The Race to Expand Customer Base

In a highly polarized landscape of Vietnam’s banking industry in Q2 2025, many banks chose to forgo short-term gains. They opted for a slower profit growth trajectory to ensure system stability, invest in their foundation, and manage risks—factors that are not easily quantifiable on a quarterly basis. This trend of accelerating business growth is not limited to large banks but is spreading to medium-sized and small private banks.

This “slow and steady” strategy has helped many banks maintain their growth trajectory while strengthening the trust of customers and shareholders in a more sustainable long-term journey.

Expanding Scale: The Focal Strategy of Vietnam’s Banking System

Data from Q2 2025 financial reports reveals that many banks are ramping up lending, investing in technology, developing new distribution channels, and broadening their customer base. As a result, total assets and credit have witnessed notable growth, even though profits have not increased in the short term.

Techcombank is a prime example. Despite a slight 3.15% dip in pre-tax profit for the first six months of 2025, the bank remains steadfast in its strategy to expand its customer base, boost investments in its digital ecosystem, and enhance personal financial management services.

BVBank has also proactively adopted a similar strategy. As of June 30, 2025, the bank’s total assets exceeded VND 115,526 billion, and it has almost completed its annual plan. As of the same date, total loan balance stood at VND 93,413 billion, of which nearly 80% or VND 73,463 billion was lent to customers.

Consequently, the six-month cumulative pre-tax profit reached VND 93 billion, a decrease from the previous year. This was mainly due to (1) BVBank’s proactive reduction in lending rates and the introduction of preferential credit packages to support individual and corporate customers in line with the government and SBV’s spirit, (2) BVBank’s proactive provisioning to bolster its safety buffer and asset quality control, and (3) a 17% increase in operating expenses to expand its business, particularly in technology infrastructure upgrades and network enhancements to support its long-term digitization strategy and optimize operational processes.

Reaping the Rewards: The Benefits of a Broadened Customer Base

By choosing to decelerate profit growth to focus on system stability, banks have started to reap the rewards: a significant increase in their customer base.

Techcombank’s “Auto Profit” program played a pivotal role, leading to a nearly 30% year-over-year increase in individual CASA balances and a more than 16% rise in corporate CASA balances. The bank attracted nearly 1.2 million new customers in the first six months, with over half originating from digital platforms and the rest from partner ecosystems and branches.

Other banks like MSB and SeABank, despite recording profit declines of 29% and 13%, respectively, also made notable strides in customer base expansion. MSB has been strengthening its services for small and medium-sized enterprises and investing in digital platforms to widen its customer reach in 2025–2026. SeABank continues to expand its distribution system, enhance transaction efficiency through digital channels, and target growth in its individual customer base.

BVBank, on a smaller scale, is reaping the rewards of its digitization and customer base expansion strategy. In the first half of the year, 93% of new customers came through digital channels, with total transactions via Digimi surging by 51% and capital mobilization through this platform increasing by 50%. Simultaneously, BVBank is aggressively rolling out DigiStore, a financial platform tailored to the long-neglected segment of households and small traders.

Rather than focusing on mass-market products, BVBank is developing a multilayered financial ecosystem, tailoring distinct product lines and usage trajectories to different customer segments.

BVBank’s expansion strategy is not just evident in the number of new customers but also in reshaping the user journey—from initiating a digital account, transitioning to card products, to managing cash flow, utilizing commercial account packages, and accessing personal and business credit.