Some 77% of Vietnamese consumers believe they could go cashless for three days, according to a new survey by Visa entitled “Consumer Payment Attitudes Study 2022”.

The State Bank of Vietnam allowed Vietcombank to raise its charter capital from 47 trillion VND (2 billion USD) to 55 trillion VND (2.3 billion USD) by issuing shares to pay dividends from the remaining profits of 2019 and 2020.

Large sums of foreign currency flowed into the accounts of local commercial banks in the first half of this year, with many more deals in the pipeline.

Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc said since capital for public investments cannot be disbursed, the Ministry of Finance has had to leave VND1 quadrillion worth of capital at banks with the interest rate of 0.8 percent per annum.

Given the challenging economic environment, the performance of numerous banks is rather bleak, particularly due to the mounting bad debt levels.

Charter capital of banks is expected to have a big change this year as four State-owned banks are considering an increase in capital while the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) has approved a capital hike for 21 private banks.

Several major banks have slashed their deposit interest rates by 0.5 percentage point compared to those in mid-May, right after the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) announced two decisions further lowering key interest rates in its easing cycle.

The general audit result submitted by the State Audit to the National Assembly shows many problems in the operations of financial institutions and banks.

At a time when most businesses are facing serious losses, with some even in dire situations and having to sell off much of their assets, banks continue to announce profits of thousands of billion dongs.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has announced two decisions to further reduce policy interest rates, which will become effective from May 25, 2023.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) said that interest rates have become stable with the lending interest rate hovering around 9.3 percent per annum.

By early May, commercial banks have started to reduce deposit interest rates. With this the average deposit interest rate that had peaked in January at 9 percent per year for a 6-month term decreased to around 7.5 percent per year.

The news that 60 percent of workers in the banking and insurance sectors are not satisfied about their incomes has surprised HR directors, because they are considered to be the best paid business fields in the national economy.

Vietnam's banking sector has invested over VND15,000 trillion in digital transformation by the end of 2022, according to the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV).

Even as the biggest real estate businesses struggle with debts and bankruptcy, banks continue to stay afloat and tackle the bad debt situation over a period of time. This ability of banks helps bank stocks not fall too low, despite overdue payments.

Decisive action taken by Vietnam’s central bank on restructuring failing banks signifies a considerable stride towards revamping and fostering a sound financial landscape.

Since early this year, many banks have made deep deposit rate cuts, with the rate for tenures shorter than six months reduced by 0.5 percentage point and that for longer tenures slashed by 1.5 to 2.0 points.

Many banks plan to increase their charter capital in 2023 in order to ensure operational safety and have more resources for business development.

Banks’ financial reports show that as of March 31, 286,000 employees were working at 34 domestic commercial banks. Eleven commercial banks cut staff in the first quarter of 2023, but most gave a pay rise to their workers.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), the central bank, will focus on inspecting share transfers among credit institutions this year to prevent cross ownership in the banking sector.