Case Studies
DGB Ventures guided a European digital payments company through Vietnam’s regulatory landscape and identified strategic bank partnerships that enabled successful market launch within 19 months despite intense local competition.
Vietnam’s digital payments sector represented a $25 billion market growing at over 20% annually. However, the client faced critical entry barriers: the State Bank of Vietnam’s complex licensing requirements for foreign providers with 18-24 month approval timelines, intense competition from domestic platforms like MoMo and VNPay with established merchant networks and unclear partnership pathways amongst Vietnamese banks with varying digital capabilities and regulatory standing.
DGB Ventures developed a partnership-based phased entry that prioritised speed whilst building regulatory credibility. We assessed regulatory pathways and identified bank partnership as optimal for initial market access versus lengthy direct licensing. Our targeted evaluation framework focused discussions on three strategically aligned banks rather than broad outreach. We structured a three-phase launch starting with a Ho Chi Minh City pilot through partner infrastructure, followed by geographic expansion, then direct licensing supported by market traction. Throughout, we facilitated dialogue with the State Bank of Vietnam representatives to clarify compliance requirements.
The client achieved market launch within 19 months, secured partnership with a tier-one Vietnamese bank, onboarded 250+ merchants in six months and processed over $8.5 million in pilot-phase transactions. This demonstrated product-market fit whilst establishing regulatory credibility for the direct licensing application now underway. Vietnam entry insights are informing expansion into Indonesia and the Philippines.