Việt Nam’s banking sector named among fastest growing in the world

A teller counts money at an HD Bank office. HD Bank is among 30 new entrants in Brand Finance Banking 500 ranking this year. VNA/VnExpress News Photo

HÀ NỘI — With an overall brand value growth of 49 per cent, Việt Nam’s banking sector is one of the fastest growing in the world, according to Brand Finance’s latest report on the most valuable and strongest banking brands globally.

Brand Finance’s list of the 500 banks with the largest brand value globally in 2022 released recently has the presence of 11 Vietnamese banks, including two new faces compared to 2021: HD Bank and SHB. The nine banks that continue to be in the rankings are Vietcombank, BIDV, VietinBank, VPBank, Agribank, Techcombank, MBBank, ACB and Sacombank.

According to the report, all Vietnamese brands in the Brand Finance Banking 500 2022 ranking have experienced growth or added to the country’s total as new entrants.

It has been a very fruitful year for Vietnamese banks, which have observed continuous growth in their balance sheets and income statements, with both deposits and loans issued growing. This has been bolstered by the nation’s recovery from the pandemic, which was well-managed by the Government, resulting in strong economic growth, the report stated.

Among the brands, MBBank is one of the fastest-growing in the Brand Finance Banking 500 2022 ranking, up by a staggering 113 per cent to US$642 million. The brand has continued to innovate, particularly in the digital space by partnering with leading tech company, Software AG, to provide high speed online services for its customers.

Similarly, Techcombank (up 80 per cent to $945 million) has invested heavily in cloud infrastructure as part of its strategy to nurture long-term relationships with clients.

In addition, the strong growth in the Vietnamese banking sector is also thanks to two new entrants to the top 500 this year, namely HD Bank (up 53 per cent to $248 million) and SHB (up 63 per cent to $211 million).

According to the report, the world’s top 500 banking brands have turned the tide on brand value contraction for the first time in three years, observing a 9 per cent year-on-year brand value growth to reach an all-time high of $1.38 trillion.

Every year, leading brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance puts 5,000 of the biggest brands to the test, and publishes nearly 100 reports, ranking brands across all sectors and countries. The world’s top 500 most valuable and strongest banking brands are included in the annual Brand Finance Banking 500 ranking.

The brand value of the world’s largest banks shrunk by 2 per cent by the beginning of 2020 ($1.33 trillion) and a further 4 per cent by 2021 ($1.27 trillion). Initially caused by economic uncertainty and interest rate movements, the situation was exacerbated by the pandemic, which saw profit and interest rates take a hit.

However, as nations continued to adapt to COVID-19 and economies rebounded over the past year, loan loss provisions were much less significant than initially forecast by industry experts. Furthermore, improved digitalisation by banking brands, coupled with strong government intervention and economic recovery around the world resulted in a higher-than-expected industry profitability in 2021. — VnExpress News