VIB – Where customer experience is no longer a mere convenience, but a long-term growth strategy

In an era where digitalisation has made financial products increasingly commoditised, a bank’s sustainable competitive advantage no longer lies in what it offers, but in the emotions customers carry with them after every interaction. At VIB, customer experience is not merely a service standard - it is a long-term strategic axis, embedded throughout the entire journey of saving, spending, and borrowing. This experience is seamlessly delivered across all touchpoints, from branches and transaction offices to digital platforms, nurturing customer loyalty and building brand value over time.

Under the growing influence of AI and deepening digital transformation, competition in the banking sector is shifting onto an entirely new axis. Interest rates, fees, and even product structures are no longer sustainable advantages, as they can be quickly replicated or neutralised. The most difficult element to imitate and the one increasingly defining a bank’s long-term position is customer experience and emotional connection.

Against this backdrop, the story of Vietnam International Bank (VIB) reflects a clear and consistent direction: placing customer experience at the core and treating it as the foundation for sustainable growth in the digital age.

Customer experience as a driver of sustainable growth

VIB’s journey illustrates a differentiated approach. Rather than focusing solely on expanding scale or racing to launch more products, the bank has chosen to go deeper - designing consistently satisfying customer experiences as the cornerstone of long-term growth.

VIB’s recognition as “Banking Customer Satisfaction & Happiness Vietnam 2025” by Global Banking & Finance Review, along with its ranking among the Top 2 most loved banks in Vietnam according to FChoice, reflects the outcomes of this strategy. These accolades are not momentary achievements but the result of accumulated positive experiences over time.

According to VIB’s leadership, awards and rankings are not the ultimate goal, but rather by-products of the bank’s unwavering commitment to customer centricity. “At VIB, experience is not about making banking easier to use - it is about empowering customers to take control: control their spending, manage cash flows that generate returns, and make borrowing decisions in sync with their life rhythm. When customers feel they are in the driver’s seat, satisfaction evolves beyond convenience into trust and long-term loyalty” - Ms. Tuong Nguyen, Deputy CEO of VIB.

This sense of affinity does not emerge from a single breakthrough moment, but from a sequence of small, consistently positive experiences. Every time customers open the app, receive cashback, optimise idle funds, or have a loan disbursed exactly when needed - each becomes a meaningful touchpoint. This strategic shift toward customer experience runs in parallel with a transformation in modern customer insights. Today’s customers are digitally savvy and accustomed to personalised services across industries. When entering financial services, they bring the same expectations: flexibility, transparency, and personalisation - rather than adapting to rigid, one-size-fits-all frameworks.

For modern customers, financial solutions must adapt to different life stages - from spending and saving to borrowing. A product is no longer sufficient if the experience feels restrictive or inflexible. Conversely, when banks empower customers to design their own financial journeys, satisfaction transforms into emotional attachment and loyalty.

“If customers once accepted mass-market products, at VIB we believe each customer deserves a bespoke solution - tailored to their habits, needs, and personal financial journey”, - Ms. Tuong Nguyen, Deputy CEO of VIB.

This philosophy laid the foundation for VIB’s transition from a product-led approach to an experience-led strategy.

Three strategic pillars behind VIB’s outstanding customer experience

Driven by a customer-centric innovation mindset, VIB no longer seeks to impress customers with an extensive product catalogue or short-term incentives. Instead, it focuses on building a flexible financial platform that enables each customer to design their own experience. This strategy is structured around three interconnected pillars, seamlessly integrated on the MyVIB digital platform.

Pillar 1: Credit cards – a strategic touchpoint redefining spending experience

For years, credit cards in Vietnam were treated as mass-market products with largely similar benefits across banks. VIB took a different path, positioning credit cards as part of a lifestyle where personalisation is central. By the end of 2025, VIB’s total credit card spending had increased 17-fold compared to 2018, reaching nearly USD 5.4 billion. Average monthly spending per cardholder reached approximately VND 15 million, doubling since 2018 and exceeding the industry average by 50%. Milestones such as one million active cards, Top 3 market-wide card spending, and No.1 Mastercard spending in Vietnam demonstrate scale. However, according to Ms. Tuong Nguyen, the most meaningful indicator of experience quality is the over-50% increase in average spending per card.

This engagement is driven by deep personalisation. Through MyVIB and GenAI capabilities, customers can design unique card visuals, choose cashback or reward mechanisms aligned with spending habits, select preferred spending categories, and independently adjust statement dates, limits, and repayment ratios. At VIB, technology exists to serve customers - simplifying decisions and enabling better financial outcomes. Technology only matters when it reflects deep customer understanding and helps unlock latent needs.

Pillar 2: Making idle cash work - daily, weekly, monthly

In practice, a large portion of Vietnamese customers’ funds sleep unused in payment accounts, awaiting spending or reallocation. VIB’s solutions - Super Account, Hi-Depo, and iDepo - address this inefficiency with a new approach to cash flow management.

The distinction lies in how these products mirror the natural movement of money. Funds requiring daily liquidity generate returns via Super Account; short-term weekly funds are optimised through Hi-Depo; while medium to long-term planned savings grow efficiently through iDepo. As a result, regardless of size or duration, customers can put their money to work without complex decisions or rigid lock-ins.

“We don’t expect customers to become professional investors. Our goal is to ensure every idle dong works efficiently in the simplest way possible” - Ms. Tuong Nguyen, Deputy CEO of VIB.

Pillar 3: Expanding the Experience into Lending

Today’s borrowers no longer seek just a loan - they want flexible financial solutions aligned with income life cycles and adaptable to change. Technology has reshaped expectations: faster approvals, transparent costs, and above all, control over cash flow. A foundational shift at VIB is its approach to home loans. Rather than viewing them as administrative processes, VIB treats home financing as a long-term experience where every interaction shapes trust and loyalty. Through advanced data analytics covering millions of properties nationwide, valuation times are reduced to minutes, while home loan approvals can be completed within 4–8 hours, far exceeding industry norms.

What sets VIB’s lending solutions apart is not merely the scale of credit provided, but a fundamentally different approach: loans are designed around customers’ cash flows and income life cycles. In terms of interest rates, customers can choose from transparent fixed-rate packages ranging from 3 to 12 months. After the preferential period, interest rates are calculated based on a publicly disclosed base rate plus a 2–3 per cent margin, clearly stated on both VIB’s website and credit agreements. A standout feature of VIB’s home loan offerings is the repayment structure of “ Borrow 1 billion VND, repay 1 million VND/month” during the first five years - equivalent to 0.1 per cent per month, significantly lower than prevailing market standards.

Customers also have the flexibility to select alternative repayment options, including equal monthly principal payments, principal-free periods of up to five years, or step-up principal repayments of 0.1–0.2 per cent per month in the initial phase. Notably, VIB allows customers to make early repayments of up to VND 25 million per month (or VND 300 million per year) without penalty, or to opt for a 0 per cent early repayment fee package, substantially enhancing borrower autonomy. Beyond secured lending, VIB offers a suite of flexible, fully digital and instant loan solutions, including Super Cash, online unsecured consumer loans, and deposit-backed loans. These solutions enable customers to access financing 100 per cent online, without paperwork or waiting, with disbursement completed within 30 minutes for loans under VND 100 million, or within 24 hours for larger loan amounts.

In parallel with delivering flexible financial solutions that empower customers to take control of their personal finances, VIB has been steadily upgrading customer experience touchpoints across its branches, transaction offices, contact centres and digital channels. This is delivered through 24/7 instant support tools such as AI chatbots, AI callbots and the virtual assistant Vie, available on the MyVIB and Max platforms as well as VIB’s social media channels, including Facebook and Zalo. “At VIB, we believe that the customer experience at every touchpoint must meet at least three criteria: fast, convenient, and ready. This is the foundation we consistently pursue when designing our service journeys” - Ms. Tuong Nguyen, Deputy CEO of VIB.

Viewed holistically, VIB’s formula goes beyond advanced product personalisation to focus on building deep, long-term relationships with each customer. When positive experiences are delivered consistently, satisfaction evolves into engagement, then into preference and long-term loyalty. Heartfelt service touches hearts. In a market where products can be easily replicated, customer experience and emotional connection have become the most critical strategic advantages - forming the foundation for VIB’s pursuit of sustainable growth in the next phase of the digital era.