Although the statistics do not reflect the income of some individual bankers, separate 2019 semi-annual financial statements from the country's 13 biggest commercial banks show that incomes have been rising.

By the end of June, Vietcombank, one of Vietnam’s three biggest state-owned lenders, led the sector in making profit as well paying employees. On average, each employee of Vietcombank is paid VND40.3 million ($1,740) per month, up 6 percent compared to its staff's average income in 2018. The central bank currently holds a 74.8 percent stake of the bank.

The employees of Military Bank (MBBank) held the second position with an average income of VND33 million ($1,430) per month, an increase of 8 percent year-on-year.

Privately-owned TPBank followed the top two with an impressive 35 percent year-on-year rise in average employee monthly income to VND32.1 million ($1,390), although it only ranked mid-table in profits.

Techcombank, Vietnam’s biggest private lender in assets, ranked fourth in employee income with an average of VND31.8 million ($1,380).

According to a bank executive who did not want to be named, average income and actual income can differ greatly depending on whether employees have met targets, the nature of their work, and the policies of their departments.

While employees in his bank made VND20 million ($864) on average, some end up with five times the average remuneration for exceeding targets, the executive said.

A survey in March by recruitment firm VietnamWorks found that the base salary for employees in the banking sector, without bonuses, can range from VND6.5-30 million ($280 - $1,293) a month, with the top 25 percent getting above VND50 million ($2,155).

Although salaries are rising, growth of personnel in the banking sector has reportedly slowed. According to statistics from the 10 biggest listed banks in the sector, total number of employees as of June-end only increased by less than 2 percent compared to the beginning of the year.

Last year, the number of personnel in Vietnam’s banking sector grew by nearly 17,000 people, or 8.3 percent, according to data from Q4 2018 financial reports of 22 banks.

Two of Vietnam’s three biggest public lenders, BIDV and VietinBank, even reported slight decreases in the number of employees. Only VIB and TPBank saw significant expansion of personnel numbers, of 19 percent and 14 percent respectively.