Vietnamese banks, IT gurus get awards

Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) was named Outstanding Retail Bank of the year for its customer service quality, particularly in the area of personal financial management.

The Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) grabbed the title Outstanding Digital Bank for its 2.5 million digital banking customers. BIDV currently boasts 12,000 corporate customers and four million monthly transactions.

Vietnam International Bank (VIB) was honoured as the bank with the best branches. “The business and service model at VIB’s Saigon branch, which was implemented in 2009, most impressed us,” the judges noted.

Lastly, the Bank with Outstanding Products and Services award went to Vietinbank for its innovative mobile point of sale (MPOS) service. MPOS allows the bank’s customers to use their smartphones or tablets to complete transactions anytime, anywhere, with their domestic or international credit cards.

The Vietnam Outstanding Banking Awards have been organised annually by International Data Group since 2011. This year the panel of judges, consisting of 14 representatives from the state and banking sectors, started the voting process in September.

At the same time, three IT professionals in banking were honoured by the ASEAN CIO/CSO Awards 2014. The first was Tran Nhat Minh, vice president of VIB for his contribution to the bank’s e-banking system, virtual Facebook branch and disaster repair systems.

Head of the IT Department at PG Bank, Hoang Long, also got an award thanks to his 20-years improving information management at different banks. The last recipient was Alan V. Bornas from Landbank in the Philippines for his core banking system that connects 346 Landbank branches.

The CIO/CSO Awards is an event that celebrates technological breakthroughs in various sectors across Southeast Asia, including banking. Both the Vietnam Outstanding Banking Awards and CIO/CSO Awards are part of the 2014 ASEAN Bankers Forum, during which professionals gather to discuss issues relating to the regional banking sector.