Enterprise

Unlocking F88’s Success: The 3 Pillars Behind Deloitte’s ‘Management Powerhouse’ Recognition

F88's recognition by Deloitte in the "Best Managed Companies 2025" program is more than just another award on the shelf. It serves as a third-party validation that behind its 930 nationwide transaction offices lies a meticulously designed, consistently operated "management engine" capable of sustaining long-term growth in the inherently sensitive sector of grassroots finance.

Administrator

25 November, 2025

According to Deloitte, companies awarded the Best Managed Companies title must pass a rigorous evaluation process based on four pillars: business strategy, culture and commitment, competitive innovation, and corporate governance and finance. This framework has been standardized globally for over 30 years. F88 is among the few alternative financial enterprises in Vietnam to meet these standards, despite serving one of the most challenging customer segments: low-to-middle-income individuals with limited or no access to traditional banking services. These customers often require small, transparent, and legal loans. Mr. Phạm Đình Huỳnh, Director of Private Enterprise Services at Deloitte Vietnam, remarked, “F88 has developed an efficient, transparent operating model that delivers significant social impact by providing legal and safe access to capital for the population.”

The Governance Engine Behind 930 Branches

Behind the latest figures—Q3/2025 revenue up nearly 49% year-on-year, pre-tax profit of over 603 billion VND for the first nine months, and a network of transaction offices (PGD) spanning 34 provinces—lies a governance model designed for long-term sustainability, not just short-term speed.

F88 employs a matrix structure: horizontal functions (Finance, Risk, Technology, HR, Operations, Brand) intersect with vertical geographic regions and individual branches. This model enables centralized strategy formulation while allowing flexible local execution. For instance, a PGD in the Northwest might prioritize in-person consultations at traditional markets, while branches in Ho Chi Minh City focus on digital channels and mobile apps. Built into this structure is a multi-tiered KPI and profit-and-loss (P&L) management system, tracking metrics such as revenue per branch, employee productivity, customer retention, non-performing loan ratios, and cost-to-income ratios (CIR) in real-time across the company, regions, and individual branches.

Critically, F88 operates a three-tier governance model. The first tier directly identifies, assesses, and controls risks at transaction points. The Risk & Compliance Management tier designs policies, establishes risk assessment and early warning processes (operational, credit, legal, data), and conducts regular compliance checks at the front line. The Internal Audit tier independently evaluates internal controls, operational quality, and strategic compliance, reporting directly to the Audit Committee under the Board of Directors. This three-tiered approach enables F88 to manage risks comprehensively, ensure unified operations, and respond swiftly to market changes.

In 2023, when the consumer finance market faced turbulence, F88 avoided abrupt measures. Instead, it leveraged its governance framework to review its portfolio, suspend high-risk products, redesign processes, and communicate unified strategies to all 100% of its PGD branches within two weeks. The company maintained operational continuity and steadily improved risk metrics: net write-off rates, post-write-off recovery rates, and on-time payment ratios all trended positively from 2024 to 2025.

Governance Through Data, Culture, and People

F88’s governance approach goes beyond organizational charts and processes, focusing on three key elements: data, corporate culture, and people strategy.

On the data front, F88 adheres to the principle of “data-driven decision-making.” Its cloud-based technology ecosystem integrates CRM, ERP, real-time asset valuation, and an internal credit scoring model. This allows the company to monitor the real-time “health” of each branch, tracking metrics such as sales, overdue debt ratios, payment behavior, and the effectiveness of supplementary products. These insights not only support risk management but also inform strategic planning, network expansion, and product redesign.

At F88, culture is a core governance asset. The company’s updated 2024 core values—“Kindness in Action,” “Unyielding Integrity,” “Innovation for Leadership,” and “Agility for Acceleration”—are translated into 16 specific behaviors tied to employees, customers, partners, and the community. Culture is embedded across the employee lifecycle: recruitment, probationary evaluations, training, promotions, and rewards. Over 90% of branch managers and regional leaders are promoted internally, ensuring culture serves as the connective tissue across hundreds of diverse locations.

The “Excel with Joy” people strategy is another critical governance component. F88 invests heavily in its F88 Academy, offering thousands of courses annually, clear career progression paths, and ESOP programs for business managers. During the 2023 crisis, 90% of employees chose to stay with the company, underscoring the strength of its cultural “asset” in managing personnel risks.

From Strong Governance to Business Results and Market Trust

F88’s recent financial growth is no coincidence. As of Q3 2025, the company reported a 154% year-on-year profit increase, a 24% ROE, cumulative disbursements of approximately 11.49 trillion VND, and a CIR of 53%, significantly improved from the previous year. The average customer retention rate for the first nine months reached 63%, and distributed insurance contracts increased by over 28% year-on-year, reflecting a stable operating model capable of deepening customer relationships.

F88 maintains a conservative leverage policy, diversifying funding sources across bonds, bank loans, and foreign institutional credit. Its BBB credit rating with a stable outlook from FiinRatings, public company status, and upcoming UPCoM listing demonstrate that its governance, financial structure, and transparency meet higher standards than typically required for private enterprises.

During challenging periods, F88’s leadership prioritizes early communication with investors, avoiding the “wait-out-the-storm” approach. This commitment to transparency and sustainable development has been recognized by Deloitte.

In the finance industry, where trust is the most critical intangible asset, the Best Managed Companies award is more than a title. It confirms that F88’s operating model is built on a robust, deep, and flexible governance framework that protects customers, investors, and employees while enabling long-term growth.

The award also sends a powerful message: a grassroots financial enterprise can establish internationally aligned governance systems, driven by data, nurtured by culture, and realized through business results. For F88, governance is not a behind-the-scenes process but the central narrative explaining how the company navigated turbulent times and continues to accelerate toward becoming a leader in Vietnam’s grassroots finance sector.

Minh Tài

– 10:20 25/11/2025