Over the last 27 years, Vietnam’s Sai Gon J.S. Commercial Bank (SCB) has proved itself to be a reliable and committed partner to its customers, creating a sustainable business model and meeting profit targets. The bank endeavours to continuously improve its service to facilitate greater convenience and ensure a constant progression for its loyal customer base.
2019 was a year of transition for SCB, with the bank achieving outstanding growth thanks to diversified product packages, improved service quality, the continued implementation of modern banking technology and focused staff training. As of 30 June 2019, SCB’s total assets reached VND537,616bn ($23.1bn), an increase of VND29,451bn, or 5.8%, compared to the beginning of the year. SCB continues to be among the top five biggest commercial banks in Vietnam and a leader among private joint-stock commercial banks. With the strong charter capital of VND15,232bn, SCB is projected to renovate banking facilities and keep up with the latest technology.
Stable growth in deposits over recent years has made SCB one of Vietnam’s leading banks in this regard. As of 30 June 2019, customer deposits increased VND38,671bn, up 9% compared to the beginning of the year. Its Short-term Deposit Certificate has attracted significant interest from customers, attracting 24,000 customers in just seven months – accounting for a third of the bank’s total deposit growth in 2018.
Driven by its motto “SCB – One stop for all services” SCB recently undertook a comprehensive improvement of all its product and service packages. Service operations in the first six months of 2019 were accelerated with a total service fee of up to VND541bn, which exceeded projected targets. The official launch of the S-FREE account was highly significant – a new type of account for SCB that offers “inter-bank online remittance” – a money transfer service among banks in Vietnam.
Card operation grew firmly with 61,788 credit and debit cards issued during the first six months of 2019. To meet customer needs, SCB introduced new types of cards, such as the S-Care card – the first ever credit card in Vietnam to offer medical check-ups and cancer screening. This alongside the SCB beYOU card, which comes with a special feature of free withdrawals at all domestic ATMs. Also in 2019, SCB made inroads into bancassurance in Vietnam by introducing a range of products, such as “Bao hiem ung thu toan dien – Tam an 360” – a comprehensive cancer insurance product. Other products, including “Tam an van phuc – Sung tuc vui he and Tam an van phuc – Sung tuc tron doi”, which offers many benefits to customers looking for insurance products in healthcare. In the first half of 2019, SCB reported VND249bn in insurance revenues, twice as much as the previous year.
Among Asia-Pacific’s finest
In October 2019, SCB was honoured to be listed among the “500 Strongest Banks” in Asia Pacific by The Asian Banker Magazine, and also to receive the “Straight Through Processing (STP) Award 2018” from the Bank of New York Mellon.
SCB was fourth among the 10 Vietnamese banks recognised in The Asian Banker Magazine “500 Strongest Banks in Asia Pacific”, achieving 2.81 points (strength index) on a 5-point scale. Overall in this list SCB ranked 206 of 500, an increase of 89 places compared to 2018. At the same time, SCB also achieved 295th position in the “500 Largest Banks Asia-Pacific”, up 26 places compared to 2018.
The STP award from the Bank of New York Mellon recognises SCB for its operational excellence in international payments. The bank has achieved remarkably high straight-through rates (above 98%). The STP rate was calculated based on the total number of payments routed via BNY Mellon, in 2018, without any repair or amendment. This outstanding rate is a testament to the quality of SCB’s automated payment process. SCB’s development path in the future will definitely obtain more significant achievements.
Looking to the future, SCB aims to develop further. With the commitment of its more than 7,200 employees, support from its customers, close cooperation from its partners and trust from shareholders, SCB is well positioned for greater achievements still.
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