IT applications in the field of finance - banking

At Noi Bai International Airport, Mr. Francis Hau, a foreign tourist, needs to withdraw money from an automated teller machine (ATM). But here there are dozens of different ATMs of domestic and foreign banks. Finally he chose a machine installed by a foreign bank. Because, he said that foreign financial institutions when entering Vietnam will bring financial services with many utilities.

From the above fact, domestic financial institutions and banks have no choice but to run the application of information technology (IT) to improve the quality of new services to attract customers. This makes the transition of IT applications in these organizations in Vietnam quite strong.

Strong investment in IT

Mr. Ta Quang Tien, Director of the Department of Banking Informatics Technology, State Bank of Vietnam, said that in 2004, only three banks participated in Internet Banking with about 2 million online transactions per day. Currently, there are 17 banks participating in this activity with 4.5 million transactions per day.

With the introduction of F @ st i-Bank on May 28, Techcombank became one of the first banks in Vietnam to provide a full range of Internet payment services to the market, especially for individual customers. Some banks in Vietnam have provided real e-banking services (Citibank, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, and ANZ Bank) but only at business customers. Some Vietnamese banks also deploy Internet Banking, but mainly in inquiry service account information. With this service, just through the Internet customers can perform some transactions without directly going to Techcombank's transaction offices: managing account transactions and looking up account information; make online transfer payment; look up loans and savings with banks; contact online with the bank and register for online products and services .

According to Mr. Le Xuan Vu, Director of Techcombank's Center for Application and Development of Banking Technology Products, F @ st i-Bank service aims to favor technology customers and is interested in online transactions. , especially regular customers who have transactions via bank accounts. Products meet the needs of customers for a modern payment method, convenient and safe. Mr. Vu also added that in the coming time, Techcombank will continue to develop and improve this service, allowing customers to perform all transactions with the bank via the Internet.

Mr. Ta Quang Tien emphasized that a modern bank cannot be a bank equipped with outdated technology systems. He said: ' Banking technology is becoming a powerful weapon in the increasingly fierce competition among banks .'

More work to do

Ms. Nguyen Thi Tam, Deputy General Director of Vietcombank, said that more than 80% of banking operations and more than 85% of banking system transactions in Vietnam were done with modern computers and IT applications. However, at the Exhibition Conference on IT solutions in banking activities (Banking Vietnam 2007), the Department of Banking and Information Technology in coordination with IDG in Hanoi last May, Mr. Noritaka Akamatsu, the chief financial and economic consultant of the World Bank, commented that Vietnam is developing rapidly in electronic transactions in the banking sector, but the application of IT in this area is still low compared to other banks. other countries in the region. The development of IT applications in the banking sector is lagging behind the Vietnamese economy in general and many other areas in particular. The Vietnamese banking industry still has a lot of work to do in IT applications. Currently, the awareness of Vietnamese people about IT investment for banks has been improved but the investment level is still not much and satisfactory.

Assessing the status of the Vietnamese banking system, Mr. Le Xuan Nghia, Director of the Banking Development Strategy, the State Bank, also frankly acknowledged that the banking service system was monotonous and poor. linkage between services is low. IT system - bank payment has not reached the advanced level.

Great opportunity for suppliers

In fact, the application of IT in the banking sector is still low, on the other hand has created great opportunities for solutions providers. Besides, this market has a lot of potential because in the coming time, the financial and banking sector will still develop strongly. Vietnam currently has only about seven million personal accounts opened at banks, more than three million ATMs are installed.

According to Ms. Tam, improving the quality of customer service is also one of the urgent requirements to improve banking products and services, the application of IT in this task is an important factor. In a competitive environment, in addition to offering new products and services, banks need to pay attention to improving customer satisfaction. Service quality will be the most important factor in the existence and development of each bank. Currently only a few banks have centers to support customers regularly throughout the day.

Recognizing this 'vulnerability', Alcatel-Lucent at Banking Vietnam 2007 introduced the new OmniTouch contact center solution for customers. Mr. Marc Alexis Remond, Alcatel-Lucent's General Manager of Southeast Asia Business Group, said the demand for contact centers will boom in the near future. The target customers of this company are financial and banking institutions. With the strong development of this field, Vietnam is a key market of this company in Southeast Asia.

Expected to attract customers from the financial-banking market, CMC introduced four technology solutions at Banking Vietnam 2007. Mr. Nguyen Kim Cuong, CMC Soft's Deputy General Director, said at the seminar, CMC Soft has worked with a number of banks to cooperate to provide products. Most banks are interested in the solution of document management software and management of business documents provided by this company. This is the solution that has just been implemented at VIB Bank and is also a new solution for the banking sector.

Mr. Phan Thanh Son, CTO of Cisco Systems Vietnam, said Cisco has developed a separate solution for the banking industry: One Bank One Architecture (OBOA). This is an end-to-end solution designed to help businesses in the financial services sector solve today's biggest challenges to get an overall view of each customer, service promotion and retail business and ultimately help improve the profitability of the business.

According to the State Bank, Vietnam is a latecomer to payment technology compared to developed countries.The government has set a target that by the end of 2010, payment activities in the economy will reach 15 million cards, 70% of commercial centers, supermarkets, restaurants, hotels, and self-selected stores. . installation of card payment acceptance equipment.Strive to reach 30 million cards and 95% of card acceptance points by 2020.By 2010, the ratio of cash on total payment means should not exceed 18%, and in 2020 reduce to 15%.

Van Oanh