VNBA and IFC talked on Fintech and Consumer Finance

 Also receiving the delegation were Mr. Nguyen Dang Hung - Head of Fintech Club - Deputy General Director of Vietnam National Payment Corporation (NAPAS); Mr. Le Quoc Ninh, Head of Consumer Finance Club, General Director of MB Shinsei Finance Company Limited (Mcredit) and leaders of a number of departments and units under VNBA. On the side of IFC, there were Mr. Weichuan Xu - IFC Investment Manager in charge of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia; Ms. Pham Thi Thanh Huyen - Manager of the Financial Infrastructure Development Program.

At the meeting, Mr. Weichuan Xu expressed his joy and thanked VNBA for its support for IFC's operations over the past time. He shared that he has worked with many banks in Vietnam. At the meeting with VNBA, IFC wants to listen and receive sharing and advice from the Vietnam Banking Association to better support Fintech and Consumer Finance organizations in Vietnam; IFC wants to know the current status of Fintech and Consumer Finance development in Vietnam, the difficulties, challenges and development opportunities; learn about the Draft Decree on Sandbox that is about to be issued - the difficulties in implementation, especially related to peer-to-peer lending (P2P Lending).

Mr. Weichuan Xu said that before coming to Vietnam, he had experience in countries such as Singapore and China and brought with him enthusiasm for the Fintech field, digital transformation of lending in those countries. Therefore, with his existing experience, he hopes to be able to share with the digital finance in Vietnam.

At the meeting, Dr. Nguyen Quoc Hung highly appreciated the activities that VNBA and IFC have cooperated and implemented together in the past time, and welcomed IFC's expansion of interest in the Fintech market and consumer finance companies in Vietnam

He said that IFC had previously made effective investments and implementations to banks in Vietnam and that IFC's intention to invest in the Fintech and consumer finance fields is the right direction. Vietnam is a country with extremely strong digital transformation, leading the region with up to 176 Fintech units. Although the Fintech sector has encountered some difficulties such as unsynchronized operations due to limited legal corridors. However, the units have been very dynamic, building infrastructure, building a Fintech ecosystem. Dr. Nguyen Quoc Hung hopes that in the coming time, when the Government issues the Sandbox Decree, it will be a legal corridor for the Fintech sector to operate more strongly.

For the consumer finance sector in Vietnam, there are 16 consumer finance units to be licensed. He also pointed out some difficulties and limitations in the consumer finance sector: Capital mobilization, capital mobilization time, high interest rates, low investment funds, confusion among consumer finance companies, debt collection still facing many difficulties, the borrowers is still sluggish… Especially after the Covid pandemic, the Vietnamese economy is affected. However, in the coming time, when the legal corridor is more improved, the lending subjects are clear, it will help solve these difficulties and problems.

In addition, Dr. Nguyen Quoc Hung said that the Law on Credit Institutions (CIs) was passed on July 1, the State Bank has implemented the law, and there are documents guiding its implementation. However, the difficulties and problems (if any) for CIs can only be fully assessed after a period of implementation. The Law on CIs officially promulgated is also the basis for issuing the Sandbox Decree. He said that the Decree allows testing of 3 solutions: Credit scoring; Data sharing via open application programming interface (Open API); Peer-to-peer lending (P2P Lending). When the Sandbox Decree is issued, it will help the State Bank build a suitable implementation roadmap.

Also at the meeting, Mr. Le Quoc Ninh, Chairman of the Consumer Finance Club, General Director of MB Shinsei Finance Company Limited (Mcredit) said that consumer finance in Vietnam has the mission of fighting poverty and supporting market development. Although consumer finance has encountered difficulties after the Covid pandemic, the Vietnamese market is currently developing, the economy is growing strongly, the demand for consumer finance recovery is also increasing and that is an opportunity for development.

IFC representatives also asked VNBA whether IFC should work directly with banks or with Fintech. In response to this question, Mr. Nguyen Dang Hung - Chairman of Fintech Club - Deputy General Director of Vietnam National Payment Corporation (NAPAS) said that the cooperation between payment intermediaries and banks is relatively close, which helps to deploy services better. The cooperation with whom depends on IFC's influence in the market, the most important thing is to have good products and services for customers.

At the end of the meeting, Dr. Nguyen Quoc Hung highly appreciated the development potential of Fintech and Consumer Finance in the coming time. He hopes that IFC can research and invest in these two fields. VNBA welcomes and is ready to coordinate with IFC to support Fintech and Consumer Finance Clubs to be closer to reality and in accordance with Vietnamese law and international regulations.

VNBA News