Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh visits a booth at the 2025 Banking Digital Transformation event

This statement was delivered by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the 2025 Banking Digital Transformation event themed “Smart Digital Ecosystem in the New Era” organized by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) in Hanoi.

Seamless connectivity in the digital banking ecosystem

He said that digital transformation in the banking sector must align with general guidelines, be implemented decisively, and aim for practical efficiency. The banking sector must actively seize opportunities, stay ahead of technologies, promote development, and lead technologies and innovations. It must support diversified products, professional services and guaranteed security.

Prime Minister Chinh stressed that all policies and actions must place public interests at the center. People are not only beneficiaries but also active subjects in digital transformation, thus contributing to the development of a modern financial system.

According to SBV Governor Nguyen Thi Hong, the banking sector has been at the forefront of digital transformation, with a citizen- and business-centric approach, where people are the center, drivers, resources and targets of development. The interbank electronic payment system processes an average of VND820 trillion per day while the financial switching and electronic clearing system handles 26 million transactions daily. More than 113 million individual customer profiles and over 711,000 corporate customer records have been matched using biometric information (accounting for over 66% of total active payment accounts via digital channels).

Many customer-friendly and highly practical banking products and services have been developed to meet diverse customer needs. Many basic operations have been fully digitized (such as savings, term deposits, payment account opening and usage, bank card opening, e-wallets, money transfers and loans). Many credit institutions in Vietnam have reportedly achieved a digital transaction rate of over 95%. To date, nearly 87% of Vietnamese adults have bank accounts and the value of cashless payments is 25 times the GDP.

Mr. Pham Anh Tuan, Director of the Payment Department, the SBV, said: The banking sector has invested in and upgraded infrastructure, enabling the supply of cross-border retail payments via QR code with Thailand, Cambodia and Laos, and likely with China and South Korea soon. The sector is also integrating and connecting with non-banking industries and ecosystems to deliver seamless services to customers, connecting the banking and business ecosystems by embedding financial services into supply chains, supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through digital platforms and deploying open APIs.

Ms. Phung Nguyen Hai Yen, Deputy General Director of the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank), said: As the first bank to successfully integrate electronic identification and authentication via VNeID application, enabling one-touch identity verification for services such as digital certificates and e-signatures in the application, Vietcombank offers an array of services, starting from online disbursement to guarantees, foreign exchange trading and investments, all are automated, legally compliant and secured on its VCB Digibank platform. Vietcombank is also leading a digital transformation combined with a green transformation to popularize digital signatures and build a paperless, carbon-free banking ecosystem.

At Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MB), Mr. Vu Hong Phu, Member of the Executive Board at MB, said: The bank has developed a digital banking ecosystem for business clients, including payments via BIZ MBBank, automatic credit limit granting on BIZ MBBank, and FAST&EASY automated disbursement. Besides, MB is among the first five banks to implement electronic tax payments and online customs clearance, directly through the Department of Customs’ website and BIZ MBBank application.

Mr. Hoang Minh Ngoc, Deputy General Director of Agribank, said that, besides the modern technological infrastructure, Agribank has developed solutions for remote account opening, digital identity verification via VNeID, and cashless payments to make sure that the elderly, the poor and the disabled can access timely and accurate support. The bank defined that its next step is not only expanding its physical network but also enhancing data connectivity and technology integration to personalize services for each citizen. Especially, Agribank is moving toward a paperless model for social welfare payments, from identity verification to fund transfers, all fully automated, transparent, safe and convenient.

The Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank  is one of  the market leaders in digitalization

Delivering practical benefits to people and businesses

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said, the next goal for the banking sector is to deliver tangible benefits to people and businesses, reduce operational costs for the banking sector, and prevent corruption and waste through the transparency of financial transactions. Digital transformation in the banking sector must align with general guidelines, be implemented decisively, and aim for real efficiency rather than formalism. At the same time, the banking sector must actively seize opportunities, stay ahead of technologies, promote development, and lead scientific and technological applications and innovations, thus creating diversified products, secure services and utilities.

He particularly noted that, in the time ahead, the entire banking sector must accelerate, break through, and achieve its goals ahead of schedule. Specifically, this involves enhancing digital infrastructure investment, promoting digital transformation for both people and businesses, issuing practical priority policies for vulnerable groups to ensure universal access to digital banking services, investing in high-quality digital human resources capable of mastering new know-how, and ensuring the safety and security of the financial and banking information systems to protect national interests and people’s rights and interests.

According to Governor Hong, in the time to come, the SBV will continue to facilitate mechanisms and policies for credit institutions to accelerate digital transformation and develop safe and convenient digital banking products and services, thereby promoting cashless payments and improving access to financial services for people from all walks of life.

She added, to implement Resolution 57-NQ/TW as well as directives of the Government and the Prime Minister, the SBV also built and instructed commercial banks to launch a VND500 trillion credit program to support businesses investing in infrastructure and digital technology to carry out key projects and national projects in transportation, electricity, and digital technology as outlined by relevant ministries and agencies. So far, 21 commercial banks have prepared VND500 trillion for loans according to the soft loan program which offers preferential loans in VND carrying interest rates at least 1% lower than the average medium- and long-term lending rates of the lending banks during the given period. To facilitate banks to roll out this credit program soon, the central bank will closely coordinate with relevant bodies to provide guidance and support within its authority.

Mr. Pham Anh Tuan said the banking sector will continue to improve institutions, work closely with related bodies to review, amend, and issue legal documents to promote and remove obstacles to cashless payments and digital transformation in the banking sector. The sector will upgrade and complete infrastructure for science, technology and innovation, with a particular focus on building a shared data system for the banking industry to enable data-driven decision-making.

Importantly, the banking sector will continue to integrate, connect and share banking information with other industries to expand the digital ecosystem and build an interconnected digital infrastructure, thus facilitating quick, safe and efficient access to services for people and businesses. At the same time, the sector will strengthen international cooperation to stay updated on technological trends and promote the use of innovative technologies to deliver a wide range of practical, cost-effective financial products and services.