MoMo & ZaloPay - the digital payment race in Vietnam

Vietnam's two largest e-wallets are rewriting the rules of digital payments. MoMo leads with scale, ZaloPay counterattacks with speed - and both prove that in the fintech race, standing still is not an option.

Vietnam's digital payment landscape

Vietnam is one of the fastest-growing digital payment markets in Southeast Asia. In 2025, total digital payment transaction value hit $101.55 billion, with mobile payments alone accounting for $63.35 billion. The government is actively pushing its cashless society agenda through Decision 1813/QD-TTg, creating a favorable policy environment for e-wallets.

The big three - MoMo, VNPay, and ZaloPay - control roughly 90% of the market. But the landscape keeps shifting. From a near-dominant position, MoMo now faces a surging ZaloPay backed by the massive Zalo ecosystem.

What MoMo did - from "super app" to defending the throne

Launched in 2014, MoMo quickly became Vietnam's number-one e-wallet. Its "super app" strategy transformed MoMo from a money-transfer tool into a multi-service platform - bill payments, movie tickets, food delivery, financial investment, insurance - all in one app.

• Impressive scale: over 30 million users, processing more than 2 billion transactions per year, with a network of 500,000+ merchant partners.
• Strong revenue: in 2022, MoMo reported revenue exceeding VND 8,500 billion (roughly $340 million) - a figure many small banks would envy.
• Deep ecosystem: gamification features (shake-to-win, virtual trees), third-party mini-apps, and loyalty points - all designed to keep users engaged longer.
• Declining market share: from a peak of 68% (Q1 2023), MoMo's share dropped to roughly 47% (2025) amid intensifying competition.

The key lesson from MoMo: leading with scale is necessary but not sufficient. When user acquisition saturates, the battleground shifts to retention and increasing value per transaction. MoMo is restructuring from "growth at all costs" to "profitable growth" - a difficult transition that many Southeast Asian fintech startups also face.

ZaloPay strikes back - the power of an existing ecosystem

While MoMo built from scratch, ZaloPay chose a different path - leveraging an existing ecosystem. With Zalo's 77 million MAU (monthly active users), ZaloPay did not need to spend money "acquiring" new users. It simply needed to convert Zalo users into ZaloPay users.

Q1 2026 results show this strategy is working remarkably well:

• Revenue up 117% year-over-year, reaching VND 216 billion.
• Active users up 33% - organic growth driven by Zalo.
• Payment value up 84% - users are not just more numerous but spending more.
• Seamless integration: in-chat transfers, QR payments, group bill splitting - all within Zalo.

ZaloPay's core differentiator: payment is a feature, not a product. Users do not need to open a separate app - they pay right inside their conversations. This is the model WeChat Pay mastered in China, and ZaloPay is applying the Vietnamese version.

The current race (2025-2026) - who will win?

The competitive picture in 2025-2026 shows a market shifting from "land grab" to "defend and monetize". Each player has a different strategy.

MoMo is focusing on profitability. After years of spending heavily to grow, MoMo is pivoting to optimize unit economics - cutting promotional spend, raising service fees, and pushing higher-margin products like consumer lending and insurance. This makes sense in a maturing market, but risks losing price-sensitive users.

ZaloPay is accelerating with a super-app strategy. Rather than building a standalone ecosystem, ZaloPay "rides" Zalo - turning every conversation into a payment opportunity. This keeps customer acquisition costs extremely low (near zero for organic Zalo users), creating a competitive advantage MoMo cannot easily replicate.

Meanwhile, VNPay remains a key player with its widespread QR network and close ties to the traditional banking system. The big three are fragmenting the market in their own ways: MoMo dominates entertainment and lifestyle, ZaloPay leads in social payments, and VNPay is strongest in offline QR and interbank transfers.

Lessons for businesses

The MoMo vs ZaloPay race is not just a fintech story - it is a lesson in competitive strategy that any business can apply.

1. Ecosystems beat standalone products. ZaloPay did not need to build from scratch - it leveraged Zalo's 77 million users. Businesses should ask: "What existing ecosystem can I integrate into?"
2. Switching costs are a major advantage. MoMo retains users through loyalty points, gamification, and habit. Once customers are invested, they resist switching - even when competitors offer better deals.
3. Multi-channel payment integration is essential. Do not pick MoMo or ZaloPay - integrate both, plus VietQR. Small businesses should start with VietQR (covers all banks), then expand gradually.
4. Data is the new oil. Both MoMo and ZaloPay invest heavily in transaction data analytics to personalize experiences. Businesses need to collect and analyze payment data from day one.
5. Government policy is a tailwind. Decision 1813/QD-TTg pushes cashless payments. Businesses that digitize early will benefit from this policy wave.

Vietnam's digital payment race has many exciting chapters ahead. With a young population, rapidly rising smartphone penetration, and strong policy support, the market remains full of opportunity for both giants and startups. The key is understanding your position and choosing the right strategy - as the AI Agent revolution shows, sometimes changing strategy matters more than changing the product.

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