Vietnam retail banking - Market research Vietnam Indonesia

Vietnam retail banking has great potential and has become very competitive. With middle-class acceleration and lower birth rates, households are smaller and have become wealthier. Vietnam has experienced a rapid rise in modern retail trade and e-commerce which promote non-cash payments. Non-cash payment is growing at a rapid pace via online, mobile wallets, mobile banking and QR codes.

According to the State Bank*, in the first haft of 2022 compared to the same period of 2021, non-cash transactions increased 77% in volume and 30% in value. The same period experienced increases of; 63% (volume) and 32% (value) for internet banking, 98% (volume) and 84% (value) for mobile transactions and 86% (volume) and 127% (value) for QR code payments.

In 2021, retail loans accounted for 40-50% of bank loans. Retail banking is a trust-based customer-oriented business. Brand image, customer experience and customer journey play critical roles in any bank’s competitive position. Cimigo’s Vietnam retail banking 2022 report provides intelligence on banks’ competitive position. This is essential for both managing communications and driving operational improvements.

The survey included 2,055 interviews nationwide. The targeted respondents are aged 18 – 55 years and have a bank account. The sample covers key cities (Hanoi, HCMC, Danang, Hai Phong and Can Tho) and both urban and rural strata in other provinces with respondent profiles in proportion to the population’s demographic profile.

The Vietnam retail banking report is available to download for free. Customised reports with analysis specific to your bank relative to your strategies and target retail banking customers are available for a fee of VND120,000,000 (US$5,000).

Download the Vietnam retail banking report here

Vietnam retail banking summary

The Vietnamese retail banking market is dominated by state-owned commercial banks. This is driven by physical accessibility, especially beyond the key cities of Hanoi, HCMC, Danang, Hai Phong and Can Tho. Retail banking in Vietnam has great growth potential and is experiencing dynamic competition with other non-bank financial firms.

The top banks in Vietnam deliver good customer experience whilst strong brand building is nascent. Techcombank performs strongly in both brand building and customer experience. The rise in non-cash payments, modern trade and e-commerce in Vietnam means that digital transformation will continue to change the shape of the Vietnamese retail banking sector. Improving Vietnamese customers’ digital experience and the ecosystem of digital products and services is key to future success.

Retail banking in Vietnam promises to thrive in the coming years

Cimigo expects Vietnam’s gross domestic product to grow 7.4% in the full year 2022. The Vietnamese banking sector has gone through an eventful 2021 given the impact of COVID-19. Although risks and uncertainty remain the sector has benefited from a strong economic recovery, government support for non-cash payments and increasing digital transformation. Most banks reported impressive profits in Q1 and Q2 2022.

Vietcombank dominants the retail banking sector

Leading state-owned banks dominate the traditional transaction point network (ATMs, transaction offices and branches). These banks hold long-term competitive advantages derived from their network, trustworthiness and high popularity. They perform well in salience, usage and market share for the most frequently used bank. However, their customer experience metric, net promoter score (NPS), underperforms the average of the top 10 banks (BIDV is the one exception).

Amongst the private joint stock commercial banks, the transaction point network is not a competitive advantage. According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism*, only TPBank which currently has the smallest physical network, amongst the top 10 banks, continue to invest significantly in expanding their transaction point network.

Download the Vietnam retail banking report here

Retail banking competition is the most dynamic in Vietnam’s key cities

In the key cities of Hanoi, HCMC, Danang, Hai Phong and Can Tho both transaction values and customer expectations are greater. Techcombank demonstrates an impressive performance in these cities, surpassing both Agribank and Vietinbank to compete closely with BIDV and MBbank. Techcombank gains the highest usage share in Hanoi. Both ACB and Sacombank perform significantly better in HCMC than they do nationally. In fact, in HCMC the market is more dynamic with smaller banks achieving a share of use than seen in Hanoi. The top 10 retail banks in Vietnam achieve more than 90% share of bank usage across products.

Switching banks for a customer is complicated and time-consuming. Once a new bank has been tried, conversion to the most used bank is high. Easing the customer process to opening a bank is the key barrier for banks to overcome in order to improve their performance.

Retail banking has strong growth potential in Vietnam. Competition from other financial firms is increasing.

Across all financial products; term deposits, business loans, house loans and health insurance have the most potential for growth.

Retail banking experienced increased competition from various financial firms including; consumer finance, e-wallets, digital lending, personal finance investment, insurance tech, credit scoring and buy now pay later (BNPL) firms. These other financial firms focus on mass consumers with their simple processes, digital journeys and micro products. They are growing and attracted funding of an estimated US$1.3 billion in 2021.

18% of bank customers use other products (excluding e-wallets) provided by non-bank firms. This indicates a high demand for financial products and raises an opportunity for retail banks to encourage their current customers to use more banking products.

Customer experience: TPBank and ACB achieve the highest Net Promoter Scores (NPS)

TPBank, ACB, Techcombank, Sacombank, BIDV and MBbank are all considered excellent. Net promoter score (NPS) is a widely used market research metric that is based on a single survey question asking respondents to rate the likelihood that they would recommend their bank to a friend. The NPS is typically interpreted and used as an indicator of customer loyalty as well as relative brand growth within an industry.

The top 10 banks record a high NPS (74 on average). Vietcombank, Agribank and Vietinbank are strong banks but need to put more effort to improve their customer experience as they underperform the average of the top 10 banks. The leading banks are doing well in bank staff, facilities and customer services.

Fees and quality of products and services impact NPS the most. The top banks receive high satisfaction on these factors. However, online products and services, efficient processes and procedures are key NPS drivers which still have vast room for improvement. Note that branches and ATM networks cease to be a priority in recommending a bank as digital banking takes hold.

Download the Vietnam retail banking report here

Retail banking digitalisation begins to shift the shape of the Vietnamese retail banking landscape

Non-state-owned banks perform better on their customer experience metric net promoter score (NPS). MBbank and Techcombank have significantly better brand performance in the key cities of Hanoi, HCMC, Danang, Hai Phong and Can Tho. These two brands also have the highest share of usage for stock trading and their share of digital banking services is comparable to that of the state-owned banks.

In terms of communication and brand building, all brands exhibit limited performance except Techcombank. Techcombank’s brand-building efforts show a positive impact as it is strongly associated with core factors that impact to the overall bank appeal such as being recommended, good customer experience, good products and is widely used.

Some banks have chosen to create their own fully digital banks, such as; CAKE, TIMO, TNEX and OCTO.

Techcombank has the strongest brand equity. Retail banks need far better brand building.

Physical accessibility is the most common reason for using a bank most often. However to drive appeal to the bank and motivate customer acquisition banks will need to focus on customer experience which will promote recommendations. Cimigo expects that physical accessibility will play a lesser role in bank performance going forward.

Techcombank stands out for being recommended, having good customer experience, good products and services and is widely used which are the key drivers to build appeal.
Even Vietcombank, the strongest bank, will need to pay far more attention to improving its customer experience and generating recommendations. Vietcombank’s relative strengths include widely used, unique products and services and physical accessibility.

Digital banking is key to attracting Vietnamese retail customers

The quality of mobile banking applications and online services is a key reason to use a bank and a driver for the customer experience metric net promoter score (NPS). Banks are investing to digitalise their products and services as a core strategy to compete for retail banking customers.

Four in ten retail banking customers are using e-wallets which are very strong for their user experience, eco-system and promotions. E-wallet users need to link their e-wallet to their bank account, which raises an opportunity for banks to leverage e-wallets as a bridge to increase their saliency and usage. The top banks keep improving their current mobile application by integrating various products and features.

As an alternate strategy, some banks have launched all new brands for their digital bank (a new form of banking that digitises all the activities and services). Micro products, ecosystems and personal financial management tools are being promoted as the key triggers to attract customers.

Instead of expanding physical accessibility, digital banking is a more efficient solution to simplify processes, develop micro products and encourage customer recruitment for retail banks.

As an example Cake (powered by VPbank in cooperation with Be Group) claim an impressive number of users (more than 2 million). Big data and AI technology provide an advantage to support digital banks to offer the most suitable products to customers as well as more efficient credit risk management. Building trustworthiness and overcoming concerns with cyber risks are the biggest barriers to overcome for digital banks.

Retail banks’ growth navigators in Vietnam

To foster awareness beyond physical accessibility, social media, e-wallet and e-commerce platform linkage are the key sources. Acquiring customers beyond the key cities of Hanoi, HCMC, Danang, Hai Phong and Can Tho requires significant resources in communication and currently (although Cimigo expects this to dissipate rapidly) expanding branches and ATMs networks.

Trustworthy image, simple process and procedure need to be highlighted in communication and delivered throughout customer journeys. In the key cities where customers less rely on physical accessibility and customer experience is more important, banks should prioritise resources to improve their customer experience to generate recommendations and build trust. Digital transformation is changing retail banking dynamics. Improving customers’ digital experience and the ecosystem of digital products and services is key.

Download the Vietnam retail banking report here

End.

View all articles here >>

The rise of Indonesian films: Opportunities and challenges

Dec 20, 2024

The holiday season is here, and for many Indonesians, watching films is the top choice for quality

Indonesia Consumer Trends 2024

Dec 07, 2024

As Southeast Asia’s largest economy, Indonesia is poised for remarkable transformation in

Vietnam retail banking 2024

Dec 02, 2024

Vietnam’s retail banking sector is in a transformative phase, with digital adoption accelerating

Minh Thu - Consumer Market Insights Manager

Working with Cimigo has been incredibly rewarding. Their exceptional service and unwavering commitment to excellence have been truly impressive. Together, we've successfully completed projects ranging from fabric care like detergents and fabric softener to home essentials like floor cleaner and dishwashing liquid in both urban and rural settings, showcasing Cimigo's versatility and dedication to reaching diverse markets. Thanks to Cimigo's dedication and expertise, we secured a major project with our client last year. I'm grateful for our partnership and excited for future collaborations.

Travis Mitchell - Executive Director

Cimigo has been an excellent partner for AmCham. They provided insightful feedback during the planning phase of our project and offered suggestions to ensure that we met our goals. Their analysis was comprehensive, thoughtful, and accurate, and I appreciated their customer service skills – I always felt that Cimigo had our best interests at heart. I’m very much looking forward to working with Cimigo again in the near future!

Malcolm Farmer - Managing Director

I have never seen or had support for our business like we have received from Cimigo Vietnam. The depth & understanding of our business shows how well you have studied both Jardines Distribution Inc. and Koppers Performance Chemicals. We, (JDI & KPC), really appreciate the efforts the whole Cimigo team have put into your research. The help to connect potential distributors for both our Industrial and retail products are absolutely on point. I will have no hesitation in recommending Cimigo Vietnam to any company wanting to venture into the Vietnam market.

Hy Vu - Head of Research Department

Cimigo is one of the top research companies in Vietnam that provides very good services and actionable insights. We have the pleasure of working with Cimigo. With extensive knowledge of Vietnamese consumers, Cimigo keeps bringing value to our company. We look forward to working with them in the future.

Joe Nelson - New Zealand Consulate General

The research provided by Cimigo provided our clients with very specific insights into consumer behaviour in Viet Nam. What I liked was the way Cimigo interpreted these insights to develop a clear call to action for our clients, which they are responding to with confidence.

Steve Kretschmer - Executive Director

Cimigo conducted a large, nationally representative demand forecasting study in Vietnam for us, including a discreet choice component, to assess demand for potential new male contraceptives in development to support funding decisions by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The research was additionally complex by linking interviews with men and separate interviews with their female partners. The Cimigo team was were professional, knowledgeable and adaptive through the process of understanding our needs and collaborating to find solutions that would work, resulting in a very successful study.

York Spencer - Global Marketing Director

I've had the pleasure to work with Richard and Cimigo over many years and across multiple markets. Cimigo was a key partner in our business decision making process including market entry strategy, brand positioning development, shopper insights, brand equity tracking, and consumer need state segmentation development. The Cimigo team are local market experts who understand consumer culture like no other. I would highly recommend them.

Mai Trang - Brand Manager of Romano

Cimigo is the research agency that I appreciate for their expertise and customer service. Cimigo understand well the business context for each of project hence they can design the research to best fit with the objectives. The optimization on methodologies, sample size and questionnaire bring the value to the projects I have worked with them. Cimigo can go beyond data and give me valuable insights for each of research projects based on their knowledge and experience with the industry. All of these support me well to navigate the brand strategy in short term and long term.

Hanh Dang - Product Marketing Manager

We partnered with Cimigo on assessing TET campaign launch focusing on improving booking through our platform. Cimigo, provided its customized campaign evaluation technique based on Cimigo Online Communities that fully meets our requirement in terms of type of respondents and expected timelines. The report provided insightful findings with benchmarks to identify the next course of action for launching the campaign. We will recommend Cimigo team and its Online communities for its quality reporting and scale of coverage.

Max Lee - Project Manager

Cido have worked with Cimigo in Vietnam for more than 10 years. All our projects, both qualitative and quantitative, have been delivered in a timely manner with a high standard of quality throughout. Cimigo’s client service team has provided great support over the years which has ensured smooth project execution and helped us to deliver work on time and exceed our client’s expectations.

Chris Elkin - Founder

I have partnered with Cimigo over the past 15 years. Most recently Cimigo engaged us to collaborate on an unusually tough new product development project, which was akin to selling ice to Eskimos. Cimigo bought alive the consumer, her shopping journey, her cooking rituals and potential brand promises. Cimigo inspired our creative team to build alternate brand propositions and accompanying package designs. Cimigo then went back to consumers to evaluate, iterate and optimise these in focus groups. The Doodle team were able to observe this process and subtly adjust the expression of the brand between focus groups. The result of this great collaboration was a winning brand proposition and packaging design that hit consumer needs head on whilst appealing to their hearts.

Ronald Reagan - Deputy Group Head After Sales & CS Operation

We have worked together with Cimigo many times. The findings from Cimigo are factual, accurate & reliable. They deliver value from the voice of our customer so we can easily determine the next step. Working with Cimigo feels like not only building a partnership but a sense of family. Very amazing to work with Cimigo, they always go beyond our expectations.

Chad Ovel - Partner

Cimigo digs deep to understand the key issues we need to address. Then, they quickly customize a highly suitable research approach to provide us the insights we need to achieve our breakthrough business targets. From tough questions to aha answers in just a few easy conversations!

Private English Language Schools - Chief Executive Officer

Our relationship with Cimigo goes back many years. We engaged Cimigo to provide an independent view on what our customers and potential customers think of our company. The insights from Cimigo were very helpful for us to better understand the Vietnam market and also in developing our brand manifesto.

Rick Reid - Creative Director

As a creative director I have used the services of Cimigo for the past 15 years when developing communications, so I know their style, innovations and resources well. Most recently we tested copy for print, out of home and digital communications to put an Australian colloquialism into a Vietnamese context. A job and budget so small I felt it was highly likely to fall through the cracks. I was astounded at their incredible response. From their advice and style of how we should present the stimulus material, to their cross-reference manoeuvres used in the testing. Their over-delivering response, was to an embarrassing level. We walked away with a clear winner and could present back to our client with confidence and clarity. Cimigo made us look great. Plus they even threw in a few extra insights on the awareness and perception of the product in Vietnam.

Dr. Jean-Marcel Guillon - Chief Executive Officer

Cimigo have built and managed both our employee and customer experience programme since 2012. We have a complex suite of services with in-patient, out-patient, surgical, diagnostic, consultative and facilities to account for, all amongst patients who are naturally sensitive regarding their privacy and experience. Yet Cimigo have designed a system to measure customer experience across multiple languages and cultures and direct us in improving this experience. Our net promoter score (NPS) has grown as a direct result of changes implemented based on this direction and continuously listening to patient feedback. The NPS growth correlates directly to new patient numbers and improved profitability, as happier customers drives our business growth.

Matt Thwaites - Commercial Director

Cimigo designed a customer experience programme for Coats that reached into Vietnamese, Chinese and Korean customers across various levels of seniority. Cimigo instilled the importance of the voice of the customer within our executive committee. This led to fundamental changes in our structure, services and speed to market. Significant investments were made behind these improvement programmes, for example in reducing delivery times and in managing specialised custom orders, which in turn have led to improved revenue streams and higher margin sales.

Aashish Kapoor - Head of Marketing

Cimigo - The best “Glocal” market research firm in Vietnam with whom we have developed a great partnership since many years. While the quality of research and findings are of top standard, the added advantage being the local insights that Richard and his team are able to provide in helping us make important decisions.

Kelly Vo - Founder & Host

I respect Cimigo not only because of their dedication, meticulousness, and high-quality services but also how much they care about the local community here. I proposed the idea of doing a survey with the digital young generation on the topic of social impact and leadership. I wanted to identify, shape, and develop our content so that could really speak to the heart of the problems and empower young Vietnamese to take action on social impact in Vietnam. The Cimigo team agreed pro-bono to help without hesitation. The research findings are truly helpful in providing us a deeper understanding of our targeted audiences, what they need and are concerned about in life. The results show us how we can help them to achieve their goals and dreams. It is no longer a shot in the dark!

Hamish Glendinning - Business Lead

Cimigo not only delivered an exceptional piece of qualitative research for us, but provided hugely valuable direction when it came to product development and market positioning which we have since implemented. We can’t wait to work with the team again.

Thuy Le - Consumer Insight Manager

Pharmacity started a Brand Health Check with Cimigo in 2020 and we were immediately impressed with their great consultancy and supportive spirit. The study had interesting analysis and insights which helped us efficiently shape the marketing plan and direction moving forward. We are now working with Cimigo on a tracking basis to continuously monitor and foster our brand performance.

Richard Willis - Director

When we were looking to develop one of the worlds the leading economic indicator in Vietnam, the Purchasing Managers’ Index™ (PMI®) Cimigo showed an immediate understanding of our needs and showed their understanding of the Vietnamese market. IHS Markit has now been working with Cimigo since 2013. Every month Cimigo continues to provide high quality data, a representative panel, on time data and great customer service. We look forward to many more years of working together.

Ha Dinh - Project Lead

I have worked with CIMIGO on educational research for over 4 months. This is extremely impressive to me by the way CIMIGO approaches, cooperating and supporting me during the research launched. Specifically, the design for both qualitative and quantitative research are practical and logical with accurate questionnaires and appropriate interviews methodology for different respondents. Moreover, the outcomes of this research helps us to recognize our opportunities in the current English Language Training Market and understand profoundly our customer needs, behaviours and expectations when sending their children to us.

Louise Knox - Consumer Technical Insights

Just to say a huge thank you for all of the film footage. We are absolutely delighted with it all. The Vox Pops are really interesting and have turned out very well – those ladies were great at talking spontaneously. Cimigo did a great job. Thank you for your patience and perseverance with getting this off the ground.

Aimee Shear - Senior Research Executive

We partnered up with the Cimigo team on what was a particularly challenging project – we were faced with numerous timeline delays and logistical concerns – yet Cimigo were incredibly accommodating through their patience, flexibility and commitment. Not only were Cimigo supportive during the set up of our project, but we were really impressed by the outputs delivered – Cimigo were insightful, rich and very comprehensive. Cimigo were brilliant partners to work with and we look forward to working with them again.

Dennis Kurnia - Head of Consumer Insights

Over the last 5 years I have worked with Cimigo on a wide array of projects, ranging from market segmentation to product testing. At all times, I found Cimigo to be swift in response and providing high quality insights and business recommendations applicable to our business. Furthermore, I am satisfied with Cimigo fieldwork quality despite the crunched timeline that we had in some projects. Overall, I highly recommend Cimigo for their professionalism.

Tania Desela - Senior Product Manager

It was a pleasure working with Cimigo. Their expertise in consumer and market research was a significant benefit as they assisted our organization in understanding our market position in more detail and validating our hypothesis in go-to-market strategy. We were more than happy with the findings and would definitely recommend Cimigo.

Thu Phung - CTI Manager

Cimigo is not the type of agency that "fill in the template", but it's customized as per the needs and expectations of Client. Cimigo makes research interesting by applying new approaches to address the business issue, for example, it's known by default that product test is CLT, but at Cimigo, we did group debate for deeper understandings and insights and that resulted as a winning product which is selling well in the market. Last but not least, Cimigo makes me understand that research is a journey, not just a project."

Linda Yeoh - CMI Manager

We have worked with Cimigo over 2 projects in Vietnam. Cimigo has proven to be reliable being on top of the projects, managing different stakeholders and business objectives. They are flexible in terms of ways of working and are able to cope with last minute changes. The research findings (Quant + Qual) have helped us understand Vietnamese in a deeper level, allowing us to make clear decisions to be successful in the market. Thank you Cimigo team for supporting us.

Team

Cimigo’s market research team in Vietnam and Indonesia love to help you make better choices.

Solutions

Cimigo provides market research solutions in Vietnam and Indonesia that will help you make better choices.

Trends

Cimigo provides a range of consumer marketing trends and market research on market sectors and consumer segments in Vietnam and Indonesia.

Reports

Cimigo provides a range of free market research reports on market sectors and consumer segments in Vietnam and Indonesia.