The year 2017 continued to be the year when banks recorded huge profits along with positive growth rate. According to the National Financial Supervisory Commission (NFSC), consumer credit in 2017 was estimated to increase 65%, compared to 50.2 percent in 2016. The proportion of consumer credit out of total oustanding loans improved from 12.3 percent (in 2016) to 18 percent in 2017.
While the people tend to borrow more from banks to spend, banks also continue strengthening the shift from wholesale to retail, or targeting at individual customers instead of corporate ones. This trend has started since 2015 but was clearer and clearer last year.
According to experts, the banking sector may achieve doubled growth in the next five years, 2-3 times higher than the growth rate of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the retail banking sector still remains a highlight. The large market is still left open because a large number of people still have not known about banking products and services, especially in rural market.
*Efforts of small-scale banks
In several recent years, services of retail banks are mainly savings, payment, consumer loans, credit cards, debit cards. Along with that, associated financial products (as for insurance or investment) are equally exciting and are launched more and more.
Clearly, access to more financial products is what individual customers get in the product race. However, an intense fight is that banks have raced to grab the love of customers.
Among those banks, there must mention Ban Viet as a typical name with much development potential thanks to new services, creating many utilities for customers. It is easy to see the purpose of the large investment in technology of small banks is for them to be able to compete with large banks in 1-2 years. Small banks have the advantage as followers, and they invest in technology right from the start. Meanwhile, large banks have to experience a complicated transaction phase.
Among many utilities that Ban Viet Bank brings about to customers, there must mention two outstanding services in the market: sending SMS about deposits balance (when customers deposit and terminate the service) and video call on mobile app.
Recently, depositors have very large demand for receiving immediate information upon having fluctuations about deposits or terminating term deposits or saving deposits. Understanding this, Ban Viet Bank carries out automatic SMS service for customers depositing/terminating term deposits, and savings deposits. Customers just need to register using the service and carrying out any term deposit or withdrawal transaction to immediately receive an automatic message from the system about the exact amount of money that the customer has just transacted. According to the representative of Ban Viet Bank, this service will support customers to be active and easy to track the balance of each term deposit or saving deposit account.
The favourable factor is also the primary purpose when Ban Viet Bank works out utilities for customers. Therefore, upon launching video call on mobile app, the bank received many positive feedbacks from customers. With this method, the border between online software and bank branch has gradually been removed when customers can directly discuss with bank employees. Customers just need to download mobile app, and then wherever they are, they can connect to the internet, and whenever they need, they just need to click on call button on the interface, a bank’s counsellor will appear on the screen, guiding customers carefully like they are providing direct consultation at banks or at home. This function not only brings about friendliness but also create trust among customers.
Both of the utilities are free of charge and customers just need to access or subscribe by very simple operations to be able to use.
Not only so, in April, Ban Viet signed an agreement with FPT to carry out Loan Origination System (LOS) project. This project manages the bank’s credit-granting process, including all steps such as proposal and application, credit appraisal and verification, credit approval document, and automatic disbursement. This mechanism brings about the benefit of utilising steps in the credit granting process, or minimising manual errors from bank staff and shortening the credit granting time to customers.
Not just Ban Viet, many other small scale banks are in the status of observing each other to be able to care for existing customers better, following the criteria of safety, convenience, and as much as utility as possible.
“Apart from the efforts to improve both customer care service and management way to expand scale, it is impossible to deny the role of retail service technology as an integral part in the bank’s customer focus strategy. Technology can also create difference among banks and Ban Viet will focus on this strategy to quickly create advantages”, said the representative of Ban Viet.
*Customer-centric
The reality shows that Vietnamese retail banks will also have to face four major challenges: lack of difference and breakthrough in products; poor procedures and infrastructure; low profitability; inability to develop a suitable comprehensive service package to customers’ demand.
To solve this problem, most banks set the target of “customer centric” but how centric are the customers, what is the key demand of customers that banks need to invest in to create their own strategy.
With the dynamism, flexibility, and determination, small banks are quick while market opportunities remain large, promising to become formidable opponents in the banking sector. The success in attracting and retaining customers not only comes from too large investments but sometimes from simple but practical utilities for the majority of customers. And, Ban Viet is one among the banks that have made efforts to achieve this.
