Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam’s banking sector has invested in developing technology amidthe sweeping changes the 4th Industrial Revolution is bringing to theway people live and work.

According to economic experts, the prominent technological advances of therevolution such as Internet of Things (IoTs), Big Data, Artificial Intelligence(AI) and blockchain technology have offered great opportunities for Vietnam’s bankingsystem.

Theyhelp Vietnamese banks access international markets, enhance their ability toapply modern technology and make banking products and services more modern andefficient.

Dr. Nguyen Viet Loi , Director of  Institute for Financial Strategy and Policy under the Ministry ofFinance, said the impact of the 4th Industrial Revolution on Vietnam’sbanking sector can be divided into two phases.

From2008 to 2015, the advent of cloud computing, open-source software, 3G/4G mobiledata, smart phones, data analysis and social networks encouraged entrepreneursto join the financial market, paving the way for financial technology(FinTech).

From 2016-2020, the development of artificial intelligence, blockchain, datascience, digital identification and biometrics will lay an infrastructure foundationto transform personnel usage, focusing on using artificial intelligence insteadof traditional bankers. Digital identity has become the footing of basic identificationand been secured through biometric factors such as voice recognition or fingerprints.

Experts predicted that by 2020, the four most-affected areas of FinTech will beconsumer banking, transfers and payments, asset management, and insurance.

Findings from a survey on banking services, user behaviour and trends in Vietnam released by theInternational Data Group (IDG) Vietnam in2017 showed that e-banking solutions are increasingly used for convenience and to save time. Some 81 percent of respondents saidthey have used e-banking solutions fortransactions, compared to only 21 percent in 2015.

Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Nguyen Kim Anh said thatcommercial banks have developed new services in the direction of full digitisation.

Outstanding services include the auto banking model (Livebank) of Tien Phong Bank(TPBank), the digital bank Timo of Vietnam Prosperity Bank (VPBank), the digital banking strategy of Orient Commercial Joint Stock Bank (OCB); Digital Lap of Commercial Bank forForeign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank)and  the Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MB) with the virtualassistant application Chatbox.

Nguyen Hung, General Director of TPBank, said digitalisation is applied to all bankingproducts and services from payment, money transfer, lending, saving tofinancial management.

Thedevelopment of digital banking models, such as Timo or LiveBank, is an exampleof this trend, enabling banks to meet young customers’ need for bankingservices anytime and anywhere, he noted.

Ngo Thi Hang from the Department for inspection andsupervision of domestic credit institutions underthe SBV’s BankingSupervision Agency said the emergence of the 4th IndustrialRevolution brings opportunities to Vietnamese banks to extend outside of thecountry, expand their activity and build their brand abroad.

In addition, thanks to the revolution, they can also access and expand supplyof appropriate banking products and services to those who do not currently havebank accounts in remote areas, she said.


However,she noted that besides the promising opportunities, the revolution also posesmany challenges to Vietnam's banking and finance sector.


Hangstressed the need to build new laws for banking sector reform, adding that banks’business models and financial resources for basic construction investment needto be fine-tuned to adapt to the trend of high technology application.

According to Director Loi, the SBV has been setting up a Steering Committee onFintech, which is working to develop a legal framework for this area.

However, there is still a lack of policy mechanism to attract investment inFintech, he noted.-VNA