The financial industry is standing on the brink of a profound transformation.

For decades, banks have innovated around functionality—streamlining transactions, expanding access, and introducing digital tools.

But the rules of the game have changed. Today, it’s no longer enough to be digital or omnichannel.

In this hyper-connected customer-centric era, dominated by Spotify-like immediacy and Netflix-style personalisation, the question is: How deeply do you engage with your customers?

Techcombank, Vietnam’s fifth-largest bank in asset size and second-largest private bank, has answered that call with clarity and conviction.

In just a few years, they’ve redefined not only their institution but also what it means to thrive in modern banking.

This isn’t just a story of success; it’s a wake-up call for an industry that can no longer rely on yesterday’s strategies to meet tomorrow’s demands.

Vietnam: Asia’s Fastest Growing Digital Economy

Vietnam’s banking evolution doesn’t exist in isolation; it’s fueled by the extraordinary pace of the nation’s digital transformation.

Pegged as the fastest-growing digital economy in Asia, Vietnam is undergoing a seismic shift across industries, powered by its young, tech-savvy population and an explosion in digital adoption.

Over 70% of the population is now online, with internet and mobile penetration rates climbing steadily each year.

Digital lifestyles are becoming the norm: e-commerce, ride-hailing, digital wallets, and even online education are reshaping how Vietnamese consumers interact with businesses.

In parallel, digital banking penetration has surged, with estimates suggesting that over 60% of the population will actively use digital banking services by 2025.

This rapid transformation is fueled by government initiatives aimed at building a cashless society, as well as the growing appetite for convenience among consumers and businesses alike.

Vietnam’s SMEs, which contribute nearly 40% of GDP, are also pushing for innovative financial solutions to support their growth in a digitally competitive environment.

In this context, banks face an urgent imperative: evolve or risk irrelevance.

For Techcombank, this meant more than just digitising processes—it meant fundamental rethinking of the very essence of banking to meet the demands of a fast-moving digital economy.

Reimagining Banking for a Customer-Centric World

Banking as we know it has always been transactional: open an account, apply for a loan, transfer money.

But Techcombank has turned that model on its head. They have embraced a new philosophy—banking as an experience, not a service.

Every decision Techcombank has made reflects a deep understanding of their customers’ evolving needs.

By focusing on relationships rather than transactions, they’ve transformed mundane processes into meaningful interactions.

A payment isn’t just a payment; it’s a chance to deepen trust. An app isn’t just a tool; it’s a gateway to a personalised banking journey.

A feedback isn’t just a feedback; it’s a learning to further humanise services.

The enablement of the human-first mindset is the technology at their core: an Engagement Banking Platform that empowers the bank with freedom and control to build hyper-personalised, contextually relevant, and deeply engaging experiences with speed and peace of mind.

The platform isn’t just a backend solution—it creates re-usability and acceleration as the backbone of their customer-centric revolution.

From Vision to Execution: The Techcombank Playbook

Techcombank’s transformation began with a bold recognition: traditional banking systems could not keep up with the pace of change.

The institution needed a foundation that offered flexibility, scalability, and the ability to anticipate customer needs before they arose.

The solution wasn’t merely technological—it was philosophical.

The result? A migration of millions of customers onto a single, unified platform in just over a year.

This wasn’t a cosmetic upgrade. It was an overhaul of how banking happens, from infrastructure to interface.

Consider this: 90% of Techcombank’s payment transactions are now conducted via mobile.

Both their retail banking and business banking apps boast a 4.8 to 4.9-star rating across app stores—not as a vanity metric, but as proof of their relentless pursuit of customer delight.

For business clients, often underserved in traditional banking, Techcombank has simplified the once-arduous processes of account opening and financial management, offering journeys that are as seamless as their retail counterparts.

And the results speak for themselves. In 2023 alone, Techcombank acquired more than 2 million customers entirely digitally.

These aren’t just numbers; these are tangibles of what happens when banking visionaries – Pranav Seth, Chief Digital Officer and Mukesh Pilania, EVP of Digital Banking of Retail Banking dare to reimagine themselves.

Banking 4.0: The Industry’s Defining Moment

Techcombank’s story isn’t just about their success—it’s a lens into the future of banking. Welcome to Banking 4.0, an era where customer-centricity isn’t a differentiator; it’s the baseline.

This new era demands more than access to digital banking services; it’s about rethinking what it means to be a bank.

It’s about meeting customers where they are, not just physically but emotionally and contextually – whether during life’s moments, life’s events, daily transactions, or pivotal financial decisions.

The goal is no longer to provide services but to create curated experiences that matter.

But let’s be clear: this isn’t about features and functionalities. It’s about purpose.

Techcombank’s journey shows that the banks of tomorrow must anticipate needs, humanize interactions, and make banking an integral part of their customers’ lives.

Techcombank has progressively evolved to engage in transformative relationships with their customers, delivering on their promise of their mission – “Change banking, change lives”.

This transformation isn’t easy. It requires investment, bold decisions, and a willingness to challenge the status quo. Techcombank embodies the foresight to embrace disruption—before being disrupted

The Platform: A Silent Instrumental Force Driving Change

Why adopt an engagement banking platform rather than building everything in-house, from backend to frontend? The answer is simple: build differentiation, not the hygiene nor the foundation.

In today’s fast-paced banking landscape, the complexity of managing hundreds of microservices, interlocking technology layers, front-to-back orchestration, and data unification has become a baseline requirement—a hygiene factor.

Banks that try to tackle both the backend and the frontend risk spreading themselves too thin.

True differentiation and experiential breakthroughs lie in the customer engagement where upstream journeys, fast tracking new feature releases addressing new concerns, simpler navigation, and conversational banking create a lasting impact.

Behind every seamless customer journey and innovative interaction lies a robust platform orchestrating end-to-end engagement across the customer lifecycle.

The Engagement Banking Platform isn’t just a tool—it’s a strategic architecture.

It equips banks to design, adapt, and scale experiences as quickly as customers’ expectations evolve.

Whether it’s utilising out-of-the-box journeys or crafting bespoke experiences, the choice remains in the bank’s hands.

For Techcombank, this meant freedom—freedom to design journeys that reflect Vietnamese culture, preferences, and nuances.

Freedom to prototype, test, and refine without being held back by legacy systems. Freedom to grow, achieving consistent double-digit growth year after year without expanding manpower.

This is the quiet revolution behind Techcombank’s success. And it’s a reminder to the industry: the right platform doesn’t just support your vision; it amplifies it.

A Challenge to the Industry

Techcombank’s transformation is a testament to what’s possible when ambition meets execution. But their story is more than inspiration—it’s a challenge to every financial leader.

Are you ready to embrace the future? Are you prepared to rethink your institution from the ground up, to place customer engagement at the heart of everything you do?

The financial landscape is shifting, and the pace of change is only accelerating. Vietnam’s extraordinary growth offers a glimpse into the future for every emerging market.

Techcombank has shown that staying ahead isn’t about following trends—it’s about defining them.

Watch Techcombank’s success story by Pranav Seth here.

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