A report jointly released by global market research company International Data Corporation (IDC) and Dutch fintech provider company Backbase also said that as the economy gradually recovers from the challenges of 2020, Vietnam will witness digital transformation in the commercial banking segment.

Riddhi Dutta, Asia Regional Director of Backbase, said that the banks will invest significantly in information technology, especially in mobile channels, branch digitization and process optimization to support the growing segment of digital consumers.

He said the Vietnamese banking industry has developed an industry development strategy until 2025 that aims to promote the development of non-cash payment and focus on various types of banking services and models suitable for population groups in rural, remote and isolated areas that have little or no access to traditional banking services.

Eight of the biggest banks in Vietnam have said that core-banking and digitization are their top two priorities. They expect 50 percent growth in new accounts by using intelligent automation in account creation.

According to Bachbase and IDC, banks in the Asia-Pacific region are under pressure from customers' needs for access and control of digital interaction.

The report said that the Covid-19 outbreak has also raised the question of the readiness of digital banking, with 70 percent of customers surveyed thinking current banking services are boring. Traditional banks are still focused on old operating systems and do not attach much importance to digital integration, it said.

The analysis and forecast was based on IDC's financial insights assessment of digital banking strategies of 55 banks from six key markets in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region - Australia, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam with a total of 20 credit institutions and 40 fintech firms. The study was conducted from the fourth quarter of 2019 until the first quarter of 2020.