Dong A Joint Stock Commercial Bank (DongA Bank) is set to become Vietnam's first manufacturer of automated teller machines (ATM), said Nguyen Thi Ngoc Van, deputy director of the DongA Bank.
"This will be a joint venture with a Chinese partner for manufacturing ATMs as well as technical solutions for payment services," Van said.
Production of the ATMs should start in the first quarter next year though the specifics of production capacity and total investment have not been revealed. "The minimum investment could be US$3 or US$4 million," she added.
DongA Bank hopes to sell its ATMs to other banks, both in and outside Vietnam.
The bank expects to get the go-ahead to set up the Vina Bank Card Company (VNBC) from authorities next month. VNBC's machines will serve the bank's widening ATM network.
DongA currently has 850 ATMs nationwide. However, as other banks joined the network to help their customers, there are now 1,200 ATMs in the network. The bank plans another 1,000 machines by 2010.
Next month, integrated services to holders of DongA International credit cards, which is linked to Visa's global network, and Multifunctional debit cards will be offered to DongA customers.
October will also see the opening of DongA's gold trading floor at its headquarter on 130 Phan Dang Luu Street, Phu Nhuan District, HCM City.
By August this year, DongA Bank had mobilized VND26 trillion, already surpassing the year's target of VND25 trillion. Meanwhile, outstanding loans were VND22.6 trillion, making up over 96 per cent of the year's target of VND23.5 trillion.
Remittance turnover was US$840 million, up from the US$552 million from the same period last year. However, it is only 70 per cent of the US$1.2 billion goal set for the year. (HCM City's Police)
Vietnamese
