Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) has inked a deal to acquire a 15% equity stake in Vietnam Prosperity Joint-Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank) for approximately US$1.5 billion. The deal is set to be finalised by the end of 2023. The acquisition was made through SMFG’s subsidiary Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) through a private placement and is subject to regulatory approval. Through this acquisition, VPBank will become an equity method affiliate of SMFG and SMBC. As one of the largest private banks in Vietnam with over 250 branches throughout the country, VPBank has a strong presence in the retail and…

Over the past years, Vietnam has emerged into one of the fastest-growing fintech markets in Southeast Asia, amid growing customer adoption, sustained venture capital (VC) funding activity, and increased support from the government to foster innovation. In this burgeoning landscape, several VC investment firms are standing out from the crowd for their active involvement in the space. These firms, which include both homegrown funds and companies from overseas but with an active presence in the country, have backed some of the country’s fastest-growing fintech companies. Today, we look at ten VC firms in Vietnam that are helping shape the domestic…

Vietnamese e-wallet M-Service which operates under the MoMo brand announced that it has enabled its customers to receive Western Union money transfers on its app. MoMo said in a press release that it is the first super app in Vietnam to offer a money transfer operator’s services. Through this partnership, MoMo’s 31 million customers can now receive their Western Union money transfers digitally from over 200 countries and territories around the world. In order to collect the funds, customers can search for ‘Western Union’ on the MoMo App and input their Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN). Once that is completed, they…

JACCS International Vietnam Finance Company (JIVF) announced that it will be migrating to Way4, a digital payments platform from OpenWay to bolster its suite of consumer finance products. JIVF is a member of JACCS, which was founded in Japan in 1954 and operates in the consumer loans market for motorcycle and car financing. Way4 allows clients to build highly personalised credit products with flexible implementation whether on premise, in the cloud, or as a dedicated SaaS. It is an end-to-end solution with unique online core, account and events management, dynamic pricing, automated workflows, card issuing and wallet management, merchant management,…

KASIKORNBANK (KBank) is doubling down on the expansion of its operations in Vietnam, setting its sights to achieve US$400 million in net income and a customer base of 8.4 million in Vietnam by 2027. The bank had already established a footprint in Vietnam by opening its first branch in November 2021 and is looking to become one of the top 20 banks in the market in terms of assets. For its retail customers, KBank will be rolling out a new debit card by July this year. Users can apply for the card via the K PLUS Vietnam app and once…

UOB has finalised the acquisition of Citigroup’s consumer banking business which comprises its lending portfolios, wealth management and retail deposit businesses in Vietnam. The completion of the acquisition had also included the transfer of approximately 575 Citigroup related staff to UOB Vietnam. The acquisition is part of a a broader sale agreement covering consumer banking across Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia and excluding the bank’s institutional businesses. So far the acquisition has been finalised in Thailand and Malaysia in November 2022. Meanwhile, the acquisition of Citigroup’s Indonesian consumer banking business is planned for completion by end 2023. Once completed, the…

In 2022, cashless payments continued to see increased usage in Vietnam, carrying on a trend that accelerated with the COVID-19 pandemic. This trend is emerging at the expense of cash usage which continued its decline last year. In 2022, non-cash payment transactions, including card payments and e-wallets, increased by 85% in volume and 31% in value, data from to the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) show. Online transactions grew by 89% in volume and even gained triple-digit growth via mobile phones and QR code scanning. Looking at card payments, chip card transactions via the National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (NAPAS),…

Vietnam-based earned wage access startup GIMO raised US$5.1 million in the first close of its Series A funding round led by TNB Aura. The round was joined by returning investors Integra Partners, Resolution Ventures, Blauwpark Partners, ThinkZone Ventures, and Y Combinator. In 2021, the startup secured a US$1.9 million in a seed extension round and is currently in the process of raising debt capital. GIMO provides on demand-payroll services for blue collar workers and reported a 24x year-on-year revenue growth and an 11x year-on-year transaction volume increase. “The fresh capital will bolster our product innovation that appeals to the underserved…

Vietnamese conglomerate Masan Group’s subsidiary the Sherpa Company has received the green light to invest US$105 million in Singapore’s tech company Trust IQ, the holding company of Trusting Social. The announcement of Masan’s investment was made in April 2022. Sherpa will hold a 25 percent stake in Trust IQ through this investment. Trust IQ is primarily involved in software development, technology and applications on a global scale, which includes the development of comprehensive, accurate credit risk assessment methods based on AI technology. Masan will also be collaborating with Trust IQ to build platforms for consumer and retail artificial intelligence (AI) as…

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has invested US$100 million investment in Joint Stock Commercial Bank Southeast Asia (SeABank) in a push to create greater access to home loans in Vietnam. With this investment, SeABank is expected to at least double the number of loans to buy mid-end and affordable homes by 2026. Additionally, IFC will also advise SeABank on the development of financial products specialising in housing to better serve low- and middle-income people. IFC has partnered with both housing developers and banks in Vietnam to increase the supply of affordable housing and home loan financing for middle-income and middle-income…

Southeast Asian ride-hailing company Gojek announced that it has appointed Sumit Rathor as the General Manager for Vietnam. Sumit will be succeeding Duc Phung who is the Co-founder and former General Manager of Gojek Vietnam since 2020. Phung will be “seeking a new professional challenge outside of the organisation” according to a statement by Gojek. In his new role, Sumit will be leading the operations in Vietnam where he will be focused on business sustainability. With more than 20 years’ experience in strategy, operations and finance, Sumit had joined Gojek in 2019 as the Regional Head of Gojek, Indonesia and…

UOB Vietnam has partnered with mental wellness tech company Intellect to enable its small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) customers to provide well-being support for their employees. The bank said that it aims to develop resilience amongst SMEs which form nearly 99 percent of the region’s enterprises and contribute nearly half of ASEAN’s GDP. UOB Vietnam’s SME customers will get free access to Intellect’s app for three months which includes access to a 24/7 helpline, guided journals for daily reflections, and learning paths to help tackle everyday challenges such as stress caused from a busy work schedule. The SMEs will also…

Southeast Asian superapp Grab announced the appointment of Alejandro Osorio as its Managing Director in Vietnam. In his new role, Alejandro will be overseeing the business strategy and operations across all of Grab’s businesses in the country. Alejandro most recently served as Managing Director of Grab Thailand for 2 years and was previously Director for Regional Strategy & Planning in Singapore. He will be succeeding Nguyen Thai Hai Van who had stepped down from her role in April to join Apple as its country director. Having launched in Vietnam in 2014, Grab said that it aims to “leverage the power…

2021 was a record year for venture capital (VC) investments in Vietnam, driven by a maturing technology startup ecosystem, an increasing number of later stage investments, and rising participation from both local and foreign investors eager to tap into Vietnam’s burgeoning digital economy, a new report by Silverhorn says. In a new Silverhorn Perspective note, released in October 2022, the investment firm looks at one of Southeast Asia’s new tiger economies, delving into Vietnam’s booming VC investment landscape. According to the report, VC funding in Vietnam reached a record of US$1.4 billion in 2021, a sum that represents a 60%…

The Vietnamese card payments market is expected to grow by 23.8% to reach VND859.2 trillion (US$37.6 billion) in 2022, according to a report by GlobalData. According to the data and analytics firm, this growth is supported by rising consumer spending and the government’s push for digital payments. The report found that the value of card payments in Vietnam registered a growth of 13.7% in 2021, raising sharply from a subdued growth of 2.2% in 2020 due to reduced consumer spending amid the pandemic. A gradual economy recovery and the opening up of businesses led the country’s card payments market to…

Vietnamese Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) firm Fundiin announced that it has secured US$5 million in a Series A funding round that was co-led by Trihill Capital and ThinkZone Ventures. Additional investors who had joined the financing round include 1982 Ventures, Genesia Ventures, JAFCO Asia, Zone Startups Ventures as well as angel investor Do Thu Ngan, Deputy CEO of Sacombank. According to Fundiin, the new funds will be used to invest in the development of new products and bolster its team as it plans to expand to Indonesia in the upcoming Series B round. Fundiin also revealed that it plans…

Insurtech firm Igloo has partnered with e-commerce platform Shopee to roll out its Home Content Insurance offering in Vietnam. Underwritten by Bao Viet Insurance, the offering is a comprehensive protection solution for indoor assets against unexpected events such as natural disasters and fire. Besides protection of indoor assets against natural calamities, the insurance product also has rent insurance which covers loss of rent and additional expenses incurred as a result of an insured event. The product is currently available on Shopee starting at a premium of VND 83,999 (approximately US$3.5) for one year and up to VND 100,000,000 (approximately US$…

Vietnamese digital bank Timo and OpenWay, a digital banking and payment software platform, received the Vietnam Technology Excellence Award for Payments Software for its digital banking platform. The award programme recognises major breakthroughs and innovative ways that technology is used or developed in the Vietnamese market. In 2019, the bank partnered with Viet Capital Bank and OpenWay, the provider of digital payments software platform Way4, to enable it to offer innovative services through the Timo app. This includes smart financial management tools, payments, savings and investments, lending, social spending, instalments, cards, and campaigns with third-party vendors, available on multiple digital…

Vietnam-based digital bank Timo announced that its Chief Financial Officer, Jonas Eichhorst has been promoted as CEO and will retain his position on the board of directors. In his new leadership role, Jonas will continue to work closely with Henry and the senior leadership team at Timo. Over the past 15 years, Jonas has supported the development of a wide range of high-scale products and businesses across various emerging markets. Having first joined Timo’s Board in 2020, Jonas took on the CFO position in 2021. Meanwhile, Timo’s former CEO Henry Nguyen has been promoted as an Executive Chairman. Henry will…

Vietnamese ride-hailing startup Be Group announced that it has secured a loan facility of approximately US$60 million from Deutsche Bank with the option to increase the financing up to US$100 million. Be Group said that it will use the funds to fuel its expansion plans. The loan facility will also be utilised to ramp up its main services which include its ride-hailing, food delivery services as well as its digital bank arm Cake which was launched in partnership with VPBank. The firm said that it is aiming to roll out a consumer lending product with instant approvals that will be co-branded with…