On the last days of 2023, Vietnamese bankers heard a familiar name – ‘Ngan hang Thuong mai Co phan Thinh vuong va Phat Trien’, or PGBank.

PG Bank is a familiar bank branch, but its English name has been changed from Petrolimex Group Commercial Joint Stock Bank to Prosperity and Growth Commercial Joint Stock Bank.

Petrolimex has completely divested from PG Bank and has been replaced by a group of shareholders with three legal entities belonging to the ecosystem of Thanh Cong group.

Attending the new branch launching ceremony and 30th anniversary of the bank establishment was Nguyen Anh Tuan, chair of Thanh Cong Group. At the event, Thanh Cong was introduced as ‘PGBank’s strategic partner’.

Also in December 2023, Ban Viet Joint Stock Commercial Bank officially changed its English name from VietCapital Bank to BVBank, and showed a new logo, and a new brand identification on the occasion of the 31st anniversary of the bank.

2023 was the year when Buu Dien Lien Viet Bank changed its logo, brand identification and the new abbreviated English name from LienVietPostBank to LPBank. 

Internal reshuffling

The changes in appearance, of course, demonstrate internal reshuffling. 

A representative from BVBank said along with the change of the logo, BVBank has upgraded its products and services. It has been expanding its network with the number of business units increasing by 50 percent compared to that of five years ago, located in 31 cities/provinces throughout the country. It has also launched DigiBiz, an app for business clients. Its number of clients has increased by 50 percent per annum.

At LPBank, with an aim of accelerating digital transformation, the bank is implementing key projects, such as transforming the core banking system according to T24 solution provided by the Swiss Temenos Group, deploying the Datalake/DataWarehouse data management platform, payment solution (Payments), Treasury solution (front-to-back ), and Omni channel banking platform that help banks easily design more innovative products and services, and approach target markets faster at lower costs.

Some commercial banks with powerful financial capability such as VPBank, Techcombank and the Big4 have also shown their ambitions when going digitized.

Following the success of Zero Free campaign, Techcombank continues to invest in digitization and implementation of its Cloud-first policy. The cloud will ensure safety in transactions and personalize users’ experience.

Techcombank, VPBank and Vietcombank are pioneers in using cashless payments with Google Pay and Apple Pay. VPBank recently became the first bank in Vietnam that launched a one-touch payment method – Garmin Pay – on Garmin’s smartwatches.

With the addition of Garmin Pay to its one-touch payment ecosystem, VPBank has become the first and only bank in Vietnam which provides the full payment wallet solution Tap & Pay with no limitations on Android and IOS (including Apple Pay, Samsung Play, Google Pay, VP Pay and Garmin Pay).

Smaller banks have also made big investments in technology platforms, solutions and products. In 2023, National Citizen Bank (NCB)  bank made a turning point when signing an agreement with the world’s leading strategic consultancy partner to deploy a new strategy for the bank in the 2023-2028 period and over the long term.

Changes by NCB has also shown positive results. In 2023, the bank recorded the highest growth rate in the number of clients. The number rose by 33 percent in the first nine months of 2023 compared with the same period last year. It hoped to obtain 1 million clients in 2023.

Under the resolution of the board of directors related December 13, 2023 on offering shares privately to increase charter capital, NCB will raise charter capital from VND5.6 trillion to VND12 trillion. Of this, the bank plans to spend VND200 billion on building brand identification in 2024-2025.

In a connected world, putting data at the center will help banks make important decisions and set orientations for the banks’ development, and accelerate interactions between banks and customers.

Experts all say that Vietnam is at a pivotal moment when many banks are deploying data digitization and operation processes to serve digital transformation. Most banks in Vietnam are conducting digital transformation at different levels to serve customers better.

Tuan Nguyen