Digital Payments Startup GPay Awarded Vietnam License

The State Bank of Vietnam granted FinTech startup GPay a 10-year license to provide intermediary payment services in the country — electronic payment portals, payment services, digital money transfer services and eWallet services.

GPay, a member company of the Vietnam investment firm G-Group, joins a tight FinTech market in Vietnam with 33 other firms licensed for intermediary payment services. In 2019, Payme, FinViet, EPay, PayTech, Dibee and Smart Net were granted licenses from Vietnam’s central bank.

“GPay has a supportive ecosystem from G-Group with above 20 million users of financial platforms, game community, social network and technology companies. We will invest more in technology and hiring talents, and will have Series A funding round soon too,” Cong Tran, a board member of GPay, told DealStreetAsia on Wednesday (April 22).

The G-Group ecosystem includes Vietnam’s social media network Gapo and P2P lending platform Tima. The technology holding company also has member businesses in gaming, security and financial services.

Tran said GPay was in discussions with investors for a Series A funding round. G-Group financed the seed funding.

Founded in 2018, GPay said it has reached $50 million in Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) and has a presence in 42 cities and provinces. Nationwide expansion plans are in the works and the startup hopes to have in excess of 5 million users on its platform by 2023.

In July 2019, Vietnam introduced Gapo, a social network similar to Facebook, after the Communist-ruled government asked domestic tech companies to create substitutions. Gapo teamed up with Sony Music Entertainment to feature music content, and aims to reach 20 million by January 2021.

Gapo has received 500 billion dong ($21.55 million) in funding from G-Group, said Ha Trung Kien, G-Group’s chief executive.

The ruling Communist party in Vietnam does not tolerate dissent and has strict media censorship in Vietnam, leading to new cybersecurity laws in January.

Vietnam said in January that Facebook violated Vietnamese law in how it managed online content, advertising and taxes.