3 minute read
Turning crisis into opportunity with digital transformation
HUYEN NHUNG
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Covid-19 pandemic has dramatically shifted customer behavior, making millions of enterprises go bankrupt. Yet, in Vietnam, some banks have seized the opportunity to transform and adopt technology to stand firm and overcome the pandemic.
According to statistics published by the State Bank of Vietnam, in Q1 2021, total online transaction volume grew by 28.4 percent to VND8.1 quadrillion (USD352 billion), compared to the same period last year. In particular, online transaction volume via mobile phone increased 103 percent to VND4.6 quadrillion (USD200 billion).
Realizing this trend while ensuring system security, the banking sector has made great efforts on new technology such as e-wallets, eKYC, multi-platform digital services, etc.
ELECTRONIC-KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER (e-KYC)
One remaining issue in the digital banking process is that customers are required to visit a physical bank to open a bank account. Thus, eKYC came to the rescue, becoming the must-have factor of the “digital banking” picture.
As one of the leading banks using eKYC and having integrated it in BIDV Smartbanking app, BIDV provides new customers an at-home experience to register for a bank account. All they need to do is taking a photo of their identification, a photo of their face, then the system will examine valid information and open an account for customers, allowing them to use banking services immediately.
Mrs. Nguyen Thi Quynh Giao – Senior Executive Vice President in charge of BIDV Retail Banking Group – emphasized: “eKYC is the leap in our comprehensive digital transformation
strategy which concentrates on digital platforms, processes and products. The development we have seen is proof for the bank’s efforts to provide advanced products to customers”. Within 2 months since its launch, BIDV Smartbanking’s new feature eKYC has recorded over 200,000 successful applications for a bank account.
TAILORING TO CUSTOMERS’ NEEDS
As life gets bustling every day, even a small task like keeping in mind passwords, switching users between devices, income and expense management, etc. has become a big problem.
With BIDV Smartbanking, users can access this app via a mobile phone, a computer, smart watch, and even smart key board. It’s convenient as users can make a transaction at any time, any where, via any of personal devices which only require one same user name and password. BIDV SmartBanking has introduced a new feature which serves the need for income and expense management and provides detailed reports. This feature seems to please the majority of millennials using this app. Having a broad overview of personal expenses helps tracking financial situation, thus adjusting how they earn and spend, deducting unnecessary expenses and becoming financially prepared for the unexpected in life. Although you can easily find an independent expense tracking app, you have to manually input each transaction you have made, instead of having them automatically displayed on BIDV Smartbanking.
E-WALLET
According to a report by IDC, Vietnam has an e-wallet growth rate of 67 percent in the 2017-2022 period, ranking 3rd in the Asia Pacific region, leading by China and South Korea. This report also stated that the demand for e-wallets would continue to increase due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic along with the increasingly strong influence of the Millennials (those born between 1980 and 2000) and GenZ (those born after the year 2000).
This demand poses a great challenge and is also a rare opportunity for financial institutions to climb rankings. So far, BIDV has set a goal to create a large-scale service ecosystem for BIDV Smartbanking users. Then, all users will be able to use e-wallet and banking services such as money transfer, online saving, paying debt… all in one app. To develop this ecosystem, BIDV has eagerly connected with financial institutions and worked with over 1,000 suppliers, 32 out of 43 Fintechs in Vietnam to provide over 2,000 payment services via e-wallets and will continue to expand this ecosystem.
In the midst of the pandemic, banks have been actively turning crisis into opportunity, transforming products and services to catch up with new trends and dominate new markets, habits and behaviors. Therefore, it will not only bring benefits to customers, but also promise to help Vietnam’s financial system move closer to global digital technology.
