HCMC – A strategic shift is underway within Vietnam’s banking sector as commercial lenders have been establishing entities within the Vietnam International Financial Center (VIFC), with dual hubs in HCMC and Danang City.
Vietcombank (Code: VCB) is set to lead this movement by seeking shareholder approval at its upcoming annual general meeting on April 24 to establish a 100% domestic-owned commercial bank subsidiary within the VIFC. This move is designed to facilitate participation in complex operations such as cross-border finance, investment banking, and digital asset services. To support this new development phase, the bank also plans to increase its charter capital from supplementary reserve funds, bolstering its financial capacity to compete in a higher-tier regulatory environment.
Similarly, VietinBank (Code: CTG) has confirmed it is researching the establishment of a suitable legal entity to deploy business operations at the VIFC, pending approval from the State Bank of Vietnam. The bank’s strategy includes expanding into fintech through partnerships with startups within the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) ecosystem and positioning itself as a payment intermediary for the digital asset market. For VietinBank, the VIFC serves as a controlled environment to pilot new business models in payments, lending, and insurance before broader implementation.
The interest in these financial hubs extends beyond the four big state-owned banks. Recently, local authorities in Danang have granted letters of interest to several institutions, including Nam A Bank, HDBank, and Vikki Bank, to participate in the VIFC in Danang (VIFC-VN). Meanwhile, the recent launch of the VIFC in HCMC (VIFC-HCMC) features a founding list that includes other commercial banks namely MB, TPBank and SHB. These collective efforts reflect an industry-wide ambition to upgrade competitive capacity and gradually integrate Vietnam’s banking system with regional and global financial hubs.
