“Talking about ‘Hanoi - A Smart City’, we cannot forget to mention banking operations. It is necessary to ensure that all citizens in Vietnam, all citizens of Hanoi can access banking services, and other life-supporting services on their smart devices. Up to now, at many commercial banks, over 90% of transactions have been performed on the digital channels; more than 87% of adults in Vietnam have bank accounts. This is also a measurement of the development of financial inclusion in Vietnam. And communication and education have been playing an important role in achieving that”.
This was the sharing by Deputy Governor Pham Tien Dzung of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) at the Workshop on "Hanoi - Smart City and Open Banking Ecosystem" held on October 2, 2024 in Hanoi. The Workshop was an important event in the series of “Vietnam Card Day 2024”, which was jointly organized by the Tien Phong Newspaper and Vietnam National Payment Joint Stock Company (Napas), under the content supervision of the SBV and the People's Committee of Hanoi City.
Speaking at the Workshop, Deputy Governor Pham Tien Dzung said that banks and intermediary payment service providers have been gradually changing from the traditional operating model to an open banking model associated with the connection and integration of technology platforms, payment solutions, data sharing,... to develop a digital ecosystem and an open banking ecosystem.
Deputy Governor Pham Tien Dzung
The SBV Deputy Governor shared his wish that "all citizens of Vietnam and all citizens of Hanoi can access banking services and other life-support services on their mobile devices". Currently, at many commercial banks, over 90% of banking transactions have been performed on the digital channels. The people can perform a lot of transactions without going to a bank.
The SBV Deputy Governor affirmed that "Talking about Hanoi - A Smart City, we cannot forget to mention banking operations, because all activities in life such as production, business, buying and selling of goods and services are associated with banking operations (including payment activities). If we cannot integrate activities of a smart city with banking operations and vice versa, we will not be able to create a closed cycle... All are aimed at the goal of enabling all citizens of Hanoi to perform and access services through smart applications".
Over the past time, the banking sector has launched electronic guarantees, and the SBV has issued a Circular allowing the credit institutions to provide loans through electronic means. Accordingly, it has enabled the people to access banking services, and now customers can easily borrow small amounts of money on the digital channels.
The SBV Deputy Governor also emphasized that "Now if a person does not have a bank account, he or she cannot access any services. Up to now, more than 87% of adults in Vietnam have had bank accounts. This is also a measurement of the development of financial inclusion in Vietnam. And communication and education have been playing an important role in achieving that”.
Mr. Ha Minh Hai, Vice Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee
Also speaking at the Workshop, Mr. Ha Minh Hai, Vice Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee, said that in Hanoi’s strategy of developing a smart city, a smart payment system and an open banking ecosystem play a pivotal role as a crucial factor in connecting the public services and the society, helping to create innovative financial services and products, meeting better the needs of the customers, and at the same time promoting the competition and the development in the finance and banking sector. In particular, in Hanoi, the development of non-cash payment means such as bank cards, e-wallets, QR codes and mobile payments has brought about great benefits.
In his presentation at the Workshop, Mr. Pham Anh Tuan, Director General of the SBV Payment Department, said that in the trend of open banking in the recent years, the current strategy of banks is to expand and develop new channels to better serve their customers through cooperation with partners, Fintech companies, and third parties in different industries. Based on this connection model, banks can connect with third parties/Fintechs, service providers (electricity, water, telecommunications, etc.) or the National Public Service Portals, the Public Service Portals of the Ministries and agencies, to allow customers to pay bills for goods, services, utilities or public services.
Mr. Pham Anh Tuan, Director General of the SBV Payment Department
In Vietnam, although common API technical standards for open banking have not yet been developed, many banks have proactively opened part of their data to third parties, and the deployment of APIs has become relatively common. Several banks have recently deployed Open API Portals that allow third parties to register to connect and use APIs to develop innovative financial and banking products and services, such as VietinBank iConnect (2019), BIDV Open API (2023), OCB API Developer Portal, etc.
According to Mr. Pham Anh Tuan, in the coming time, in order to deploy and promote the development of a digital ecosystem towards successful open banking, the SBV will continue to improve the legal and policy frameworks to facilitate the cooperation and the connectivity in the banking sector. In addition, the banking industry will continue to upgrade the technology infrastructure, develop open APIs to increase the ability to integrate and connect with the information systems of the Ministries and agencies; ensuring the security, safety and confidentiality of the customers’ information in accordance with the regulations; promoting the financial communication and education to improve the customers’ awareness and understanding of technology applications; warning customers about frauds, cyber-crimes, etc. Besides, the banking sector will coordinate with the relevant Ministries and agencies to study and develop a national database of banking customers, and to connect with the National Database on Population to strengthen the coordination mechanism and the information exchange among the parties for promptly supporting customers and resolving any arising problems and obstacles.
Le Hang