Vietnam and Singapore Launch QR Payment Link to Bolster Tourism and Trade

Vietnam and Singapore launched a cross-border QR payment service on Thursday, a move aimed at enhancing tourism, trade, and digital economic integration between the two nations.

The initiative is a partnership between the National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (NAPAS), Singapore-based Liquid Group, and VietinBank. It enables Singaporean visitors to make seamless QR payments across Vietnam using their existing mobile payment applications.

Under the new system, users of participating payment apps in Singapore can pay at VietQRGlobal acceptance points throughout Vietnam. Transactions are processed in real time with automatic currency conversion between Singapore dollars and Vietnamese đồng, facilitating cashless payments at shops, restaurants, hotels, and tourist destinations.

The launch follows the elevation of bilateral relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2025, with growing tourism and trade between the countries driving demand for integrated digital payment solutions.

Initially, the service is projected to reach approximately five million users through Liquid Group's partner network in Singapore. For Vietnamese merchants in sectors like retail, hospitality, and tourism, the system offers a simple and cost-effective method to serve international customers while improving operational efficiency. With this launch, Singapore becomes the sixth country, and the fourth in ASEAN, to establish cross-border QR payment connectivity with NAPAS.

"The launch of the Việt Nam–Singapore cross-border QR payment service marks a significant milestone in NAPAS's journey to expand QR payment connectivity across the region," said NAPAS CEO Nguyễn Quang Minh. "Building on Việt Nam's national retail payment infrastructure and the widely adopted VietQR standard, NAPAS will continue working closely with domestic and international partners to further expand the cross-border payment ecosystem, delivering greater convenience for consumers, travellers and businesses while supporting tourism, trade and the digital economy."

Jeremy Tan, CEO of Liquid Group, commented: "Through RoamQR, our goal is to make cross-border payments simple, interoperable and trusted, so that travellers can pay overseas using the apps they already know, while merchants can serve international customers without added complexity. This launch is an important step in strengthening digital payment connectivity between Singapore and Việt Nam."

VietinBank, acting as the settlement bank for the service, affirmed its commitment to the project. "We will continue investing in technology infrastructure and expanding the payment acceptance network, contributing to the promotion of tourism, trade and digital economic connectivity between Việt Nam and Singapore," said Trần Công Quỳnh Lan, Deputy General Director of VietinBank.

The partners intend to complete the two-way payment ecosystem by launching outbound QR payment services from Vietnam to Singapore later this year.