MasterCard has teamed up with Vietnam's Sacombank to bring card payments to Ho Chi Minh City's iconic Ben Thanh market for the first time.
The partners have handed out around 300 mPOS terminals to merchants at the wet market over the last month, enabling sellers to accept card payments through their smartphones.
MasterCard says that the programme helps to embed merchants more firmly into the formal financial system and gives consumers greater incentive to use cards and become banked.
Arn Vogels, country manager, Indochina, MasterCard, says: "In Vietnam, limited acceptance is one of the key factors that hinders the development of electronic payments. Our collaboration with Sacombank extends the benefits of electronic payments to both merchants and consumers."