TPBank has started to provide LiveBank services. (Photo: TPBank)
Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Vietnam has seen a digital wave in thefinance-banking industry, with many banks investing significantly into thesegment, experts said at a recent conference.
Duringthe conference on digitalising the banking industry held in Hanoi, director ofthe State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)’s Payment Department Pham Tien Dung cited datafrom an SBV survey that by the end of April this year, 94 percent of localbanks had invested in digitalisation, of which 42 percent consider digitalbanking to be the top priority in their business strategy.
Internetbanking services in Vietnam have accelerated by 6.3 times over the past threeyears. Experts attributed the high growth to the popularity of the internet andsmartphones in the country. By the end of 2017, Vietnam had 45 million 3G/4Gusers and a majority of smartphone users.
Paymentthrough mobile banking services has also surged by a whopping 144 percent peryear over the past five years. Meanwhile, the same period has seen payments bytraditional methods increase by only 40 percent.
Seizingthe trend, many banks have been embarking on the application of 4.0 technologyand modernising their business models. Examples include the automated bankmodel LiveBank, digital bank model Timo or providing online consulting servicesthrough Live Chat.
Accordingto experts at the conference, banks prefer the application of digitaltechnology thanks to its lower costs and wider coverage than that oftraditional models.
Thedevelopment of internet banking, mobile banking, payment solutions using QRcodes, near-field communication technology (NFC), or advances in biometric technologyusing fingerprints and iris scanning has helped the banking industry bring newand convenient products and services to customers, which has helped banks reachsustainable growth in the long run thanks to an increase in revenue and profitfrom services and gradually reduce dependence on lending, they said.
Inaddition, experience from many countries has also shown that, with the supportof digital technology, even developing or poor countries can achievebreakthroughs in financial inclusion.
NguyenKim Anh, SBV’s deputy governor, said there was significant potential to applyand exploit digital technology in order to increase the efficiency and qualityof services in the country’s banking industry, provided by the country’s goodtechnical infrastructure and streamlined policies.
"TheSBV pays special attention to fine-tuning the legal framework, building andpromulgating legal regulations and orientations in order to enhance thedevelopment of information technology infrastructure and security for thebanking industry," Anh said, adding that SBV has so far activelyundertaken many activities so that the banking sector can adapt to the fourthindustrial revolution.
Regardingtechnical infrastructure, Anh said, SBV has set up the national inter-bankelectronic payment system (IBPS) and the national credit information centre,which have been operating smoothly.
Asfor the legal framework, SBV have also developed IT infrastructure, enhancedsafety and security to support banks in digital applications and promote onlinebanking activities.
Topromote digital banking, Anh urged banks to further improve corporategovernance, security and human resources. - VNS/VNA
