Vu Thi Ly
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| Around 15 million customers using payment services via the mobile__Photo: Agribank |
Over the recent years, the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) has been actively rolling out activities to integrate digitalization and digital technology into all aspects of its banking operations under a customer-centric strategy so as to achieve the goal of comprehensive and optimal digitalization of customer experience.
Building of a digital utility ecosystem
Considering digital transformation a proper and important strategic step to contribute to improving the quality of its online customer touch-points, Agribank has proactively applied information technology and developed various banking services on its digital channels as well as cashless payment services such as opening of electronic know-your-customer (eKYC) accounts, non-physical (virtual) cards, contactless chip cards, electronic personal identification numbers (ePINs), QR code payment, multi-functional automated teller machines (ATMs), also called cash deposit machines (CDMs), with the utilities of automated cash deposit, online money transfer, one-time password cash withdrawal, and other digital banking services.
Agribank’s information technology system is capable of accommodating 35-45 million uninterrupted transactions per day, with automatic transactions accounting for around 92 percent. At present, Agribank has nearly 20 million customers with payment accounts, nearly 16 million customers using ATM cards, and around 15 million customers using payment services via the mobile banking channel. Automatic payment transactions account for around 81 percent of total payment transactions of customers at the bank.
Universal coverage of digital transformation
Under its rural digitalization strategy, Agribank has set the objective of using technology to simplify procedures and tackle existing barriers for farmers to get easier access to the most basic services. To realize this objective, Agribank has formulated a plan to install according to a set roadmap Agribank Digital ATMs in rural, deep-lying and remote areas, particularly those with limited access to common financial products and services, enabling local people to use digital banking utilities for public services and other transactions.
Every Agribank Digital machine is capable of providing services like a banking transaction office, such as identification and registration of face and fingerprint biometrics; online registration for opening of bank accounts and issuance of bank cards; registration of e-banking services; online loan borrowing registration; and biometrics-based financial transactions.
With the Agribank Digital system, every transaction is automated at a high processing speed and high accuracy while customers can make self-service transactions in a convenient manner which is suitable to rural and mountainous areas.
In parallel with the development and provision of the above products and services, Agribank always attaches importance to developing new distribution channels to catch up with the Fourth Industrial Revolution trends such as providing banking services via ATMs and electronic draft capture (EDC) and point of sale (POS) devices, developing mobile banking, Internet banking, and customer relationship management (CRM) payment systems, and setting up a network of mobile branches, associated community-based lending groups and banking agents. The bank also pays attention to standardizing traditional transaction points and distribution channels, renovating the customer service style toward professionalism, reforming administrative procedures and creating every favorable condition for customers to access and use bank lending sources, products and services.
In addition, Agribank has established close cooperation relations with FinTech companies such as VNPay, Momo, BankPlus, Payoo, etc., in order to get the best of the compact business models and their innovations, thereby rendering better experience to customers.
With its unceasing efforts in the process of digital transformation, Agribank has been awarded the State Bank Governor’s Certificate of Merits for its outstanding achievements in the banking sector’s digital transformation in 2023 and conferred with other valuable prizes in the field of information technology by prestigious organizations. Since 2016, the bank has 12 information technology apps/systems awarded with the Sao Khue prize for an outstanding information technology system in the finance-banking and digital banking fields. In April 2023, Agribank’s e-KYC and digital card service systems were honored as two outstanding information technology systems in the digital banking field.
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| CDMs with multi-functional utilities__Photo: Agribank |
Application of population data in banking activities
Apart from maintaining the digital bank model (Agribank Digital), Agribank has continued to experiment and organize according to a set roadmap the application of chip-based ID cards in transactions. By such, every customer conducting transactions at Agribank has only to choose the services he needs and give his signature only once without having to write down any information or fill in any paper form.
Procedures for account opening, card issuance, registration for Agribank E-Mobile banking services, loan borrowing or cash deposit, etc., can now be completed in a quick and safe manner with higher accuracy thanks to the fact that customer information is now “read” from the chips on customers’ ID cards and authenticated directly via the Ministry of Public Security’s citizen database.
The application of chip-based ID cards in the banking sector has affirmed Agribank’s determination to contribute to effectively performing the tasks set forth in the Scheme on intensification of the application of population data, e-identification and certification/authentication in order to serve the national digital transformation for the 2022-25 period, with a vision toward 2030.
Implementing the action plan on digital transformation with specific objectives and a clear roadmap, Agribank has been step by step improving customer experience as well as its operational efficiency and quality, thus contributing to the Vietnamese banking system’s early achievement of the country’s goal of development of the digital economy and digital society through 2025, with a vision toward 2030.-
