VIB: customers need more value, not necessarily more cards

On any given day, a person may shop, pay their child’s tuition, pay insurance premiums, book a flight for an upcoming trip, or manage major household expenses. As life becomes increasingly diverse and interconnected, the question is no longer how many more financial tools customers need, but how many needs a single financial solution can address at the same time.

For VIB, the challenge lies not in how many cards a customer requires, but in whether a solution is flexible enough to meet multiple needs at once. It is the mindset behind One Card–a card designed to meet customers’ diverse needs across different stages of life. Tuong Nguyen, deputy CEO of VIB, speaks with VIR’s Thanh Van about the bank’s new approach to credit cards.

How do you see the changes in modern consumers’ lives making designing a card today fundamentally different from designing one in the past?

Customers’ lives are becoming increasingly multifaceted. One may simultaneously be an office professional, a household financial manager, a parent, a frequent traveller, or someone seeking unique and personalised experiences.

As a result, financial needs no longer fall into separate categories. A customer might shop for their family, pay tuition fees, settle insurance premiums, book flights, or conduct international transactions–all within the same spending journey.

This trend makes it increasingly difficult to identify a typical customer persona. Two individuals might share the same age and income level, yet their spending habits and priorities can differ vastly.

With the evolving demand, the key question for us is whether customers need another card.

VIB has launched One Card with the philosophy “ONE is ENOUGH.” Can you explain what this means?

“ENOUGH” does not mean having less or having just enough. “ENOUGH” means having a comprehensive solution to customers’ important needs without making the experience more complicated. We believe that customers can get more value without managing more tools.

It is the reason why VIB pursues the “ONE IS ENOUGH” philosophy. Instead of addressing each need separately, we have developed a single product that addresses diverse needs for customers with a simple and seamless experience. Thus, customers can have more value, but they don’t need to manage numerous financial solutions.

What are the unique selling points of One Card compared with VIB’s other cards?

One Card caters to different demands, ranging from shopping, travel, education, insurance, and international spending. This single credit card can accompany customers throughout their financial journey. Customers can flexibly select cashback rewards in line with their spending needs at any given time.

For the same journey, One Card offers three tiers – Gold, Platinum and Signature – with limits and privileges automatically upgraded according to each tier. More importantly, cardholders don’t need to issue a new physical card when their needs and financial capacity change. Furthermore, the PayFlex feature allows customers to link the One Card with any other VIB payment card, creating a seamless experience for payments and cash withdrawals on a single card.

Instead of having a specialised card for every need, One Card brings multiple needs together in a single product. Thus, customers don’t need a new card with every new milestone in life, as the card can continue to serve their evolving needs throughout their financial journey.

Why did VIB choose to bring multiple needs together in one card?

In the early years of the “Leading card trends” journey, VIB has developed specialised card products to address customers’ needs. As customers have more demands at the same time, we realise that the next step is not to create a new card. Instead, we should create a card flexible enough to eliminate the need to carry multiple cards.

When designing One Card, we didn’t try to incorporate as many features as possible into a single card. Instead, we decided to select and connect the right values within one seamless experience. We made sure that diverse options wouldn’t create more barriers for customers. Thus, customers don’t have to remember too many conditions, think about which card to use for each transaction, or switch cards as their needs change. Our goal is to ease the decision-making process for customers rather than incorporating more features into one card.

Imagine the same customer at different stages of life, how do their needs evolve? How does VIB One Card address their needs at each stage?

Imagine the same customer at three different points in life. At 25, they pay attention to their first personal experiences such as a holiday, a long-awaited purchase, or everyday spending as they begin their career.

By 35, the same card enters a new chapter with them. Specifically, they pay for their children’s education, protect the family with insurance, and take trips with others.

At 45, the focus may shift again towards optimising their finances and enjoying experiences and privileges that better reflect their changing lifestyle and status. Yet the needs from earlier stages do not simply disappear–they continue to build on one another.

Customers’ lives evolve at every stage. Does every change really need to come with a new card?

With VIB One Card, we want to separate the card itself from the value it delivers. If customers have to close an existing product and open a new one every time their needs change, the experience becomes fragmented. Instead, if the product is designed to adapt across different stages of life, customers can continue using a familiar solution while the value it delivers grows alongside their financial journey.

As customers’ lives evolve, the value their card provides should evolve with them–without requiring them to start over with a different card.

Beyond a credit card, how does VIB build the relationship with its customers?

Previously, “Leading card trends” was about continuously creating new solutions for specific needs. With One Card, VIB wants to take a step further: creating a solution that can adapt as customers’ needs evolve. One Card is not simply about bringing multiple benefits together in a single card. It is about a longer-term journey between customers and the bank–one that extends across VIB’s entire personal financial ecosystem, encompassing everything from cards and payment solutions to deposits and loans.

We want to create a product that not only suits customers at the beginning but also gives them reasons to stay and use it for years to come. After all, a truly " ENOUGH" solution is not the one that offers the most features, but the one that can continue to create value as customers enter new chapters of their lives.

That is what VIB aims to create with One Card: one card for the entire personal financial journey. More is good. But ONE is ENOUGH.

VIB Up offers an interest rate of up to 2 per cent per annum for monthly deposits VIB is offering VIB Up as a package solution to upgrade membership benefits with preferential interest rates for monthly i-1Depo deposits and a wide range of membership privileges.

VIB's pre-tax profit reaches over $199 million On July 27, Vietnam International Bank announced its business results for the first six months of 2026, with pre-tax profit reaching over VND5.18 trillion ($199.23 million), up 3 per cent on-year.

VIB launches One Card, ushering in a new era of credit cards On August 5, VIB launched the One Card, marking a new milestone in credit card innovation by integrating multiple card tiers, benefit schemes, privilege sets, and the capacity to evolve alongside the customer into a single card.