Vietnamese banks take advantage of digital era
Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Vietnam has seen a digital wave in the
finance-banking industry, with many banks investing significantly into the
segment, experts said at a recent conference.
During
the conference on digitalising the banking industry held in Hanoi, director of
the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)’s Payment Department Pham Tien Dung cited data
from an SBV survey that by the end of April this year, 94 percent of local
banks had invested in digitalisation, of which 42 percent consider digital
banking to be the top priority in their business strategy.
Internet
banking services in Vietnam have accelerated by 6.3 times over the past three
years. Experts attributed the high growth to the popularity of the internet and
smartphones in the country. By the end of 2017, Vietnam had 45 million 3G/4G
users and a majority of smartphone users.
Payment
through mobile banking services has also surged by a whopping 144 percent per
year over the past five years. Meanwhile, the same period has seen payments by
traditional methods increase by only 40 percent.
Seizing
the trend, many banks have been embarking on the application of 4.0 technology
and modernising their business models. Examples include the automated bank
model LiveBank, digital bank model Timo or providing online consulting services
through Live Chat.
According
to experts at the conference, banks prefer the application of digital
technology thanks to its lower costs and wider coverage than that of
traditional models.
The
development of internet banking, mobile banking, payment solutions using QR
codes, near-field communication technology (NFC), or advances in biometric technology
using fingerprints and iris scanning has helped the banking industry bring new
and convenient products and services to customers, which has helped banks reach
sustainable growth in the long run thanks to an increase in revenue and profit
from services and gradually reduce dependence on lending, they said.
In
addition, experience from many countries has also shown that, with the support
of digital technology, even developing or poor countries can achieve
breakthroughs in financial inclusion.
Nguyen
Kim Anh, SBV’s deputy governor, said there was significant potential to apply
and exploit digital technology in order to increase the efficiency and quality
of services in the country’s banking industry, provided by the country’s good
technical infrastructure and streamlined policies.
"The
SBV pays special attention to fine-tuning the legal framework, building and
promulgating legal regulations and orientations in order to enhance the
development of information technology infrastructure and security for the
banking industry," Anh said, adding that SBV has so far actively
undertaken many activities so that the banking sector can adapt to the fourth
industrial revolution.
Regarding
technical infrastructure, Anh said, SBV has set up the national inter-bank
electronic payment system (IBPS) and the national credit information centre,
which have been operating smoothly.
As
for the legal framework, SBV have also developed IT infrastructure, enhanced
safety and security to support banks in digital applications and promote online
banking activities.
To promote digital banking, Anh urged banks to further improve corporate governance, security and human resources. - VNS/VNA