Làm thử Đề thi thử tốt nghiệp THPT · Tiếng Anh · Đề 084

Question 16. a. Even after losing her sight at the age of ten, she refused to give up on her dream of becoming a teacher.
b. Today, she runs a small school for visually impaired children in her home village.
c. Nguyen Thi Lan is one of the most inspiring people I have ever read about.
d. With the support of her family, she learned Braille and finished university with excellent results.
e. Her story shows that determination can overcome even the greatest difficulties.

Over the past five years, solar and wind projects have spread rapidly across the region. In Bac Lieu and Soc Trang, rows of wind turbines now line the coast, turning steady sea breezes into electricity for the national grid. Meanwhile, in provinces such as An Giang and Long An, farmers have installed solar panels above their shrimp ponds and fish farms, a technique known as floating solar. The panels not only generate power but also reduce water evaporation and keep the ponds cooler in the dry season. Local officials say the model has attracted interest from investors across the country. It began as a pilot project in An Giang three years ago.

For many farming households, renewable energy has become an unexpected source of income. Some families now sell surplus electricity back to the grid, earning several million dong a month in addition to their income from farming. Others have found jobs maintaining turbines and solar arrays, work that pays better than seasonal farm labour. Nguyen Van Hai, a shrimp farmer in Bac Lieu, says the extra income from his rooftop solar panels has allowed him to send his daughter to university without taking out a loan.

The shift is not without difficulties, however. The delta's power grid was built decades ago and cannot always handle the electricity produced on sunny or windy days, forcing some projects to reduce output. Battery storage remains expensive, and connecting remote farms to the grid can take years of paperwork. Even so, engineers and local authorities agree that renewable energy offers the delta a rare chance to protect both its economy and its environment at the same time.

Over the past five years, solar and wind projects have spread rapidly across the region. In Bac Lieu and Soc Trang, rows of wind turbines now line the coast, turning steady sea breezes into electricity for the national grid. Meanwhile, in provinces such as An Giang and Long An, farmers have installed solar panels above their shrimp ponds and fish farms, a technique known as floating solar. The panels not only generate power but also reduce water evaporation and keep the ponds cooler in the dry season. Local officials say the model has attracted interest from investors across the country. It began as a pilot project in An Giang three years ago.

For many farming households, renewable energy has become an unexpected source of income. Some families now sell surplus electricity back to the grid, earning several million dong a month in addition to their income from farming. Others have found jobs maintaining turbines and solar arrays, work that pays better than seasonal farm labour. Nguyen Van Hai, a shrimp farmer in Bac Lieu, says the extra income from his rooftop solar panels has allowed him to send his daughter to university without taking out a loan.

The shift is not without difficulties, however. The delta's power grid was built decades ago and cannot always handle the electricity produced on sunny or windy days, forcing some projects to reduce output. Battery storage remains expensive, and connecting remote farms to the grid can take years of paperwork. Even so, engineers and local authorities agree that renewable energy offers the delta a rare chance to protect both its economy and its environment at the same time.

Over the past five years, solar and wind projects have spread rapidly across the region. In Bac Lieu and Soc Trang, rows of wind turbines now line the coast, turning steady sea breezes into electricity for the national grid. Meanwhile, in provinces such as An Giang and Long An, farmers have installed solar panels above their shrimp ponds and fish farms, a technique known as floating solar. The panels not only generate power but also reduce water evaporation and keep the ponds cooler in the dry season. Local officials say the model has attracted interest from investors across the country. It began as a pilot project in An Giang three years ago.

For many farming households, renewable energy has become an unexpected source of income. Some families now sell surplus electricity back to the grid, earning several million dong a month in addition to their income from farming. Others have found jobs maintaining turbines and solar arrays, work that pays better than seasonal farm labour. Nguyen Van Hai, a shrimp farmer in Bac Lieu, says the extra income from his rooftop solar panels has allowed him to send his daughter to university without taking out a loan.

The shift is not without difficulties, however. The delta's power grid was built decades ago and cannot always handle the electricity produced on sunny or windy days, forcing some projects to reduce output. Battery storage remains expensive, and connecting remote farms to the grid can take years of paperwork. Even so, engineers and local authorities agree that renewable energy offers the delta a rare chance to protect both its economy and its environment at the same time.

Over the past five years, solar and wind projects have spread rapidly across the region. In Bac Lieu and Soc Trang, rows of wind turbines now line the coast, turning steady sea breezes into electricity for the national grid. Meanwhile, in provinces such as An Giang and Long An, farmers have installed solar panels above their shrimp ponds and fish farms, a technique known as floating solar. The panels not only generate power but also reduce water evaporation and keep the ponds cooler in the dry season. Local officials say the model has attracted interest from investors across the country. It began as a pilot project in An Giang three years ago.

For many farming households, renewable energy has become an unexpected source of income. Some families now sell surplus electricity back to the grid, earning several million dong a month in addition to their income from farming. Others have found jobs maintaining turbines and solar arrays, work that pays better than seasonal farm labour. Nguyen Van Hai, a shrimp farmer in Bac Lieu, says the extra income from his rooftop solar panels has allowed him to send his daughter to university without taking out a loan.

The shift is not without difficulties, however. The delta's power grid was built decades ago and cannot always handle the electricity produced on sunny or windy days, forcing some projects to reduce output. Battery storage remains expensive, and connecting remote farms to the grid can take years of paperwork. Even so, engineers and local authorities agree that renewable energy offers the delta a rare chance to protect both its economy and its environment at the same time.

Over the past five years, solar and wind projects have spread rapidly across the region. In Bac Lieu and Soc Trang, rows of wind turbines now line the coast, turning steady sea breezes into electricity for the national grid. Meanwhile, in provinces such as An Giang and Long An, farmers have installed solar panels above their shrimp ponds and fish farms, a technique known as floating solar. The panels not only generate power but also reduce water evaporation and keep the ponds cooler in the dry season. Local officials say the model has attracted interest from investors across the country. It began as a pilot project in An Giang three years ago.

For many farming households, renewable energy has become an unexpected source of income. Some families now sell surplus electricity back to the grid, earning several million dong a month in addition to their income from farming. Others have found jobs maintaining turbines and solar arrays, work that pays better than seasonal farm labour. Nguyen Van Hai, a shrimp farmer in Bac Lieu, says the extra income from his rooftop solar panels has allowed him to send his daughter to university without taking out a loan.

The shift is not without difficulties, however. The delta's power grid was built decades ago and cannot always handle the electricity produced on sunny or windy days, forcing some projects to reduce output. Battery storage remains expensive, and connecting remote farms to the grid can take years of paperwork. Even so, engineers and local authorities agree that renewable energy offers the delta a rare chance to protect both its economy and its environment at the same time.

Over the past five years, solar and wind projects have spread rapidly across the region. In Bac Lieu and Soc Trang, rows of wind turbines now line the coast, turning steady sea breezes into electricity for the national grid. Meanwhile, in provinces such as An Giang and Long An, farmers have installed solar panels above their shrimp ponds and fish farms, a technique known as floating solar. The panels not only generate power but also reduce water evaporation and keep the ponds cooler in the dry season. Local officials say the model has attracted interest from investors across the country. It began as a pilot project in An Giang three years ago.

For many farming households, renewable energy has become an unexpected source of income. Some families now sell surplus electricity back to the grid, earning several million dong a month in addition to their income from farming. Others have found jobs maintaining turbines and solar arrays, work that pays better than seasonal farm labour. Nguyen Van Hai, a shrimp farmer in Bac Lieu, says the extra income from his rooftop solar panels has allowed him to send his daughter to university without taking out a loan.

The shift is not without difficulties, however. The delta's power grid was built decades ago and cannot always handle the electricity produced on sunny or windy days, forcing some projects to reduce output. Battery storage remains expensive, and connecting remote farms to the grid can take years of paperwork. Even so, engineers and local authorities agree that renewable energy offers the delta a rare chance to protect both its economy and its environment at the same time.

Over the past five years, solar and wind projects have spread rapidly across the region. In Bac Lieu and Soc Trang, rows of wind turbines now line the coast, turning steady sea breezes into electricity for the national grid. Meanwhile, in provinces such as An Giang and Long An, farmers have installed solar panels above their shrimp ponds and fish farms, a technique known as floating solar. The panels not only generate power but also reduce water evaporation and keep the ponds cooler in the dry season. Local officials say the model has attracted interest from investors across the country. It began as a pilot project in An Giang three years ago.

For many farming households, renewable energy has become an unexpected source of income. Some families now sell surplus electricity back to the grid, earning several million dong a month in addition to their income from farming. Others have found jobs maintaining turbines and solar arrays, work that pays better than seasonal farm labour. Nguyen Van Hai, a shrimp farmer in Bac Lieu, says the extra income from his rooftop solar panels has allowed him to send his daughter to university without taking out a loan.

The shift is not without difficulties, however. The delta's power grid was built decades ago and cannot always handle the electricity produced on sunny or windy days, forcing some projects to reduce output. Battery storage remains expensive, and connecting remote farms to the grid can take years of paperwork. Even so, engineers and local authorities agree that renewable energy offers the delta a rare chance to protect both its economy and its environment at the same time.

Over the past five years, solar and wind projects have spread rapidly across the region. In Bac Lieu and Soc Trang, rows of wind turbines now line the coast, turning steady sea breezes into electricity for the national grid. Meanwhile, in provinces such as An Giang and Long An, farmers have installed solar panels above their shrimp ponds and fish farms, a technique known as floating solar. The panels not only generate power but also reduce water evaporation and keep the ponds cooler in the dry season. Local officials say the model has attracted interest from investors across the country. It began as a pilot project in An Giang three years ago.

For many farming households, renewable energy has become an unexpected source of income. Some families now sell surplus electricity back to the grid, earning several million dong a month in addition to their income from farming. Others have found jobs maintaining turbines and solar arrays, work that pays better than seasonal farm labour. Nguyen Van Hai, a shrimp farmer in Bac Lieu, says the extra income from his rooftop solar panels has allowed him to send his daughter to university without taking out a loan.

The shift is not without difficulties, however. The delta's power grid was built decades ago and cannot always handle the electricity produced on sunny or windy days, forcing some projects to reduce output. Battery storage remains expensive, and connecting remote farms to the grid can take years of paperwork. Even so, engineers and local authorities agree that renewable energy offers the delta a rare chance to protect both its economy and its environment at the same time.

Long before banks and smartphones existed, people had already found ways to trade without carrying heavy bags of coins. As early as the seventh century, some traders in the Middle East used receipts issued by grain warehouses as a substitute for carrying actual grain to market. In medieval China, merchants used paper notes backed by government treasuries, an early form of currency that depended entirely on trust rather than metal. Centuries later, in the 1950s, the introduction of the credit card in the United States marked the first real step toward the cashless society many countries are approaching today.

[I] The real turning point, however, came with the spread of the internet in the 1990s. [II] Banks began offering online transfers, allowing customers to move money between accounts without ever visiting a branch. [III] Around the same time, companies started building networks that let a single plastic card communicate instantly with a bank on the other side of the world. [IV] Within a decade, these networks had become so reliable that many shoppers stopped thinking of a card as unusual at all.

By the early 2000s, cashless payment had moved beyond cards altogether. Mobile phones, once used only for calls and text messages, began to double as digital wallets. In Vietnam, this shift accelerated rapidly after 2015, when e-wallet apps and QR codes turned even small street vendors into cashless businesses. A customer buying a bowl of noodles could now settle the bill by scanning a code taped to the vendor's cart, with the payment confirmed in seconds. For many older Vietnamese, this convenience took some getting used to, but younger customers adopted it almost immediately.

Despite its convenience, the cashless trend has raised concerns. Digital fraud has grown alongside digital payment, and scammers now target victims through fake QR codes and phishing messages rather than pickpocketing. Regulators in several countries have already begun requiring stronger identity checks before a new digital wallet can be opened. Elderly people and those without smartphones or bank accounts risk being left behind in a system built for constant connectivity. Even so, most economists agree that cashless payment is unlikely to reverse course; instead, the challenge for governments and banks is to make the system safer and more inclusive for everyone who depends on it.

Long before banks and smartphones existed, people had already found ways to trade without carrying heavy bags of coins. As early as the seventh century, some traders in the Middle East used receipts issued by grain warehouses as a substitute for carrying actual grain to market. In medieval China, merchants used paper notes backed by government treasuries, an early form of currency that depended entirely on trust rather than metal. Centuries later, in the 1950s, the introduction of the credit card in the United States marked the first real step toward the cashless society many countries are approaching today.

[I] The real turning point, however, came with the spread of the internet in the 1990s. [II] Banks began offering online transfers, allowing customers to move money between accounts without ever visiting a branch. [III] Around the same time, companies started building networks that let a single plastic card communicate instantly with a bank on the other side of the world. [IV] Within a decade, these networks had become so reliable that many shoppers stopped thinking of a card as unusual at all.

By the early 2000s, cashless payment had moved beyond cards altogether. Mobile phones, once used only for calls and text messages, began to double as digital wallets. In Vietnam, this shift accelerated rapidly after 2015, when e-wallet apps and QR codes turned even small street vendors into cashless businesses. A customer buying a bowl of noodles could now settle the bill by scanning a code taped to the vendor's cart, with the payment confirmed in seconds. For many older Vietnamese, this convenience took some getting used to, but younger customers adopted it almost immediately.

Despite its convenience, the cashless trend has raised concerns. Digital fraud has grown alongside digital payment, and scammers now target victims through fake QR codes and phishing messages rather than pickpocketing. Regulators in several countries have already begun requiring stronger identity checks before a new digital wallet can be opened. Elderly people and those without smartphones or bank accounts risk being left behind in a system built for constant connectivity. Even so, most economists agree that cashless payment is unlikely to reverse course; instead, the challenge for governments and banks is to make the system safer and more inclusive for everyone who depends on it.

Long before banks and smartphones existed, people had already found ways to trade without carrying heavy bags of coins. As early as the seventh century, some traders in the Middle East used receipts issued by grain warehouses as a substitute for carrying actual grain to market. In medieval China, merchants used paper notes backed by government treasuries, an early form of currency that depended entirely on trust rather than metal. Centuries later, in the 1950s, the introduction of the credit card in the United States marked the first real step toward the cashless society many countries are approaching today.

[I] The real turning point, however, came with the spread of the internet in the 1990s. [II] Banks began offering online transfers, allowing customers to move money between accounts without ever visiting a branch. [III] Around the same time, companies started building networks that let a single plastic card communicate instantly with a bank on the other side of the world. [IV] Within a decade, these networks had become so reliable that many shoppers stopped thinking of a card as unusual at all.

By the early 2000s, cashless payment had moved beyond cards altogether. Mobile phones, once used only for calls and text messages, began to double as digital wallets. In Vietnam, this shift accelerated rapidly after 2015, when e-wallet apps and QR codes turned even small street vendors into cashless businesses. A customer buying a bowl of noodles could now settle the bill by scanning a code taped to the vendor's cart, with the payment confirmed in seconds. For many older Vietnamese, this convenience took some getting used to, but younger customers adopted it almost immediately.

Despite its convenience, the cashless trend has raised concerns. Digital fraud has grown alongside digital payment, and scammers now target victims through fake QR codes and phishing messages rather than pickpocketing. Regulators in several countries have already begun requiring stronger identity checks before a new digital wallet can be opened. Elderly people and those without smartphones or bank accounts risk being left behind in a system built for constant connectivity. Even so, most economists agree that cashless payment is unlikely to reverse course; instead, the challenge for governments and banks is to make the system safer and more inclusive for everyone who depends on it.

Long before banks and smartphones existed, people had already found ways to trade without carrying heavy bags of coins. As early as the seventh century, some traders in the Middle East used receipts issued by grain warehouses as a substitute for carrying actual grain to market. In medieval China, merchants used paper notes backed by government treasuries, an early form of currency that depended entirely on trust rather than metal. Centuries later, in the 1950s, the introduction of the credit card in the United States marked the first real step toward the cashless society many countries are approaching today.

[I] The real turning point, however, came with the spread of the internet in the 1990s. [II] Banks began offering online transfers, allowing customers to move money between accounts without ever visiting a branch. [III] Around the same time, companies started building networks that let a single plastic card communicate instantly with a bank on the other side of the world. [IV] Within a decade, these networks had become so reliable that many shoppers stopped thinking of a card as unusual at all.

By the early 2000s, cashless payment had moved beyond cards altogether. Mobile phones, once used only for calls and text messages, began to double as digital wallets. In Vietnam, this shift accelerated rapidly after 2015, when e-wallet apps and QR codes turned even small street vendors into cashless businesses. A customer buying a bowl of noodles could now settle the bill by scanning a code taped to the vendor's cart, with the payment confirmed in seconds. For many older Vietnamese, this convenience took some getting used to, but younger customers adopted it almost immediately.

Despite its convenience, the cashless trend has raised concerns. Digital fraud has grown alongside digital payment, and scammers now target victims through fake QR codes and phishing messages rather than pickpocketing. Regulators in several countries have already begun requiring stronger identity checks before a new digital wallet can be opened. Elderly people and those without smartphones or bank accounts risk being left behind in a system built for constant connectivity. Even so, most economists agree that cashless payment is unlikely to reverse course; instead, the challenge for governments and banks is to make the system safer and more inclusive for everyone who depends on it.

Long before banks and smartphones existed, people had already found ways to trade without carrying heavy bags of coins. As early as the seventh century, some traders in the Middle East used receipts issued by grain warehouses as a substitute for carrying actual grain to market. In medieval China, merchants used paper notes backed by government treasuries, an early form of currency that depended entirely on trust rather than metal. Centuries later, in the 1950s, the introduction of the credit card in the United States marked the first real step toward the cashless society many countries are approaching today.

[I] The real turning point, however, came with the spread of the internet in the 1990s. [II] Banks began offering online transfers, allowing customers to move money between accounts without ever visiting a branch. [III] Around the same time, companies started building networks that let a single plastic card communicate instantly with a bank on the other side of the world. [IV] Within a decade, these networks had become so reliable that many shoppers stopped thinking of a card as unusual at all.

By the early 2000s, cashless payment had moved beyond cards altogether. Mobile phones, once used only for calls and text messages, began to double as digital wallets. In Vietnam, this shift accelerated rapidly after 2015, when e-wallet apps and QR codes turned even small street vendors into cashless businesses. A customer buying a bowl of noodles could now settle the bill by scanning a code taped to the vendor's cart, with the payment confirmed in seconds. For many older Vietnamese, this convenience took some getting used to, but younger customers adopted it almost immediately.

Despite its convenience, the cashless trend has raised concerns. Digital fraud has grown alongside digital payment, and scammers now target victims through fake QR codes and phishing messages rather than pickpocketing. Regulators in several countries have already begun requiring stronger identity checks before a new digital wallet can be opened. Elderly people and those without smartphones or bank accounts risk being left behind in a system built for constant connectivity. Even so, most economists agree that cashless payment is unlikely to reverse course; instead, the challenge for governments and banks is to make the system safer and more inclusive for everyone who depends on it.

Long before banks and smartphones existed, people had already found ways to trade without carrying heavy bags of coins. As early as the seventh century, some traders in the Middle East used receipts issued by grain warehouses as a substitute for carrying actual grain to market. In medieval China, merchants used paper notes backed by government treasuries, an early form of currency that depended entirely on trust rather than metal. Centuries later, in the 1950s, the introduction of the credit card in the United States marked the first real step toward the cashless society many countries are approaching today.

[I] The real turning point, however, came with the spread of the internet in the 1990s. [II] Banks began offering online transfers, allowing customers to move money between accounts without ever visiting a branch. [III] Around the same time, companies started building networks that let a single plastic card communicate instantly with a bank on the other side of the world. [IV] Within a decade, these networks had become so reliable that many shoppers stopped thinking of a card as unusual at all.

By the early 2000s, cashless payment had moved beyond cards altogether. Mobile phones, once used only for calls and text messages, began to double as digital wallets. In Vietnam, this shift accelerated rapidly after 2015, when e-wallet apps and QR codes turned even small street vendors into cashless businesses. A customer buying a bowl of noodles could now settle the bill by scanning a code taped to the vendor's cart, with the payment confirmed in seconds. For many older Vietnamese, this convenience took some getting used to, but younger customers adopted it almost immediately.

Despite its convenience, the cashless trend has raised concerns. Digital fraud has grown alongside digital payment, and scammers now target victims through fake QR codes and phishing messages rather than pickpocketing. Regulators in several countries have already begun requiring stronger identity checks before a new digital wallet can be opened. Elderly people and those without smartphones or bank accounts risk being left behind in a system built for constant connectivity. Even so, most economists agree that cashless payment is unlikely to reverse course; instead, the challenge for governments and banks is to make the system safer and more inclusive for everyone who depends on it.

Long before banks and smartphones existed, people had already found ways to trade without carrying heavy bags of coins. As early as the seventh century, some traders in the Middle East used receipts issued by grain warehouses as a substitute for carrying actual grain to market. In medieval China, merchants used paper notes backed by government treasuries, an early form of currency that depended entirely on trust rather than metal. Centuries later, in the 1950s, the introduction of the credit card in the United States marked the first real step toward the cashless society many countries are approaching today.

[I] The real turning point, however, came with the spread of the internet in the 1990s. [II] Banks began offering online transfers, allowing customers to move money between accounts without ever visiting a branch. [III] Around the same time, companies started building networks that let a single plastic card communicate instantly with a bank on the other side of the world. [IV] Within a decade, these networks had become so reliable that many shoppers stopped thinking of a card as unusual at all.

By the early 2000s, cashless payment had moved beyond cards altogether. Mobile phones, once used only for calls and text messages, began to double as digital wallets. In Vietnam, this shift accelerated rapidly after 2015, when e-wallet apps and QR codes turned even small street vendors into cashless businesses. A customer buying a bowl of noodles could now settle the bill by scanning a code taped to the vendor's cart, with the payment confirmed in seconds. For many older Vietnamese, this convenience took some getting used to, but younger customers adopted it almost immediately.

Despite its convenience, the cashless trend has raised concerns. Digital fraud has grown alongside digital payment, and scammers now target victims through fake QR codes and phishing messages rather than pickpocketing. Regulators in several countries have already begun requiring stronger identity checks before a new digital wallet can be opened. Elderly people and those without smartphones or bank accounts risk being left behind in a system built for constant connectivity. Even so, most economists agree that cashless payment is unlikely to reverse course; instead, the challenge for governments and banks is to make the system safer and more inclusive for everyone who depends on it.

Long before banks and smartphones existed, people had already found ways to trade without carrying heavy bags of coins. As early as the seventh century, some traders in the Middle East used receipts issued by grain warehouses as a substitute for carrying actual grain to market. In medieval China, merchants used paper notes backed by government treasuries, an early form of currency that depended entirely on trust rather than metal. Centuries later, in the 1950s, the introduction of the credit card in the United States marked the first real step toward the cashless society many countries are approaching today.

[I] The real turning point, however, came with the spread of the internet in the 1990s. [II] Banks began offering online transfers, allowing customers to move money between accounts without ever visiting a branch. [III] Around the same time, companies started building networks that let a single plastic card communicate instantly with a bank on the other side of the world. [IV] Within a decade, these networks had become so reliable that many shoppers stopped thinking of a card as unusual at all.

By the early 2000s, cashless payment had moved beyond cards altogether. Mobile phones, once used only for calls and text messages, began to double as digital wallets. In Vietnam, this shift accelerated rapidly after 2015, when e-wallet apps and QR codes turned even small street vendors into cashless businesses. A customer buying a bowl of noodles could now settle the bill by scanning a code taped to the vendor's cart, with the payment confirmed in seconds. For many older Vietnamese, this convenience took some getting used to, but younger customers adopted it almost immediately.

Despite its convenience, the cashless trend has raised concerns. Digital fraud has grown alongside digital payment, and scammers now target victims through fake QR codes and phishing messages rather than pickpocketing. Regulators in several countries have already begun requiring stronger identity checks before a new digital wallet can be opened. Elderly people and those without smartphones or bank accounts risk being left behind in a system built for constant connectivity. Even so, most economists agree that cashless payment is unlikely to reverse course; instead, the challenge for governments and banks is to make the system safer and more inclusive for everyone who depends on it.

Long before banks and smartphones existed, people had already found ways to trade without carrying heavy bags of coins. As early as the seventh century, some traders in the Middle East used receipts issued by grain warehouses as a substitute for carrying actual grain to market. In medieval China, merchants used paper notes backed by government treasuries, an early form of currency that depended entirely on trust rather than metal. Centuries later, in the 1950s, the introduction of the credit card in the United States marked the first real step toward the cashless society many countries are approaching today.

[I] The real turning point, however, came with the spread of the internet in the 1990s. [II] Banks began offering online transfers, allowing customers to move money between accounts without ever visiting a branch. [III] Around the same time, companies started building networks that let a single plastic card communicate instantly with a bank on the other side of the world. [IV] Within a decade, these networks had become so reliable that many shoppers stopped thinking of a card as unusual at all.

By the early 2000s, cashless payment had moved beyond cards altogether. Mobile phones, once used only for calls and text messages, began to double as digital wallets. In Vietnam, this shift accelerated rapidly after 2015, when e-wallet apps and QR codes turned even small street vendors into cashless businesses. A customer buying a bowl of noodles could now settle the bill by scanning a code taped to the vendor's cart, with the payment confirmed in seconds. For many older Vietnamese, this convenience took some getting used to, but younger customers adopted it almost immediately.

Despite its convenience, the cashless trend has raised concerns. Digital fraud has grown alongside digital payment, and scammers now target victims through fake QR codes and phishing messages rather than pickpocketing. Regulators in several countries have already begun requiring stronger identity checks before a new digital wallet can be opened. Elderly people and those without smartphones or bank accounts risk being left behind in a system built for constant connectivity. Even so, most economists agree that cashless payment is unlikely to reverse course; instead, the challenge for governments and banks is to make the system safer and more inclusive for everyone who depends on it.

Long before banks and smartphones existed, people had already found ways to trade without carrying heavy bags of coins. As early as the seventh century, some traders in the Middle East used receipts issued by grain warehouses as a substitute for carrying actual grain to market. In medieval China, merchants used paper notes backed by government treasuries, an early form of currency that depended entirely on trust rather than metal. Centuries later, in the 1950s, the introduction of the credit card in the United States marked the first real step toward the cashless society many countries are approaching today.

[I] The real turning point, however, came with the spread of the internet in the 1990s. [II] Banks began offering online transfers, allowing customers to move money between accounts without ever visiting a branch. [III] Around the same time, companies started building networks that let a single plastic card communicate instantly with a bank on the other side of the world. [IV] Within a decade, these networks had become so reliable that many shoppers stopped thinking of a card as unusual at all.

By the early 2000s, cashless payment had moved beyond cards altogether. Mobile phones, once used only for calls and text messages, began to double as digital wallets. In Vietnam, this shift accelerated rapidly after 2015, when e-wallet apps and QR codes turned even small street vendors into cashless businesses. A customer buying a bowl of noodles could now settle the bill by scanning a code taped to the vendor's cart, with the payment confirmed in seconds. For many older Vietnamese, this convenience took some getting used to, but younger customers adopted it almost immediately.

Despite its convenience, the cashless trend has raised concerns. Digital fraud has grown alongside digital payment, and scammers now target victims through fake QR codes and phishing messages rather than pickpocketing. Regulators in several countries have already begun requiring stronger identity checks before a new digital wallet can be opened. Elderly people and those without smartphones or bank accounts risk being left behind in a system built for constant connectivity. Even so, most economists agree that cashless payment is unlikely to reverse course; instead, the challenge for governments and banks is to make the system safer and more inclusive for everyone who depends on it.