The bank today is a major user of digital in Vietnam providing facilities for the customers:
Vietcombank, or the erstwhile Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam, is known for significant contributions to Vietnam’s economy. The bank is also synonymous for its innovations, digital transformation and social responsibility. Besides, it is committed to the development of Vietnam’s foreign trade banking, which it believes strongly contributes to the country’s domestic economic growth.
Vietnam’s regulator, the State Bank of Vietnam, is the largest shareholder of Vietcombank – holding 74.8% of the charter capital. As of December 2023, the bank’s total assets were US$69.08 million (1.7 thousand trillion Vietnamese dong), making it the third largest bank in Vietnam by total assets. It has more than 125 branches and about 600 transaction offices in Vietnam. It also has representative offices in the United States and Singapore.
BECOMING A UNIVERSAL BANK
It was in 1990 that the bank diversified its services from being exclusively focused on foreign trade to a become a mass market commercial bank. The Government of the country had selected it as the pilot for privatization of state-owned companies. The bank later concluded a strategic shareholder agreement with Mizuho Corporate Bank of Japan.
UNIQUE DIGITAL BANK
Today, the bank has landmark achievements. It is the first bank in the country to launch a mobile app, VCB Digibank. Using it, the bank could grow its mobile banking customer base by 50% YoY to almost 8 million. The digital platform also helped grow its transaction to almost 18 million, up by 50%.
In June this year, the bank introduced a new generation VCB Digibank, with a completely redesigned interface and user experience tailored for each segment, along with new services and features. The upgraded version helps users easily access familiar features with minimal interaction while suggesting users explore and learn about new products and services. The version has a Standard Interface (for all customers), Priority Interface for priority customers and YouPro Interface for the young generation customers.
The version also features facilities like seamless money transfer where the system automatically identifies the receiving bank/recipient information and processes the transfer using the most suitable and optimised method, Personal Financial Management, which automatically records and categorizes income/expenses according to established categories and provides alerts and Group Wallet Management, which allows creating group lists, sharing bills with group members, and automatically reminding members about debts.
MANY CONVENIENCES
High levels of investment in technology ensured that the bank is able to vastly improve its transaction speed, payment efficiency, safety and security. Besides, there has been phenomenal improvement in customer experiences. Some of the technology initiatives are latest core banking solution, payment hub, VCB Digibank, VCB Digibiz, smart one-time password (OTP) transaction authentication system, eKYC, and QR code capabilities.
The bank has developed and implemented an AI virtual assistant, VCB Digibot, in collaboration with FPT Smart Cloud. It is based on the FPT.AI platform and ensures that service efficiency is markedly improved. VCB Digibot can respond instantly and accurately to frequently asked questions on topics such as cards, loans, interest rates, promotions, currency exchange rate etc anywhere, anytime.
NEW PAYMENTS SYSTEM
The bank has recently launched VCB CashUp, which is powered by Intellect Global Transaction Banking, or iGTB, to digitally transform wholesale banking services and accelerate Vietnam’s digital economy 2025 roadmap.
With this, the bank has become the first Vietnamese bank to digitize all payment activities and cash flow management of institutional customers. In the subsequent phase, the bank aims to digitize operations, products and services, enhancing its proposition to wholesale clients.
Besides, the bank has been able to integrate several functionalities, hitherto handled by multiple systems such as core banking, payments hub system and tax payment interfaces. Since the platform is mobile-ready platform, the bank is capable of providing tailored experience to its customers at no extra-cost and empower them with simple Do-It-Yourself features.
The bank has also collaborated with Finastra to automate its operational processes and improve overall customer experience. The Finastra solution has helped the bank to digitize trade finance operations and management of client relationships. Besides, it affords customers to have a 360-degree view of their transactions.
Vietcombank has been a consistent leader in several key areas – it is having the highest market capitalization among listed companies in Vietnam, it is a respected name in international payment and trade finance, and it is prominent player in in Vietnam’s foreign exchange market.
This article has been compiled based on publicly available information on the web, particularly the bank’s own website.
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