Top 3 digital banks in Vietnam
In the article “What is a NEOBank? How do NEOBanks make money?”, FinFan mentioned about what is the difference between a digital bank and a NEOBank and partial clarification about the definition of a Digital Bank.
In this article, let’s take the list of the Top 3 digital banks in Vietnam with FinFan. However, first of all, should learn more about what is a digital bank.
What is a digital bank?
Unlike traditional banks, digital banks allow customers to carry out the majority of regular banking transactions online via the Internet. Instead of having to visit a bank branch or office to make transactions, all transactions are digitized and can be done online, from applying for a new bank account to opening a savings account, getting an overdraft loan, etc.
Unlike NEOBank, the digital bank is published and developed by a commercial bank – not a fintech company.
These are the best statements to define a digital bank.
Top 3 digital banks in Vietnam
- Timo digital bank
*Founded in 2015, Timo is a name that combines the letters “time” and “money” and has consistently emphasised customer-centricity at its core. The company is widely recognized as one of the first banks in Vietnam to offer eKYC services that save customers time during onboarding and allow access to other banking services online.
In 2019, the bank partnered with Viet Capital Bank and OpenWay, the provider of Way4, the leading digital payments software platform, to enable it to offer innovative services through their app, including smart financial management tools, payments, savings and investments, lending, social spending, instalments, cards, and campaigns with third-party vendors, available on multiple digital platforms – iOS, Android, and web.
The Way4 platform from OpenWay was launched in AWS in just 4 months, providing external systems with a full set of APIs. The platform allows the management of both fully digital card issuing and payment lifecycle, playing a key role as a back-office system for Timo’s end users. Timo was able to launch a quick and fully digital customer onboarding process, aiding operations in a country where the banking adoption rate is still relatively low.
With just a couple of minutes on the digital app and 15 minutes in a Timo Hangout location, the onboarding process can be completed securely and conveniently. During the in-person verification required by the State Bank of Vietnam, the customer can enjoy a complimentary beverage and chat with bank staff.
Timo’s Hangout space is the opposite of the traditionally cold, official bank branch since it is both a coffee shop and banking centre that looks like a trendy, minimalist cafe with digital perks.
Representatives stand by as needed, turning the hangout space into either a temporary workplace, a meeting point, or like the name suggests, a hangout spot.*
*Sourced by The Asian Business Review
- **TNEX - Vietnam’s first digital-only bank
TNEX, which launched in 2020 as a digital-only bank, partnering with the well-established MSB (Maritime Bank), positions itself as a technology company rather than a bank, and has invested heavily in tech and culture.
With no branches to speak of, TNEX’s vision is to tap into their target audience - primarily Gen Z - with an agile and customer-centric, end-to-end digital banking offering.
The provision of free financial services offers a huge drawcard for young Vietnamese consumers, and TNEX has gone on to win multiple awards since launch. With Mambu at the core, TNEX’s offering combines gametech, messaging, socials, and a full-merchant ecosystem with a complete payments network.
- Cake is served in Vietnam
One of Vietnam’s fastest growing digital banks is Cake, which was launched by the high profile Be Group and VPBank in January 2021.
Cake’s USP is that it is integrated with the very popular ‘Be’ ride-hailing app - the first Vietnamese bank to be embedded with a ride-hailing app - allowing instant mobile access to financial services to millions of Vietnamese consumers.
Cake is building a ‘lifestyle banking app’ with a goal of enabling faster and easier access to financial services for its customers.
In recognition of Cake’s innovative and tech-focused approach, in July 2022, Cake won the ‘Core Banking System Initiative of the Year - Vietnam’ at the Asian Banking & Finance Retail Banking Awards, for implementing a core banking replacement project - utilising Mambu’s cloud banking platform - in just 74 days.
These three high-achieving Mambu customers have demonstrated how investing in cutting-edge technology like Mambu’s cloud-native banking platform, AI, data analytics and machine learning, and putting the customer first can lead to phenomenal growth.**
Those are top 3 digital banks in Vienam. FinFan believes that this business model and NEOBanks will have the bright future to develop in Vietnam, because of the technology trend 4.0.