Vietnam’s AppotaPay Granted Intermediary Payments License

AppotaPay announced that it has received an intermediary payments license from the State Bank of Vietnam, which gives it the ability to offer electronic payment gateways as well as e-wallet and collection services, according to a Wednesday (Oct. 14) Tech in Asia report.

AppotaPay, a division of the gaming and entertainment firm Appota Group, is among the 39 entities in Vietnam that have been granted payment licenses. Founded in 2011, Appota Group grew out of the Topica Founder Institute. Its online gaming ecosystem generates content, advertising, esports and more.

The firm reports having over 55 million users, including 1,000 direct point-of-sale (POS) and 10,000 indirect POS systems.

“Prior to our licensing, AppotaPay only operated for our in-house services, such as payment for game titles that Gamota (a subsidiary of Appota) published. Now that our license is approved, we can provide a broader range of services in the payment market and reach more customers,” a company spokesperson told Tech in Asia.

The company aims to better compete with VNG, the parent firm of eWallet player ZaloPay.

“The largest proportion of users comes from the game publishing segment, then content apps, and business management apps like ACheckin. Thus, compared to other applications that take a lot of time to attract users, this is a huge advantage of AppotaPay,” Tran Vinh Quang, chief operating officer at Appota Group, told KrASIA.

He added that “AppotaPay’s target customers over the next two to three years for payment services are young customers, who are familiar and willing to pay for digital entertainment.”

Vietnam’s digital payment market is forecasted to hit $8.6 billion in 2020, while the total transaction value is expected to grow by 14.1 percent to reach $14.59 billion by 2024, according to data research firm Statista.