Vietnamese banks and international payment organizations like Visa and MasterCard have yet to establish any payment gateway, an online system for real-time charging of credit cards when a customer places an order.

Even local banks have none for use between themselves. In Vietnam, customers of one bank cannot use their cards at ATMs of another.

However, the technical difficulty seems easier to solve than administrative ones. At present, the State Bank of Vietnam doesn't allow local banks to open merchant accounts for online payment, at least until Vietnam brings out instructions for its e-transaction law, which was passed last November.

Clever work around

Scratch cards and mobile phone are new ways that online merchants in Vietnam employ to overcome the restraints of credit cards, which just a few people qualify for.