just handed her a dinosaur bone.

Yes I get she didnt want to get me the bills for change.

"Anh không có điện thoại sao? (You don't have a phone)" she asked, genuinely concerned for my well-being.

She pointed to a QR code taped to her cart: Momo, ZaloPay, VNPay. A fourth one for her personal bank transfer.

I stood there, a Canadian who thought he was tech-savvy, being pitied by a 75-year-old street vendor for being digitally behind.

Welcome to Vietnam's digital economy. Where grandmas have better fintech game than Silicon Valley workers.

1. The Death of Cash

Rent? Momo. Taxi? Grab wallet. Street food? QR code. Even temple donations have gone digital.

The stats are wild: 127 million mobile devices connected for 101 million people people. The VN government sees internet access as a right, not just a privilege. A 5G Wi-Fi-enabled SIM card with unlimited data, $5 / month.

Over 80% of young Vietnamese use digital payments, higher than most of Europe.

Banks went mobile-first with apps better designed than most Canadian banking platforms. Opening an account takes 15 minutes from your phone.

2. E-Commerce on Steroids

Vietnam's e-commerce hit $25 billion in 2024, projected $50 billion by 2027, the fastest growth in Southeast Asia.

Shopee and Lazada offer 4-hour delivery as standard, not premium. Free shipping on $2+ orders. Live-stream shopping where people buy refrigerators during lunch breaks.

Real example: Ordered a phone case at 11 PM Tuesday. Arrived at 8 AM on Wednesday. In HCMC, this isn't impressive; it's normal.
My Canadian friends? Still waiting 2-5 days for Amazon Prime.

3. Grab: One App For Everything

Western tech's mistake: fragmenting life into 47 apps.

Here we use: Grab App. Rides, food delivery, groceries, package delivery, bill payments, insurance, loans, one app.

A motorbike across the city? $0.60. Food delivered in 30 minutes? $1 fee. Try that in any Western city.

The efficiency is absurd: Grab drivers pick you up, drop you off, grab a food order, deliver it, then pick up another passenger. All seamlessly.

The Cash Question, Answered. That street vendor eventually accepted my cash, but not without making me try with my phone first.

Vietnam's digital economy isn't the future; it's the present. And it makes Western "innovation" look slow.

Mike Hebert, MBA 🇨🇦 🇻🇳 - Follow
Commercial & Growth Executive | APAC Market Expansion | Strategic Partnerships | P&L Leadership