In July, the Asian Banking and Finance (ABF) magazine held its annual ABF Wholesale Banking Awards 2024 in Singapore, recognizing excellence in the wholesale banking sector. Saigon-Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB) was honored with two prestigious awards: “Best Vietnam Domestic SME Partnership Initiative of the Year” and “Best Vietnam Domestic Social Impact Finance Initiative of the Year.”
The ABF awards are judged by experts from leading global auditing and consulting firms such as PwC, Deloitte, EY, and Bain and Company. As one of the five largest private joint-stock commercial banks in Vietnam, SHB has consistently adhered to its customer-centric philosophy, striving to provide modern and convenient financial solutions to its clients. The two awards from ABF Wholesale Banking Awards 2024 acknowledge SHB’s innovative initiatives and positive impact on SME customers and women-owned businesses, creating and spreading positive values to society and the community.
Empowering SMEs with Creative Financial Solutions
As part of its digital transformation and technology application strategy in its operations and services, SHB partnered with MISA Joint Stock Company in 2023 to launch a digital banking service integrated with MISA’s accounting software, including MISA AMIS and MISA SME. This integration connects SHB’s Internet Banking system with MISA SME.NET and MISA AMIS Online Accounting software. After each successful payment or money transfer transaction on SHB’s Internet Banking platform, the data is automatically posted to the company’s accounting software, eliminating the need for manual bookkeeping from bank statements to the software.
The seamless connection between the bank and MISA’s accounting software enables accountants to monitor, supervise, approve, and perform financial transactions anytime, anywhere, and on multiple platforms such as PC, mobile, and tablet. This integration saves up to 80% of processing time and operating costs for businesses. For companies already using MISA’s accounting software, customers can connect via SHB’s Internet Banking in just 2 minutes to access these integrated services.
Leading the Way in Supporting Women-Owned Businesses
In addition to its digital solutions and innovative, modern, and convenient products for its customers, SHB has been a strong supporter of providing affordable capital to individuals and businesses, including those owned by women. A notable program in this regard is the “Support to Mitigate the Impact of Covid-19 on WSMEs” in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Through this initiative, WSMEs (women-owned small and medium enterprises) have been able to gradually recover and stabilize their operations after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Specifically, WSMEs affected by Covid-19 received loan restructuring support from SHB, along with a 6-month interest subsidy (for eligible restructured loan customers), and a waiver of all related fees. Each of these support packages is worth up to 10,000 USD, funded by ADB. Additionally, SHB offers exclusive benefits to women-owned businesses to optimize their financial transactions, including premium customized accounts for the company and its leaders, free salary payment services, free Internet banking packages, free domestic money transfer fees, and a free Standard payment account package for six months.
The bank has also signed a credit agreement with IFC for a total of 120 million USD to support the development of its SME lending portfolio, including women-owned businesses and those participating in supply chains. This additional funding is crucial for the bank to continue developing policies and programs to support SMEs and WSMEs specifically.
SHB’s sustainable financial solutions and diverse digital products and services for small and medium-sized enterprises have earned it recognition from Alpha Southeast Asia magazine as the “Best Sustainable SME Financing Bank.” Previously, SHB was also awarded the title of “Best SME Bank in Vietnam” by FinanceAsia magazine.
Female-led Businesses: Seeking Empowerment and Support
Promoting gender equality and empowering women has been included in the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as well as the initiatives of numerous international organizations. This global effort recognizes the importance of achieving gender parity and ensuring that women have equal rights and opportunities. By prioritizing gender equality, we can create a more just and inclusive world where everyone can thrive.
BIDV supports the “Ringing the Bell for Gender Equality” campaign.
On March 6th, 2024, in Hanoi, a representative from BIDV – Vietnam Investment and Development Bank participated in the event in support of the “Ring the Bell for Gender Equality” campaign, with the theme “Investing in Women: Accelerating Development”.
Supporting Women-Owned Businesses in the Supply Chain
Currently in Vietnam, more than 20% of SME owners are women; 51% of Vietnamese enterprises have women in their ownership structure, higher than other countries. However, businesses owned by women are mostly at the lowest level of the supply chains in many sectors and face difficulties in meeting purchasing requirements of large corporations.
