By adding Fintech solutions into the e-banking application, banks may be joining the race to become an “all-in-one” application.
Previously, mobile banking applications of banks were only used for financial transactions such as balance inquiry, bank transfer, savings deposit and loans. Now banks are constantly pouring money to upgrade the application, add more features including an e-wallet experience and other non-financial services such as travel, education, and health.
Sharing with VnExpress, Tu Tien Phat, deputy general director of Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACB), said that this was one of the strategies to build a digital bank in the context of today’s customers dealing mostly online and with a cellphone.
He cited the example of the success of DBS (a bank in Singapore) when developing a multifunctional application and attracted many users. From a bank with the lowest satisfaction score, DBS became the highest satisfaction bank in Singapore and the best bank in the world (voted by Euromoney) thanks to digital conversion. DBS is at the forefront of this task when developing a banking service that is entirely mobile-focused, without any branches, making the bank invisible.
This is also a method of Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (Vietinbank) recently when it has just cooperated with Money Lover financial management service and VnPay payment and allowed to integrate these Fintech features into the mobile version of e-bank application (iPay). VietinBank deputy general director Tran Cong Quynh Lan said that this was the first step to develop the application’s ecosystem. Not only providing common features such as money transfer, savings, after Money Lover and VnPay, VietinBank can add more solutions to provide life services such as financial management, education, travel, and health for customers on one application only.
Many banks such as Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), Vietnam Prosperity Joint-Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank), Vietnam International Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VIB), and ACB have been cooperating with parties to integrate many life-related utilities such as offline payment via QR Pay, shopping, air tickets, hotel rooms, and redeeming gifts on mobile applications. Typically, the cooperation between a series of banks and VnPay has recently created a wave of QR code payment boom.
Digital banking director of BIDV, Nguyen Chien Thang admitted that Fintech and e-wallets wre the driving force for banks to change strongly. In addition to the function of paying bills, tuition fee, and mobile applications of BIDV also allowed users to shop, book movie tickets, book rooms and buy car tickets.
According to Tran Cong Quynh Lan, Fintech is really dynamic and has a very different perspective on the user experience, especially they apply technology very quickly. Meanwhile, the bank has strength in network, prestige and is allowed to provide specific financial services. Lan said, VietinBank even had plans to cooperate with mobile money. Thanks to the strength of dense network, telecommunication units would provide payment services for those who did not have an account. “It is a stepping stone for them to use specific services that only banks are allowed to provide such as deposit and lending. In other words, telecommunication units will become partners that bring users to banks. It is a handshake for mutual benefit,” Lan said.
