The state-owned Vietcombank continued to secure top place in salary payment as it had done in recent years with an average monthly salary of VN36.8 million ($1,580), up 7 percent from last year’s average.

It was followed by two private banks. Techcombank came in second at VND36.1 million ($1,550) and ACB third at VND35.8 million ($1,540).

The rest of the top five were made up of state-owned MB and private VPBank.

An average Vietcombank employee brought in revenues of nearly VND200 million ($8,630) each month, exceeding that of the next four banks at around VND160 million.

ACB, VPBank and private HDBank were among those with the highest salary growth rates of between 33 and 39 percent. Most other banks saw single-digit growth.

Salary declines were seen in state-owned BIDV, down 7 percent, private VIB, down 6 percent and Sacombank, down 16 percent. Industry insiders said the drop was a cost-cutting measure adopted by banks to ensure profit amid rising risk of bad debts caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

State Bank of Vietnam Governor Le Minh Hung recently called for banks to continue cutting down on salaries and bonuses so they could lower interest rates for borrowers and boost lending amid the pandemic-initiated crisis.