At present, e-banking services of banks are added value service based on the existing platforms such as mobile-banking, internet-banking and SMS-banking. So in order to use these services, customers still need to go directly to a bank as normal.
Meanwhile, digital banks are unique serivces, which is established based on the cooperation between Fintech and traditional banks. When using digital bank, customers do not depend much on the working time of bankers. Through applications of digital banks, some notable functions such as payment reminder (sending payment request for partner right after a certain period or after concluding a deal); chat-bot (A chat-bot is a computer program which conducts a conversation via auditory or textual methods. Such programs are often designed to convincingly simulate how a human would behave as a conversational partner).
Vietnam currently has population of more than 90 million at golden age, as half of the population have access to the internet and 70% using smart phones. These are reasons why Vietnam can be seen as a high potential market for Fintech companies.
From 2015 to 2017 is considered as a booming period of Fintech with the presences of companies such as MoMo, Payoo, 123pay, or Finsom. At present, there are 40 Fintech companies operating in Vietnam providing a wide range of financial services such as payment, money transfer, fund mobilization and financial management. Besides, the Vietnam’s Fintech market also have some start-ups operating in fields such as online lending or crowdfunding. As such, the question for banks right now is not to consider cooperating with Fintech companies, but how to work with Fintech companies to be able to access a larger customer pool.
Military Bank (MB Bank) has recently cooperated with Fintech company to develop technology, which allows customers to make transaction right in the the Messenger application of Facebook. MB Bank expected that there will be more specific regulations to allow banks expanding cooperation with Fintech companies. With regard to the prospect of cooperating with Fintech companies, representative of VP Bank said:”VP Bank currently cooperates with Timo to provide customers with new experiences in the most simple solutions and applications. This has no doubt create comfortability for customers in making transactions”. Recently, the cooperation between NAPAS and ALIPAY or of many big banks with Fintech companies showed the opportunities for a fast growing financial services in Vietnam.
Banks clearly see benefits gained from applying modern technologies and new solutions to offer new products in the market, while Fintech companies can take advantages of the strong financial platform of banks, its customer network, human resources and experiences to have better insight in the financial market and meeting the quick-changing demands of customers. At the end, when two parties see the the common goal, the competitiveness in each company will be enhanced, leading to the development of the system and the benefits for customers. However, the infrastructure, legal framework and Fintech ecosystem are three pillars which need to be reinforced to facilitate a stronger grow of Fintech companies in the coming time.
Vice Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Nguyen Kim Anh said, in the future, SBV will focus on ensuring the sustainable development and harmonization of the banking system, as well as to create favorable conditions for Fintech companies to operate in accordance with laws and regulations of the government. SBV is also planning to research and apply new management method to be suitable with new context, with a view to issue new legal frameworks to efficiently manage Fintech companies.
