4:41:59 PM | 5/22/2006
A seminar entitled 'Banking Vietnam 2006' with a theme 'Technology modernization in the development of stable & efficient banking system' was held in Hanoi on May 18 and 19, 2006. This is annual activity organised by the Information Technology Department of the State Bank of Vietnam in co-operation with IDG Vietnam.
An opportunity to learn experience from the world
Banking Vietnam has been organised since 2001. The number of lecturers and participants at the seminar has increased by 30 per cent per year. This proves a special attention of experts and chief information officers in banks. This year's seminar concentrated on the following topics: solutions for banks to share their network infrastructure, opportunities and challenges of banking services, measures to reduce risks of banking services, and support for the World Bank for Vietnamese banks as a consultant, financial expert or an investor. This is to meet the demand of a modern banking system during globalisation and Vietnam's future accession to WTO.
With the contents discussed in a two-day seminar, it is clear that foreign banks apply information technology to provide more convenience for their customers during transactions, while Vietnamese banks are applying information technology with an aim at modernising their activities. Issues the Vietnamese banking system faces when getting access to new technologies include a modernisation of infrastructure, the establishment of network security, and human resources development. Sharing information with Vietnamese banks, Kuthy Antal, general director of e-Group (Hungary), delivered a speech on the modernisation process of the Hungarian banking system, the credit car market and specific errors, which may lead to loopholes for credit fraud. Kevin Francis Wong, chief executive officer of OpenWay, made a presentation on improving awareness of payment channels, such as ATMs and e-mobile banking.
Up to date, in the Vietnamese banking system, value-added services, such as Internet banking, e-mobile banking and deposit insurance have not provided various products. However, the local banking system has seen a rapid development in recent years. In particular, in recent Vietnam-US bilateral talks on Vietnam's accession to WTO, on which Vietnam and the US reached a technical agreement, banking services represented a hot topic. Certainly, in the coming time, the banking sector will witness a high growth and investment, and the sectors' demand of information technology will be higher. That is why foreign lecturers and organisations were attracted to join the seminar to share experience and introduce new technologies the world is applying.
The access to world experts in banking and modern technology solutions applied by banks in the world offered Vietnamese experts a more comprehensive view of the landscape of the local banking system and its position, so as to develop suitable development plans. Each Vietnamese bank will know what they should do to not only addressing the supply and demand issues in the local market but also to prepare for opportunities and challenges in the future.
ATM - a weak link among banks
Having been aware of the link among banks during the international integration process, a round-table conference themed 'Network infrastructure share among banks at threshold of Vietnam's WTO accession' was held within the framework of Vietnam Banking 2006. The conference's hot topic was the link among banks' automated teller machines (ATMs).
The fact shows that local banks use separate ATM systems with 1,900 ATMs. Some banks have co-operated with each other to provide ATM services, but the number of the banks remains low. The common feature of the banks is that they are incapable of expanding their ATM system nationwide. Even in major cities, there are few ATMs for each bank. There is a case that a place has three ATMs of three different banks but no ATMs can be found in many supermarkets or entertainment facilities. A weak link in the field among local banks has made them difficult and produced inconvenience for customers.
Ta Quang Tien, head of the Information Technology Department, the State Bank of Vietnam, said that there were two reasons. Firstly, authorised agencies lack a mechanism to provide guidelines on the field and banks lack an agreement and co-operation. Tien said that the national financial switch should be put into operation to overcome these difficulties.
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